Jesus said: “no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.” This is exactly how temptation and sin work. It is very common that a person comes to Reconciliation to confess a certain sin and then makes a promise that they will avoid that sin. He or she leaves the confessional with a great strength, joy, and readiness to fight all these temptations. However, after a day, or a week, or maybe after a month, the person is weakening, forgetting about promises made during the last confession. They start making a little exception here and there, and they ‘fraternize’ with the Evil one. It starts with the smallest thought and then turns into a bigger sin. That’s how Satan ‘ties us up’- with a small thought, a very innocent temptation. After that he can do whatever he wants -- he can plunder your soul. What to do to avoid that? Jesus tells us not to keep entertaining the temptation by not making any exceptions to whatever evil thought is tempting us. Just be strong, be brief, be very specific. Tell the Evil One to “get lost’!
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