There are many amazing things (none of them good) about Satan. Near the top of my long personal list is how a creation of God, which the devil is as a fallen angel, could somehow, in any way, shape, or form, choose to hate God its Creator with such a pure hatred. I suppose the question could be asked, “Why did God allow any part of his perfect creation to have the possibility to choose and hate Him as their Creator?” We know God could have snuffed out such hatred at the beginning of its incursion into the created order, both the spiritual and physical orders. Yet, God allowed Satan (and us) to go our way away from Him if we so choose.

When we consider humans who hate God with a passion, especially the so-called atheists who hate God so much they don’t believe in Him, there’s much damage such folks can do to other folks, and not only to themselves. They can drag others – or force them - down a path that leads to violence, destruction, death and such. I think of someone like Mr. Ortega in present-day Nicaragua and his numerous attacks on God’s Church and its people. Or, God-haters can and will perpetrate violence on scales that we would rather not consider. Considering another instance, I think of drug cartels in this great country of ours, in the great country of Mexico, and elsewhere throughout the world where violence against innocent, and not-so-innocent people, is volcanic. Human history in the past 100-150 years or more shows such violence to be beyond comprehension, notably in two world wars. Not exactly what God had in mind for us after he spoke, “Let there be light.” Man’s inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds when it comes to darkness.

Amazingly, human hatred for God, as deep as it can run in the stream of undelight, and wherever it exists, is somehow small when placed aside the hatred that Satan has for God, although the two are not disconnected. The devil wants to always replace God, which goes far to explain why people do the same. Any person who seeks to be God in this short lifespan is controlled by the power of evil. The devil does not like second place when it comes to associating with and influencing God’s most prized creation. The fallen angel, to this day, wants to be the first power and source to affect our hearts, minds, souls, and all that we are. If Satan were the Red Sox during the entire time we suffered through the Curse of the Bambino, Yankee Stadium would have fallen down with a sold out stadium every Opening Day. I’m glad to say Red Sox fans are not filled with such envy and hatred. Yes, we are a forgiving, loving people who knew our time would come for celebration. Any human hatred for God pales in comparison with that of the devil’s hatred, yet, human hatred finds its source in you know who. Yes, we at times allow Satan to be the ringleader and band master of spiritual and physical horrors we are capable of committing. He controls us in those moments, moments that can change our lives for the much worse in one act or misdeed.

In the first reading for this first Sunday of Lent, it’s important, I believe, to consider the wily ways that occurred in the once happy Garden of Eden. God had given every good thing to Adam and his beloved wife Eve, the first married couple. Their honeymoon was the beauty of all creation. They didn’t need Aruba or Florida in the winter, like I’ll likely need when my bones get really old. A trip to Hawaii was not necessary, nor was a trip to the (real) mountains of western United States. Not needed. They had the best vacation for eternity a married couple could ever hope for. But to keep what they enjoyed in front of them, for whichever way they turned and however far they traveled there was nothing but perfection before them, Adam and Eve were requested, very politely by God, to avoid one certain tree that had the potential to change human history. It makes us want to ask the Lord, “God, could we not have conducted this human experiment without that tree? With all the perfect trees you made, was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil really necessary? Don’t you think we would have been just fine without it?” Well, I guess the answer is No. God lets his No mean no, and his Yes mean yes. No other words were needed.

What we may forget at times is that Adam and Eve were wonderful people. Very good people. They loved God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. If they lived next door to you, you would invite them to dinner at least once a week. “Honey, have you met the new neighbors, Adam and Eve? They’re such wonderful people. Do they have a last name? Smith or Johnson?”

Well, they may be a nice couple, but they had a problem with not listening. Sort of like children, or, dare I say some teenagers. There was a streak in them that pulled them away from the perfection God planted. That little spark of wildness within the first couple was enough for Satan to exploit. Remember, the devil can take a not-so-good spark within us, and turn it into a flaming torch that can burn down the house. The devil is not your average exploiter. He’s not only the exploiter of families. He’s the exploiter of personal souls. He loves to go deep within us for the most heinous reasons. This is who Satan is at the core. The disrupter of souls, the breaker of families, the stealer of virtues, the decepter of ideas. This is what he does to Adam and Eve. He deceives them. He lies to them. He calmly and arrogantly falsifies his advice. “What’s the big deal? God really doesn’t mind if you take a small piece of the fruit and enjoy it for your own satisfaction, sharing it with each other. I spoke to him about you two the other day and God told me in secret that it was just fine for you to have a bite from that tree. He was just giving you a test that really has no consequences.”

Happily, though, Satan’s pure, unadulterated hatred for God is far surpassed by God’s love for us. And if we somehow understand even the smallest sense of how much the devil despises God, then place that understanding aside of how deep God’s love runs for us, then we would “rejoice always,” as St. Paul wrote to the Philippians.

Writing a short column on Satan’s pure hatred for God is not exactly a fun project. But it’s necessary, I believe, because the devil makes inroads into the lives of many people who are near and dear to us, just like he made inroads with Adam and Eve. The devil’s approach toward us is basically the same as it was when God created Adam and Eve; tell them lies that seem to be good; tell them lies that say God really doesn’t care what we do; tell them lies that lead us to the practice of vices over virtues, such as anger over mercy, or even somehow worse, lies that say openly that vices are now virtues, which we’re finding practiced more and more, not only in the world out there, but even in our own Church on sexual matters, as seen recently from a couple Cardinals. The devil loves cooperation on any level from a higher up, be it politics or the Church. That’s when the rotten, outdated mayonnaise gets spread wider on the sandwich of our minds and souls.

The first reading this week, of course, is the setup for the Gospel we hear proclaimed on the first Sunday of Lent in the A cycle. At the start of this holy season of drawing deeper into a holy, mature relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord, we look to the wilderness rather than the Garden of Eden for the answer to how we shut down the Pitchfork Man in our lives whenever he seeks to invade our space. To borrow what I consider to be a somewhat odd term nowadays, we are in need of creating a “safe space” throughout the entirety of our bodies and souls where the deceiver gets bounced out in no time. Faster than a Tiger Woods tee shot. Like Adam and Eve, our entire person has been created to be a safe space for the holiness of Jesus. A space where invasions from foreign objects like Satan are not to enter and make for a permanent home. Many folks struggle with creating this space of holiness outside and inside the whole of ourselves, as the dude from down below wants in. For good. The answer, however, is always Jesus in the wilderness.

Through the temptations we hear in the Gospel that are thrust upon our Lord, Jesus dismisses the devil at every step. Our Savior’s dismissals are forceful. They’re spoken in ways that do not allow Satan to enter into any part of Jesus’ being. Christ’s body is like a shield that results in any and every attempt at evil entering to be rebuffed and slam dunked. Evil had no home or place to rest in the Person of Christ. We can say, “Yea, it was easier for Jesus in his encounter with Satan than it is for us weaklings who are totally broken.” Well, yes and no. The yes coming from Jesus being in full communion with his Father. This definitely helps to make the holy decision in his personal garden, making the Divine decision, which Adam and Eve did not do. But no also in that Jesus was, as we know, fully human, and had the choice before him to give in to the devil invading the safe space of his holy body. Satan was told to go fly a kite, to put it in nice language hardly found on Lincoln St. in Worcester. In the end, the Lord did not allow one ounce of Satan’s pure hatred for God to seep in as was the case with Adam and Eve.

Therefore, may this holy season of Lent be a “good Lent.” A time of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, rejoicing in the Lord while rebuffing the wiles of the devil. God gives us the example in his Son, and the strength and grace to make the holy choice.