You say, “It’s probably best not to dwell too long on the precise schematics of Satan’s machinations.”

Even so, two or three examples of how Satan involves himself in human affairs would be helpful. Can he read our thoughts and/or put thoughts in our minds? Can he cause us to do something by accident? Can he intensify an impulse to do something wrong, or, alternatively, weaken our will? I believe there are books on demonology, but in the interests of being able to sleep at night, I don’t want to read them. But there must be something that people like Archbishop Chaput can say about precisely how Satan influences humans and human events. If it is a total unknown, why even bring it up?

A couple years back, on a whim with tongue in cheek, I dropped Abp Chaput an e-mail praising an essay of his and asking to become a member of his fan club.

I was surprised to get a prompt e-mail answer. True to his character, his response was brief, pithy, and right on target: “the only fan club worth joining is the fan club of Jesus Christ.”

Amen.

Or why God would stand to let himself face temptation in the desert by that same Devil. All good questions and worthy of contemplation.

From time to time my thoughts come back to the sobering thought that every sin I ever committed, fact is, I wanted to commit it. I was convinced on some level that, actually, it was the better good. I was wrong about that – but at the moment, I convinced myself on some deep level that I wasn’t wrong.

Resisting temptation is, in a real sense, knowing that one is being lied to.

There’s a way of speaking about sin that says it is acting in a way not fully human – that is, not the way that we are truly created to act, with freedom and dignity. Free will is part of that dignity. God could remove the free will, (disallow the possibility of temptation,) but the resulting person would *also* be less than fully human.

Responding later to a question from CNA about where he sees the Devil’s presence in society, the archbishop said, “Well, one of the most obvious things in the United States is internet pornography which is pervasive, and subtle, and attractive and totally destructive of peoples’ lives and there’s very little talk about fighting it.

I always wonder how it is believed that the devil is responsible for influencing human actions. That is, by what mechanisms can the devil work in the world? Can the devil read human minds? Can he (or she) put thoughts in human minds? Can the devil cause you to make a typing mistake that takes your web browser to a porn site you never intended to visit that will tempt you in some way? Can the devil make stronger with a person an existing impulse?

I don’t automatically scoff at the idea of the devil being able to act in the world. Nobody was more frightened by The Exorcist than I was. But I really don’t understand how it is possible, or why a God who stands ready to give grace to overcome temptations would permit it.