WISDOM FROM THE DESERT

This past week our novice and I have been doing a slow reading of Gregory the Great's biography of St. Benedict. Like most of the first heroes of the monastic movement, Benedict faced many challenges from evil spirits. When the monks were building a new monastery, the devil kept them from lifting a large stone that they wanted to use, and he knocked over a partially finished wall, crushing a young monk. Each time, the holy abbot was called in to fight off the evil spirit, even to the point of bringing the young monk back to life.

We sophisticated moderns tend to smile indulgently at these tales, dismissing them as naive, pious legends. But I’ve come to see the deep wisdom underlying the stories. Monks had to get good at “discerning spirits,” so that they could tell a good one from an evil one. Here are a couple of signs that helped them to recognize when the Evil One was present and working against them.

First, the demons sow discord. When I sense myself starting to feel resentment against a brother, or when I’m upset at someone’s shortcomings, I can remind myself that this spirit is not from God, but from the devil, who is always stirring things up -- especially where he sees love and peace reigning in our community.

A second means of unmasking an evil spirit is related to the first one: The demons always leave you feeling upset, whereas the Lord leaves you with the gift of peace that only God can give. So, when I find myself righteously indignant at some person or situation, and am working myself up into an angry mood, the desert monks would warn me that that’s not the work of Jesus in my heart, but the work of the Tempter.

A third weapon of the Evil one is discouragement; he keeps telling me that God is tired of me committing the same old sins, that God’s fed up with my inability to change. When I start to get weary of the battle and am tempted to give up, the desert monks shout in chorus: “Don’t give up! That’s just the devil tempting you! Offer your discouragement to Christ and He’ll heal you.”
These may be very simple (simplistic?), bedrock Christian principles, but I find that they work. 

In the gospel for this Sunday’s mass (Jan 28), Jesus confronts a demon in the synagogue; everyone is expecting to see a long drawn-out wrestling match between the young rabbi from Nazareth and the evil spirit possessing the boy. Instead they watch in amazement as Jesus commands, “Quiet! Come out of him!” And the evil spirit vanishes immediately. The whole event takes about ten seconds. And everyone is amazed.

There’s an optimistic message in there for each of us, one that the ancient monks knew well: Jesus has the power to overcome whatever evils may be upsetting us, and can give us peace even in the midst of impossible situations.