One of Satan’s primary goals is to accuse us, laying before us all of our sins in hopes that we will sink deeper into despair.
The Book of Revelation directly mentions Satan as the accuser.
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Revelation 12:9-11
Satan’s desire to accuse us in in stark contrast with the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
It is the Advocate who seeks to build us up and literally advocate for our cause before the heavenly court.
To put it simply, the Advocate represents God’s merciful love towards us, while Satan the accuser seek our ruin through our sins.
God wants to forgive us, while Satan wants to condemn us.
St. Ignatius of Loyola explained in his spiritual exercises that Satan’s voice is one that tries to disturb us and our peace.
He notes, “if in the course of the thoughts which he brings it ends in something bad, of a distracting tendency, or less good than what the soul had previously proposed to do, or if it weakens it or disquiets or disturbs the soul, taking away its peace, tranquillity and quiet, which it had before, it is a clear sign that it proceeds from the evil spirit, enemy of our profit and eternal salvation.”
Above all, Satan wants to take away from our peace and to drive us deeper into despair.
Let us do all we can to fly away from Satan’s accusations and to bury ourselves into the loving arms of our Merciful Father.
And today we celebrate...