The demonic will lie to us, offering a feigned friendship and understanding. Evil is all about seduction, not about well-being and advancement. What is the darkness really saying behind the duplicity and rhetoric?
The Darkness
You are no good.
You are stupid.
You are fat and ugly.
No one loves you.
You are worthless.
You are hopeless.
You can’t do anything right.
No one wants to be around you.
No one cares about you.
We would all be better off with you gone.
You are bad and beyond forgiveness.
You deserve every bad thing that happens to you.
Everyone hates you.
You would be better off dead.
A Response
Enough! Everything that God creates is good. You have value in God’s eyes. Indeed you are precious and irreplaceable. Your worth is immeasurable.
Some are smart about the things of the world but ignorant about the truths of eternity. We know that God loves us and has called us to a relationship with his Son. We should all be, as St. Paul taught, fools for Christ.
God calls us marvelous to behold, no matter what the standard of beauty in the world might be. Nothing else matters.
God loves us and his Church does, too. We must never buy the deceit that we are not lovable.
We have value because God gives us worth. People might not recognize it, but everyone is important. There are no disposable people. Everyone matters.
Our hope is in the Lord. Despair is from the evil one and is poison to faith. There is no Christianity without hope. It is one of the three things that last: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE.
We might make mistakes and fail, but the good Lord will give us strength. Jesus, himself, was judged a failed prophet by the world, a criminal handed over by his own people to be put to death. But the world was wrong. We can share in Christ’s victory.
God wants you near him and the Church wants you, too. She invites you to worship with the community and to know fellowship with other believers. You are not alone.
Jesus cared so much for you that he laid down his life and died for you. Yes, by name, he shed his blood that you might know him and his saving mercy. The Church also cares, from the moment you were conceived in the womb, she was the advocate for your life.
We would be diminished by your loss. You need the Church and we want you. Christ wants you as a friend in his service. We are all family.
We are all sinners but the mercy of God is infinite. All that is required is a contrite heart and a disposition for faith and conversion. God wants to pour his life into us.
It is not a matter of what we deserve but rather the generosity of God. He gives us his gifts freely. No one merits salvation; grace is a gratuity from the Lord.
God loves you. The Church and the saints love you. There are probably many who love you in this world but you do not always see it. You are surrounded by love.
Life is God’s gift. He alone is the one to number our days. We need to respect this gift in us and others. We know that when our time in this world grows short, we have an eternity with the Lord waiting for us. The saving work of Jesus is a testimony that love is stronger than death.
Filed under: Catholic, Discipleship, Faith, Forgiveness, God, Jesus, Reflection, Religion |
Blogger Priest 
Dear Fr Joe,
I, too, would like to thank you enormously for this piece. I have often been given something vaguely similar by well meaning ‘Born Agains’ but where their’s differs and has never convinced me is that they leave out any reference to satan, the father of lies.
I had never seen it as part of the devil’s deception and so have always had a real struggle to believe the usual affirmations of my worth. I have always had a very low self image, and I have used life experiences to justify that and therefore have been able to dismiss much of the “God loves you” stuff.
For the first time ever I can see just where this darkness comes from, and that might help me adopt a more healthy attitude towards myself as much of the older Catholic teaching has only reinforced the overly self critical and worthlessness of my pathetic state. Some nuns and monks have a lot to answer for.
God Bless, and thanks,
Paul
Father,
Thank you for writing this beautiful essay. I really needed to hear it. I am recovering from an abusive childhood, and even though I am separated from my family I still hear the voices of lies you so well described. It feels more like a weight than a voice, but very real. Even though I know in my head it is all lies, I still need to hear the truth over and over for it to be felt. And your essay was exactly what I needed today, and I’m sure for many others reading this as well.
God Bless,
Rachel