Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen.

Our opponent is the Devil. He is always on the lookout for our weaknesses and constantly tempting us to sin. This is why it's so important to be sober and vigilant and resist him. At the same time, we should understand that everyone in the world is undergoing the same trials and as such we should have compassion and patience toward our family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. We need to imitate Jesus and be loving of all, even our enemies and pray that those around us do not fall prey to the Devil. We might indeed suffer for our faith and undergo many trials of our purity, hopefulness, and mercy, but we must make every effort to trust in God and allow Him to have dominion over us body, mind, and soul.

Are we resisting the Devil with all we have? How can we do a better job of allowing God's graces to support and sustain us through our trials? Are we allowing God to have dominion over us or are we seeking dominion over ourselves?

O Lord, make us sober, vigilant, and better able to resist temptations and imitate you.

Amen.