The Devils Cast Out

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

There was a four-year-old little boy once who was asked to say the Grace Before Meals, before the family's Christmas dinner. All the members of the family around the table bowed their heads in expectation.

He began his prayer. He began praying by thanking God for all of his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for his mom and for his dad, his brothers and sisters, his grandmother and granddad, his uncles and aunts.

Then he began to thank God for the food: for the turkey, for the dressing, for the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, for the pies, cakes. Then he paused and he waited. Everyone waited, wondering what he was going to say next.

After a long silence, he looked up at his mom and said, "If I thank God for the broccoli, won't He know that I'm lying?"

You could say that that little fellow had a great sense of truth, and a great sense of what a lie is. He wasn't willing or comfortable telling any sort of lie.

We could ask Our Lord in our prayer today that He might give us that same sensitivity about truth and lies that He gave that little kid—a very sensitive conscience.

Our Father used to say that we shouldn't tolerate even the smallest lie. He said that because he loved the truth so much.

We're called to love the truth, to live by the truth, to reflect the truth in everything we do and say, so that there can be no falsity in any part of our life.

St. Josemaría wouldn't let his children lie to their parents, not even when a lie could have served them to get permission to attend a formational activity.

In the book Immersed in God, we're told about how, one time in the summer of 1941, our Father had to straighten out a younger member of the Work for having resorted to telling a lie to his parents in order to participate in a retreat that St. Josemaría was giving.

The young man's parents were opposed to his vocation, in part because they had been influenced by some propaganda against Opus Dei, so he had thought it best to tell a lie. He told them he was going to the country.

As soon as our Father learned of this, he admonished the young person very clearly in a very serious tone and said, "From now on, no more lies. Love for the truth comes before all else.” Lord, give me the grace to love the truth because you are the truth.

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). God is truth.

We have to be like little children who know how to tell the truth in all sorts of situations and moments. "Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). This is one of the goals of our life.

“And they brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked hm to lay his hand on him. He took him aside to be by themselves away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man's ears and touched the tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, 'Be opened.’ His ears were opened and at once the impediment of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly” (Mark 7:32-35).

Our Father often spoke about the dumb devil that can be there inside us. We need to cast out that devil, cast out all the devils that may be there on the inside. One of the ways we do this is by having a greater love for the truth so that we reflect the truth.

In another moment, Our Lord said, “Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention. Otherwise, you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:1).

This is precisely what He didn't like about the Pharisees. There was a lack of truth in their life, a lack of unity of life. They were one thing on the inside and they were something else on the outside.

"When you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you. This is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, to win admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward" (Matt. 6:2).

Our Lord talks about the reward that He wants to give us for living the truth in all situations, and at times that can be humiliating, can be embarrassing, can be shameful. And yet that's what living by the truth is all about.

Lord, help me to practice the virtues of sincerity and simplicity with greater refinement.

One of the ways that we work at being better: you want to be more, be better; get that dumb devil out.

In the Furrow, we are told that the day you hide a temptation from your director is the day you've made a secret with the devil (Josemaría Escrivá, Furrow, Point 323). Strong words.

Lord, I don't want to have any secret with the devil. Help me to say all those terrible things that I need to say in order to let myself be known so that I lose that fear of being known by the people who have the grace of the state to help me.

When you observe the splinter in your brother's eye or your sister's eye and never notice the great log in your own, “How do you dare to say to them, ‘Let me take that splinter out of your eye’ when look, there's a great log in your own. Hypocrite. Take the log out of your eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s (or sister's) eye” (Matt. 7:4-5).

One of the ways we work at being better on the inside is through this love for the truth that is reflected in all moments. Otherwise, Our Lord could say of us what He said of the Pharisees: "These people honor me with their lips while their heart is far from me” (Isa. 29:13).

We're all a potential Pharisee. Unless we take steps to go in the opposite direction, then a Pharisee we will remain.

“The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do and observe what they tell you, but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people's shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!

“Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader headbands and long tassels, wanting to take the place of honor at banquets and the front seats in synagogues, being greeted respectfully in the market squares, and having people call them ‘Rabbi’” (Matt. 23:2-7).

As we try to get more immersed in our apostolate, transmitting formation, imparting doctrine, there's a great responsibility that comes upon us to make sure that we are practicing what we are preaching.

We look deep down into the inner recesses of our soul, discover the truth that is there, so that we bring out into the sunlight of another's vision those deep things that may be there; into the light of another’s vision and of their judgment, so that we can be guided to be sure that we're on the right track, that we are going forward. Otherwise, those stains that may be there on the inside may remain. But God sees everything.

“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, ‘Jesus, son of Joseph of Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and he said to him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile’” (John 1:45-47).

It was rare for Our Lord to compliment the apostles, but He liked this particular compliment very much. St. James says, "Let your 'Yes’ be 'Yes’ and your 'No’ be 'No’” (James 5:12).

Jesus, for the rest of my life, help me to resolve never to tell a single lie so that I can reflect the truth in everything.

“You shall know the truth,” we're told in St. John, “and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. Sanctify them by the truth, your Word is truth” (John 17:15,17).

Truth in the moments of temptation, truth about our own personal weakness, about our miseries, about all the things which, with the passage of time, the Holy Spirit lets us discover about that ‘old person’ that's there inside each one of us.

As we put off the ‘old person’ and put on the new, may we create it in our life according to the truth. “Instaurare Omnia in Christo,” St. Pius X said. “Restore all things in Christ,” first and foremost ourselves.

There's a story told of a man who had a very famous monkey in Alexandria, Egypt, many years ago. He was able to train this monkey to do all sorts of wonderful things. Among these things, he trained the monkey to dance. The monkey danced extremely well.

This man decided to dress the monkey up as a beautiful lady and to take her to the dance. They went along to this wonderful ball and this beautiful lady was there and she danced wonderfully. Everybody wanted to dance with the lady.

People were wondering who this beautiful lady was. They’d never met her before. But there was something a little bit unusual at the same time about this lady, and they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

Somehow there was some little kid at this ball, and this little kid had x-ray eyes. This little kid also noticed there was something about this strange lady.

The little kid had a few peanuts, so he rolled the peanuts over the floor. As soon as the monkey saw the peanuts, the monkey pulled off its mask and dived for the peanuts and the secret was out.

The devil with each one of us is a bit like that little kid with the peanuts. The devil knows how to make us react. He knows our inner self. He knows our weaknesses.

One of the ways that we fight and struggle against those weaknesses in order to be holy is to talk about them. To look for guidance. To listen to the Holy Spirit speaking deep in our soul.

For that, we need the grace of God. We need the human and supernatural virtue of sincerity: a virtue that we can grow in by practicing little acts of that virtue every week in the sacrament of Confession or spiritual direction, saying first the things that we might like least to be known as a gesture of living this virtue well.

When a spiritual director or a priest hears all the bad things coming out, then they know this person is trying to be holy, because that other person knows what every human person is like. They're like that themselves.

We're told in St. John, "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” (John 18:37).

Veracity or sincerity, which stands out in the lives of those who love truth, is one of the most attractive human virtues. Truth in marriage, truth in the family, truth in organizations, in professional life.

Sometimes it can be in short supply, but truth builds trust and trust builds loyalty. Loyalty in marriage, loyalty in the family, loyalty in organizations, loyalty in society.

It's a great building block for the future “civilization of love” that we want to build (John Paul II, Letter to Families, February 2, 1994; Apostolic Letter, Salvifici doloris, Point 30, February 11, 1984; Catechesis, June 8, 1994).

The virtue of sincerity means truthfulness in word and in deed: conformity between what we believe or think and our external behavior. Telling lies or misleading people is clearly unjust.

In some cases, one has no obligation to manifest the truth. There might even be a grave duty and justice not to reveal it, but that fact doesn't justify lies. We can hide the truth without lying.

We make that resolution never to tell a lie no matter how convenient it is, to find a way of answering a person, possibly giving them the information that they want, whether or not they may have a right to it; maybe they don't, in which case we can skirt the issue.

I heard of somebody who was asked a question once about their personal life and they said, “I won't affirm it and I won't deny it.” In other words, ‘I have no obligation to tell you this particular piece of information because perhaps it's not your business to know it.’

There are elegant and polite ways of getting out of those situations.

From a human point of view, someone who tells lies is a very unpleasant person. From a supernatural point of view, that person is sadly deluded because God, who one day will judge him, cannot be deceived.

Christ Himself, who is so understanding with all human wretchedness, harshly condemns the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. In contrast, He praises the honest and sincere attitude of Nathanael.

When we live the virtue of sincerity, it helps us to be simple and transparent. Our ‘Yes’ is ‘Yes’ and our ‘No’ is ‘No.’

It's wonderful to meet a transparent person. You know you can rely on them. They become like a pillar in the organization, because truth will build many wonderful things, especially the future.

We have to try and take on the full meaning of the words of Christ when He said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).

In Christian life, openness to divine truth entails a strong love for truth at every level, even though at times it might be difficult to accept.

There's a common failing which is maybe not to want to get to the heart of the matter, sometimes through politeness but other times, perhaps most times, through fear of hurting ourselves or through fear of hurting others. Always through fear.

As long as we are afraid of the truth, we will never be a person of sound judgment, a person of worth.

Plato once said it's a pity when children are afraid of the darkness but it's much more a pity when adults are afraid of the light, the light that comes with the truth.

A love for truth opens the door to a relationship with God.

We're told in the Catechism: “Truth as uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or candor. Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, and in guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Point 2468).

We're also told that “Man tends by nature toward the truth. He is obliged to honor and bear witness to it” (ibid., Point 2467).

In our prayer, we come face to face with Truth, with God Himself. We contemplate the life of Jesus Christ, our only model.

Fulton Sheen says the quickest way to discover our predominant fault is to ask ourselves: What do I think about most when I'm alone? Where do my thoughts go when I let them go spontaneously? What makes me most unhappy when I don't have it, most glad when I possess it? What fault irritates me most when I'm accused of it? And which sin do I most vigorously deny possessing?

In the answer to these questions, we might discover the truth about ourselves. It could be very different from what we had imagined.

He said, “No spiritual progress can be made until the master fault is dug up from its hiding place, brought into the light, and laid before God. For until the position of the enemy is known, he cannot be attacked” (Fulton J. Sheen, Lift Up Your Heart).

St. John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, he will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

This virtue depends a lot on humility and on love. We try to be sincere with others and we try to keep the channels open. We don't allow stagnant pools to fester there inside our heart or soul.

We speak about our attachments, our imaginations, our thoughts, our dreams, our mistakes. We don't let ourselves be overcome by irrational reasons.

There might be something that we give great importance to, or we think is very important. But when we bring it out into the light of another's judgment, that person is able tell us objectively that, perhaps, that's of no importance at all.

That can give us an enormous peace and serenity. A peace that this world cannot give. A peace that comes from the Holy Spirit and gives us that gift into our soul. A peace of people who try to talk frequently with God.

We can ask Our Lord that we might learn how to talk the truth more frequently and, like that four-year-old kid with the broccoli, be aware if ever there’s a temptation to say a lie or say something that's not true.

Along the way, when we grow in our self-knowledge, we will admit more and more the way we are, the way we do things. We will face up to the truth about ourselves and not hide in the crowd. Also, we will avoid seeking excuses for ourselves: ‘That's the way I'm made. That's the way I am.’

Our Father in The Way gives us the challenge whereby he says, ‘That's not the way you're made, you have to do something about it, you have to be better’ (cf. J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 4). That's what we're here for.

“Excuses can be the nails that we use to build a house of failure” (Jim Rohn, The Art of Exceptional Living).

“With this simplicity and clarity,” John Paul II says, “one can construct the unity of the kingdom of God. This unity is at the same time a mature interior unity of each person” (cf. John Paul II, Encyclical, Ut unum sit, May 25, 1995).

It's the foundation of unity of spouses and families. It's the strength of societies—those societies which perhaps already feel more each time how an attempt is being made to destroy them from the inside, calling good evil and sin a sign of progress and liberation.

We hear of “down growths and negative profit, negative equity, down valuation, write-downs, underbanked, and so on (att. Alex Edmans, Grow the Pie). We see all around us the tendency not to call things by their names (att. Confucius, Analects).

And we're constantly assaulted by the enemies of our soul: pride and vanity, laziness, sensuality, anger, envy, avarice, intemperance. We need to admit that we sometimes lend an ear to these temptations.

We can always turn to Our Lady, the strength of our whole interior life.

She'll teach us how to struggle, how to do what's necessary in order to live by the truth as she did, and to be able to say, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to your Word” (Luke 1:38).

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

DWM