at St Francis of Assisi Church, Llay at 12.30pm
The demons tempt us through: pleasure, ambition, and covetousness. The ultimate goal of all these temptations is the rendering us miserable for all of eternity. These fallen angels realize that we have been called to occupy the place in Heaven which they have lost through pride; and they are consumed with envy of us because of this calling. St. Thomas of Aquinas says: "The envy which the devil feels when he thinks of a creature formed of the earth occupying his place in heaven and enjoying the sight of God, burns him more than the sulphurous flames of hell."
It was the devil that put it in the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. (John 13: 2). It was the devil that tempted Ananias to tell a lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep part of the price of the land sold. (Acts 5: 3). And it was the devil that had the audacity to tempt even Jesus. All men, but especially the pious, are subject to these temptations of Satan.
Evil spirits spread false maxims and errors in the world. They operate on the external senses of man, producing in him various images, motions, and inclinations, which often become the cause of violent temptations; they use the particular circumstances and inclinations of men to tempt them and entice them to evil. They flatter the young, and paint the joys and enjoyments of the world in the most beautiful colours; they make old people believe that they will live a long while yet, and therefore have plenty of time to work out their salvation; they entice the vain to pride, the avaricious to covetousness, the unchaste to voluptuousness, the irascible to revenge; in a word, they assault every one in his most vulnerable spot and where they can overcome him with the least difficulty.
The devils tempt us by employing the same enticements as were made use in the case of our first parents and our Savior, namely sensuality, ambition, and covetousness, or concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life. Who can number the sins which are committed by pleasure, ambition, and covetousness?
Let us follow Jesus in the fight against these fallen spirits and their temptations by first going into the desert. By loving solitude and shunning the proximate occasion of sin. Second, by fasting. We must not only keep the fast-days appointed, but in general we must live piously and soberly. For as intemperance in eating and drinking is the cause of many sins, so the mortification of the sensual appetite by means of sobriety is an excellent preventive against the enticements to sin, especially against impurity. Thirdly, let us pray that we may obtain of God light and strength to overcome the temptations; "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptations." (Mark 14: 38). Fourthly, let us keep in mind the word of God. When we are tempted to pride: "Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled" Luke 14:11; to impurity: "Neither fornicators nor adulterers shall possess the kingdom of God." (I. Cor. 6: 9, 10); to covetousness: "What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Matt. 16: 26). Fifthly, let us banish the temptations at once. A spark that falls on the hand will not burn and wound if we fling it away at once, but if we leave it on our hand even a few moments it will burn and pain us. Thus it is with temptations. We must not parley with them, but banish them at once. The brothers of St. Thomas of Aquinas sent a female into his room to tempt him, but he took hold of a burning piece of wood and drove her away.
Temptations are always presented as something good to us and it seems at times difficult to discern what is from God and what is from evil spirits. Therefore, we should consider what God had once told St. Catherine of Siena. That which is at first pleasurable but later brings suffering is from the evil spirits, but that which is at first painful, but later gives pleasure is from God. The evil spirits offer us "heaven" now and hell latter. God offers us a cross now and heaven latter.