As we end this year dedicated to St. Joseph, there is one title that is as strange as it is provocative: “St. Joseph, Terror of Demons.” Normally we think of demons causing terror instead of them experiencing terror.
Demons are fallen angels. God created angels before he created the earth or human beings. At creation, the angels were given a specific mission. They were given the knowledge they need to do that mission. He revealed to them some of his plan. St. Irenaeus says one-third of the angels rejected God’s plan. Demons are fallen angels, angels who chose against God. They attempt to throw themselves in front of God’s plan. They do this by trying to prevent or delay our union with God.
St. John Cassian — who was read regularly by St. Benedict, St. Dominic and St. Thomas Aquinas, among others — wrote a great work entitled the “Conferences.” In Conference Seven, he observes several things about the demonic that are important.
St. John Cassian says that fallen angels (demons) work against the very mission they were given. They don’t have a bag of temptations from which they pull out one and throw it at someone, like used to be depicted in the cartoons. We have a guardian angel. We do not have a guardian demon. Demons have one temptation. A philosophical way of putting this is that their cause is their effect. Meaning if it is fear, lust, anger, etc., you will sense this fear, etc. That’s why if a person is praying for freedom in an area, he or she can renounce fear, lust, anger, etc. and it has a spiritual effect. This is not to say that all temptation comes from the demonic — it does not. Father Lorenzo Scupoli, a 16th-century Italian priest, says in “The Spiritual Combat” that of all the enemies each person faces, one’s own self is the worst.
St. John Cassian also says that demons are not ordered. We often attribute to them virtues they do not have. They work through threat and force, not through goodwill, charity and virtue.
Finally, St. John Cassian says that we have to remember that it is a spiritual battle. It’s not a one-sided affair. The enemy has much to fear and lose. Too often, we approach spiritual battle as a defeated victim. In truth, it can be an opportunity to grow in holiness when we resist, with God’s help. Even when we fail, when we humble ourselves and repent, there can be fruit.
St. Joseph lives a life obedient to God’s will. Remember the enemy is looking to prevent or delay union with God. St. Joseph lives a life obedient to God’s will and this brings about union with him. When we live even the simple, ordinary parts of our lives in cooperation and communion with the Lord, they have great power. Too often, we think that it is only in extraordinary circumstances that we can find holiness. We can see one another as competitors, and I have to be better than those around me to be good enough or at least not as fallen as those around me. Seeking this can often distract us from all the fruit God wants to bear in us and through us.
Living a life of prayer, receiving the sacraments, growing in virtue, deepening our knowledge of the faith in simple ways, and good, holy relationships are all we need to be like St. Joseph and be united to the Lord’s will. Let’s choose one area to focus on to allow the Lord to draw us to deeper union with him.
Father Vander Ploeg is the director of spiritual formation at The St. Paul Seminary. He has studied the area of angelology since 2007. This is a summary of 10th and final presentation of the “Cuppa Joe” series. It was recorded at St. Joseph in Taylors Falls.
Cuppa Joe
“Cuppa Joe” is a series of 10 talks by 10 theologians on the 10 wonders of St. Joseph that took place at 10 locations in our archdiocese entrusted to the patronage of our spiritual father. For the past 10 months, these talks premiered the first Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. — just in time for afternoon coffee. Watch the full “Cuppa Joe” series at archspm.org/cuppajoe.
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