Deceptions of the World and the Evil One
Third Sunday of Lent
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”Ps. 95
The crumbling of faith is accompanied by many deceptions of the evil one, who ceaselessly sows his weeds and lies in this world, yet this does not absolve man of his responsibility, for it is he who, incautiously and irresponsibly, accepts these deceptions. From Genesis to the gospel, we see the father of lies deceiving men; Adam and Eve fell, whereas Jesus did not allow himself to be deceived, and he taught us the way to avoid deception: prayer, trusting more in the word of God than in our own senses or the logic of our human clumsiness.
The consequences of each case were evident; those who allow these lies to enter bring chaos into the world, division, sin, and death. Christ, by overcoming these deceptions, brings us freedom, salvation, and eternal life. In this, we clearly see a demonstration of the importance of what we believe or do not believe; it places us at one extreme or the other, more than from heaven to earth, from heaven to hell.
The world and the prince of this world continue to sow lies and deception abundantly, and many allow themselves to be poisoned by them. Let us examine some of the deceptions of the new age, atheistic culture, and the devil today:
- You don’t need a god, you are one.
- Salvation lies within you.
- Always do what feels right to you, you are divine.
- The most authentic is what arises from within you (ignoring that it is fallen nature).
- Religion is not needed.
- You can be spiritual without being religious.
- You can open yourself to “god” without knowing anything about his revelation, his church, or any commitment, neither to God nor to anyone else (complete ambiguity).
- It doesn’t matter what you believe in.
- Any supernatural power is the same, whether you call it Jehovah, or Mohammed, or Jesus, or Buddha, or Allah,…
- After death, life continues for everyone. There is light for everyone on the other side of the tunnel. There is never condemnation or anything that God reveals.
- What you believe is truth for you, whatever it may be.
- There is no absolute truth, everyone constructs their own truth.
These, among many others, are the lies invented by men, never based on the Bible or the church, which have led many away from it and have turned many away from God revealed in Christ, making them believe that God or Christ is not needed, that you can be fine without God and without the Church, that you can reach eternal life by yourself, that you do not need any savior to be saved. It is to oppose the light of Christ, his commandments, and his entire divine revelation, for which we should be indignant against these deceptions, as Christ was indignant when he expelled the sellers from the temple, for going against the will of God and trampling on the commandments.
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Ex 20: 1-17 or 20: 1-3, 7-8, 12-17/Ps 19:8, 9, 10,11 (Jn 6: 68c)/1 Cor 1: 22-25/Jn 2: 1-25
Scrutiny: Ex 17: 3-7/Ps 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (8)/Rom 5: 1-2, 5-8/Jn 4: 5-42 or 4: 5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42
Monday: 2 Kgs 5: 1-15ab/Ps 42: 2, 3; 43: 3,41/Lk 4: 24-30
Tuesday: Dn 3: 25, 34-43/Ps 25: 4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9/Mt 18:21-35
Wednesday: Dt 4: 1, 5-9/Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20/Mt 5: 17-19
Thursday: Jer 7:23-28/Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9/Lk 11: 14-23
Friday: Hos 14: 2-10/Ps 81: 6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17/Mk 12:28-34
Saturday: Hos 6: 1-6/Ps 51: 3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab/Lk 18: 9-14
Next Sunday: 2 Chr 36: 14-16, 19-23/Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 (6ab)/Eph 2: 4-10/Jn 3: 14-21
Scrutiny: 1 Sm 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a/Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (1)/Eph 5:8-14/Jn 9: 1-41 or 9: 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38
Observances for the Week
Sunday: 3rd Sunday of Lent
Monday: St. Casimir
Thursday: Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs
Friday: St. John of God, Religious
Saturday: St. Frances of Rome, Religious; St. Catherine of Bologna
Next Sunday: 4th Sunday of Lent, Daylight Saving Time Begins