Satan Exists, and Christ Defeated Him
This Gospel Commentary is for 1st Sunday of Lent and is by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., Preacher for the Pontifical Household. It was posted on Zenit.org and is pertaining to the Gospel of Matthew 4:1-11 . Our technological and industrialized world is filled with magicians, wizards, occultism, spiritualism, fortune tellers, spell trafficking, amulets, as well as very real Satanic sects. Chased away from the door, the devil has come in through the window. Chased away by the faith, he has returned by way of superstition. The episode of Jesus' temptations in the desert that is read on the First Sunday of Lent helps us to have some clarity on this subject. First of all, do demons exist? That is, does the word "demon" truly indicate some personal being with intelligence and will, or is it simply a symbol, a manner of speaking that refers to the sum of the world's moral evil, the collective unconscious, collective alienation, etc.? Many intellectuals do not