Forces of evil...
A lot of people talk about evil in movies, television, social media, but what does that really means besides just bad?
In the Catholic worldview, evil is actions and attitudes contrary to God's love. Catholic teaching say that evil is something we do, not something we are. So even the worst criminals in history weren't inherently evil. They were people with fundamental human dignity like you and me, who chose to do bad things.
From earliest human history, artists, writers and great thinkers wrestled with the complex human tendency toward destructive attotudes and actions. This destructive tendency is demonstarted by scientific research and recognized by most of the world's largest religions.
The Church teaches that this isn't about psychological weakness or random mistakes. There is a supernatural force of evil working on human beings from our beginning.
So is that the Devil? Is the Devil really real?
Catholic experience identifies our tendency to do evil with the influence of something we call Satan, or the Devil.
Pop culture thinks of the Devil as a big horned guy with red skin, wings and a pointy tail. But that's not always what evil looks like.
So what does the Church mean when it talks about the Evil One?
Catholics believe that God created humans with soul and free will. Sometimes people use that free will to reject God and do evil things. The Church also teaches that God created other kinds of beings. Beings that don't have human bodies but have free will. These are called angels. But some of them rejected God and Christians referred to those as demons.
Tradition identifies the leader of these demons as the Devil in English, which comes from the Greek word diabolos, meaning "divider"
The devil wants to divide people and make them work against each other. It's also known as Satan, from the Hebrew for deceiver or accuser. It tries to instill doubt about the goodness of Gid or other human beings. People also called the Devil, Lucifer, which in Latin means light bearer, and it refers to it being one of the most beautiful and powerful angels before rejecting God.
The Book of Genesis tells us the story of how the Devil influenced the first people, Adam and Eve, in the form of a serpent. It convinced them that something God told them not to do would be good to do. Just like in the Garden of Eden, the main way that the force of evil works on people is throught temptation.
Temptation is when you try to convince yourself that something harmful, or wicked, or hateful, is actually something good. Temptation in itseld doesn't make a person bad. Everyone suffers from temptation.
How will you respond to temptation?
Even the strongest people can't always recognize or resist temptation on their own, but Catholics believe God wants to help in those moments. They call this grace.
For Catholics, the force of good and God's love in the world is always there to guide you and strengthen but when most people hear forces of evil, they think about possession. But long before there are three earlier stages of evil's power over us.
Three Evil's Powers
1. Temptation
2. Obsession
3. Oppression
Sometimes this powers over us indicate a biological or a psychological illness and nit demonic obsession or oppresion. It's important to seek professional medical help to discern this, because, in some cases, the symptoms do indicate a supernatural origin.
It's also not a good idea to try figure that out yourself. Best is to talk to a priest or a spiritual mentor and let them knos what symptoms you experience. Don't suffer in silence, because ebil thrives in silence and secrecy.
Sometime the most important step is to ask for help. And one of the best ways to ask for help is through prayer. Opening yourself to God's love and letting Him bring you peace of mind. There are Sacrament of Reconciliation and Communion, rituals that bring them closer to God and strengthen their habits of choosing good and rejecting evil.
Wonderful article