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Question:

Dear Father Angelo,

Thank you for continuously replying to the many questions that come into my mind and the mind of those who, like me, are thirsty for the Truth.  Your answers satiate my desire for knowledge.

How do we know about the temptations suffered by Jesus in the desert if in that place only Jesus and the devil were present?

Also, why is the diabolic possession permitted by God?

Can the “possession” of a man by the guardian Angel be permitted?

Thank you

The Priest’s Answer

My dear,

1. to answer your first question, I will report to you what M.J. Lagrange writes; he is the pioneer of the Jerusalem Biblical School whose Dominican French confreres just recently republished his book about the life of Jesus, entitled “L’ Evangile de Jesus Christ”.

Here is what he writes: “The temptation of Jesus is not part of His public ministry.  The scene took place between Him and Satan alone: there were no witnesses.

Thus it could have had no influence at all on the opinion people formed of the person, character, and mission of Him who came to preach the Kingdom of God.

In the mind of the first three evangelists, however, especially of St. Matthew and St. Luke, the event throws a certain light over the whole of the ministry, and there is no doubt that this is precisely the reason why Jesus told His disciples of the incident” (The Gospel of Jesus Christ, chap.II-21, Jesus is Tempted).

2. About why does God allows the devil to take possession of a person, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, in very succinct terms, that “It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but “we know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him” (Rm 8,28) (CCC 395).

Of course, the theologians tried to investigate this mystery and they reached the conclusion that God allows such possessions to manifest His glory.  Sometimes, through the words of the possessed, the devil confesses the divinity of Christ, as it has happened in several episodes attested by the Gospel.

In Cafarnao, for example, this is what happened right at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  A man possessed by the devil approached the Lord crying out to Him:  “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”  (Mc 1,24).

The Gospel continues by saying that Jesus ordered the devil to come out of him and he was forced to go “The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry camee out of him” (Mc 1,26).

And here is the amazement of the people: “All were amazed and asked one another: «What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him!»” (Mc 1,27).

 Likewise: “When He came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met Him.  They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.  They cried out: «What have you to do with us, Son of God?  Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?»” (Mt 8, 28-29).

3. God also allows it to attest to the power He gives to His children, in particular to the saints.

Or even to show the amount of devastation the devil accomplishes in a person who opens himself to his influx and power.

Without a doubt, He allows it also to educate us and call us back to the fight against satan with the prayer, the practice of virtue and to the conversion.

4. Finally, you ask me if our guardian Angel could implement something similar to what the devil does when he takes over somebody’s body.

The answer is no because the possession, as Father Meynard reminds us “It is a persecution by the devil extremely malignant” (A. Meynard, Small, ascetic and Mystic  Summa of Theology, II, n.95). 

Now, the assistance of the guardian Angel is always a gift from the Lord, a help. And It can never turn into “an extremely malignant persecution” .

5. Instead, it can always increase even more the beneficial influx of the action of our Angels to the extent in which we open ourselves to their inspiration and their help.

With the wish that you can experience this influx in an ever increasing way, I assure you of remembering you in my prayers and I bless you.

Father Angelo