Today’s Gospel (Mark 5:1-20) narrates another instance of Jesus exorcising a man possessed by the devil. Jesus asks the name of the unclean spirit. In response, it said, “Legion is my name,” for they are many. Yes, the Bible affirms the existence of the devil.
Several years ago, a random survey of 1,500 respondents conducted by a famous Philippine college revealed a contradiction that 81 percent believed in heaven but only 42 percent believed in hell or the existence of the devil. Why the contradiction? It’s probably because we all want a God who rewards but not a God who “punishes.” We all want a God who gives blessings but not a God who calls us to task and responsibility.
The devil deceives by making himself unknown. If you do not believe in him, you will not do anything to put up a fight or any form of defense against him. Satan is then able to act with much more freedom.
Here are some facts about the reality of the devil from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
391. The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.”
392. This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign.
393. It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. “There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death.”
Jesus asks the name of the unclean spirit because knowledge of the enemy is the first step to victory over that enemy. Let us know our enemy and its ways that we may always be on guard and victorious against its cunning.
