The Devil’s Long Con

Reflection for April 26, 2026 – The Fourth Sunday of Easter

In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes Himself to the Pharisees as the gate for the sheep. He tells them that it is only through Him that life is truly found.  Find Today’s Reading Here

The algorithm on my streaming service has been suggesting a lot of romantic scam documentaries lately. If you’re not familiar, romantic scams are a particularly cruel form of “the long con.”

Some man presents himself to some woman as Prince Charming. He wines her. He dines her. He charms her mom and makes her friends jealous. Little red flags pop up here and there, but she shrugs them all off. She accepts convenient explanations.

She just wants to be happy.

And then one day, Prince Charming vanishes, along with the contents of the woman’s savings account. Every victim says the same thing: “I should have known better, but I wanted it to be real.”

I think the reason I’m so drawn to these shows is that I identify with these women. No, I’ve never been the victim of a romantic scam (if my husband married me thinking he would gain access to some kind of fortune, he’s the one who got scammed). But we have all told ourselves that something is right because it feels right. We have shrugged off doubts about a choice, a relationship, a habit.

We have accepted easy answers that don’t pass the sniff test — because we really, really wanted an answer, and we really, really wanted it to be easy.

The devil is a romantic scammer. A third-party retailer hawking knock-off joy and fulfillment. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. A false prophet. A thief, a robber who has climbed the fence, knowing the gate will not admit him.

These are all different ways of saying the same thing: we can recognize what is real by where it comes from. What it sounds like. This ability to discern truth is written into our souls. We can ignore it, if we want. Suppress it. We can follow the stranger.

But where will he lead?

©LPi