”Put on the armor of God”….Only then will you truly “see”

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Mark Jesus confronts the devil……Do you believe that that devil exists? - Because he does!…”In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!”…..Notice, a few things about this encounter…The people in the synagogue did not recognize the devil…But Jesus could…Also, the devil knew actually who Jesus was……..The devil to this very day lurks in our society and frankly most do not see him…Like the people of Jesus’s day…..The only way to “see” the devil and his minions is to put on “the eyes of God”…How do we put on the eyes of God?……..By drawing close to him…….People today assume that if a person is intelligent or educated, they someone how “get it”…..Nothing could be further for the truth…..Being “smart” has nothing to do with “seeing” the world as God sees it - As the world truly is…..This is why we must strive to draw close to God, through daily prayer, through fasting, through the Sacraments….The spirit of the devil is like a mist…This “mist” seeps under the doorway of a home…This “mist” corrupts our minds and hearts…This “mist” gets into the minds of our children…The spirit of the devil is subtle, patient and plays the long game…..Don’t think for a moment you can defeat the devil without the grace of God…The devil is stronger then you, smarter than you and knows everyone of your weakness…However, when you are in the state of grace, when you stand with Our Lady…The devil flees…….”Children, you are from God and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world”…Still don’t think the devil exists?

“Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God”

A friend of my family is a priest and is the official exorcist for City of New York…Yes, some priests are exorcists to this very day…..I witnessed with my own eyes a person who because of what their father did to them as a child, had to speak to this exorcist…..This person I know when they were a child because of their father’s affiliation with devil worship consecrated my friend to the devil as a baby…Believe it or not…Just some background on this - A father has authority over his children, this authority is given by God and because of that, this demonic consecration affected my friend into their adult life…My friend's father was deeply involved in Satanic rituals and because of that, my friend suffered many effects….A long story short - My friend asked me to go with them to see this exorcist, who was located in Harlem at the time - So I went……I watched with my own eyes how when this priest would pray over my friend, their body would literally convulse……All the muscles in my friend’s back would tighten up…My friend would speak in a foreign voice, would swear and curse and also speak in the third person - Believe it or not! - I saw this with my own two eyes!…..To be honest with you, I could not believe it as I watched it……This is an overt sign of evil and very real……But evil usually works in the shadows, its subtle, it twists the truth in small and incremental ways until the truth can not be recognized…..Evil hates God and hates YOU…Like in what we heard in the gospel from Mass today…..“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!”……From the beginning, our first parents (Adam and Eve) were confronted by the devil…..They were tricked - Why?…Because they broke from their relationship with God - They were “blind” to the tricks of the devil…….As we all know, all of us our sinners and because of that, we experience human weakness…St Paul tells us in scripture: “Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate”…What St Paul is talking about here is living in the state of grace…We live in the state of grace when we live a Sacramental life……Those close to God can see evil for what it is…Far too many today "think" nothing of many things that are truly evil…Like Adam and Eve, they thought nothing of eating from the apple tree when God told them not too….And look at what happened to them…..”Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat? The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman: What is this you have done? The woman answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate it.”…….That same “snake” is tricking humanity to this very day!……I can hear it now…......”I can’t be tricked”…..”I'm so smart”…....Oh really?!?…..The devil is real………He is smarter then you…He is stronger then you…And he knows all your weakness - And yes you have weaknesses - We all do…And he hates you with a burning passion….So “put on the armor of God” - Only those who are close to God can see the world as it truly is

“They are blind guides…… If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a pit.”

Today Jesus confronts the devil in the gospel….And today we confront him too - Yes, we confront the devil each and everyday…Because the devil is real and so is evil real…..However, the devil is not how Hollywood portrays him to be in movies, with red horns and a tail…The devil is subtle….The devil is cunning….Remember that happened today in the gospel…The people could not see the devil, who was standing right in front of them…But Jesus could…Why could the people not see this evil?…..Because sin blinds us…..And far too many today are blinded by sin…Only a pure heart truly sees…”Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God”….How can we navigate this world if we do not see it for what it is?…..Look around - How is our society doing?…Seems to me we have “drank the kool-aid” or better put - We took a big bite out of “the apple” - And the effects are destroying us all….......”Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?”……”Put on the armor of God”….Only then will you truly “see”