Laughing at Lucifer: Link

Good advice for Lent, or any time:

• "Laughing at Lucifer in Lent"
  Father Dwight Longenecker, Register correspondent, National Catholic Register (February 8, 2010)

The op-ed piece starts out by recalling a book you've probably read:

"In 1942 C.S. Lewis published one of his most enduring and endearing books. 'The Screwtape Letters' is a collection of imaginative epistles from a senior devil to his junior colleague, outlining how he should handle his 'patient.' Lewis wrote the book as a series of essays for The Guardian newspaper and confessed that the pieces were not fun to write.

"Over the years Lewis’ Luciferian letters have become ever more popular. In 2003 the Fellowship for the Performing Arts created a stage adaptation of 'Screwtape.' It ran for 11 weeks in New York City and is now...."
(National Catholic Register)

The idea of laughing at Satan isn't new:

"...Luther wrote, 'The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.'

"For his part, St. Thomas More said: 'The devil … that proud spirit … cannot endure to be mocked.'..."
(National Catholic Register)

It's a bit on the long side for online publications - I think this started as a print-media article. On the other hand, it's fairly easy reading.

And, more to the point, has something to say about Lent and laughter. Despite the impression some people give, Christianity - Catholicism, at any rate - is a joyful faith.

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A tip of the hat to MatthewWarner, on Twitter, for the heads-up on the Catholic News Service post.