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Luke 22:31-32 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren."

 

Obviously, Simon Peter was especially important to the Church, so one can see why Satan would have demanded a crack at him, but I think this "sifting" is a fact of life for all of us. Satan may not need to demand to have us, he has claim to us before we are baptized, and even after that many of us choose him over God without much testing. Some fall right through the sieve without any resistance. When we are approaching holiness, though, gaining substance that might survive the sifting, the devil asserts his claim, making his demand, and God allows that because our commitment to Him is all the better once tested. Think of the opening scene of Job, where Satan asserts that Job is only as holy as he is because he has been so blessed, and God allows Satan to test Job. (Job 1:6-12).

 

Jesus tells Peter that He has prayed for him, knowing that this sifting was coming (and also knowing that Peter will deny Him three times shortly after this conversation (Luke 22:34)). This also is done for each of us, Jesus is constantly interceding with the Father for us! As He went through his Passion, from the Agony in the Garden through His Death on the Cross, Jesus was thinking about each and every one of us, pleading with the Father not to hold our sins against us and to allow us each to receive the grace and benefit of His sacrifice*. There is nothing stronger than that! If we simply accept God's mercy and the fruits of Jesus' Passion, the devil can sift all he wants but we will remain saved. Finally, as Jesus tells Peter, when we turn again back to God, we are use the lessons and grace gained from our sifting to strengthen our brethren.

 

This sifting is not pleasant, as both Job and Peter can attest, but if we choose to trust throughout, we will come out much stronger and holier than when it began. While the lessons learned from it are often quite personal, we shouldn't hang on to them just for ourselves. There are others who are or will be going through something similar, and we can strengthen them as they go through their own sifting.

 

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*(See The Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ for many examples of this, including this, as He was being crucified: "Holy Father, here I am, burdened with all the sins of the world. There is no sin which is not laid upon me. For this reason, do not pour out the punishments of your divine justice upon men, but upon me, your Son. O Father, let me bind all souls to this cross, and implore forgiveness for them with the voices of my blood and of my wounds. O Father, don't you see how I have been reduced? By this cross, in virtue of these sufferings, grant true conversion, peace, forgiveness and holiness to everyone.”)