One day, the devil appeared to three monks and asked each of them individually what they would change from the Past.

- Devil: 'If I gave you the power to change something in your past, what would you change?'

The first monk quickly answered with great apostolic zeal:

- I would not allow you to let Adam and Eve fall into sin, so that humanity would not move away from God.

The second monk, who had a heart full of mercy, answered:

- I would prevent you from moving away from God, Who could condemn you for eternity.

The third monk was the simplest of the three. Instead of answering the devil, he fell on his knees, crossed himself and prayed:

- Lord, deliver me from the temptation of "what could have been" and "what was not".

The devil then let out a piercing scream and, writhing in pain, vanished before their eyes..

Surprised, the other two asked their brother:

- Brother, why did you answer like that?

The third monk explained:

- First of all, we should never enter a dialogue with the enemy. Secondly, no one in the world has the power to change the Past, and thirdly, the devil is not in the least interested in helping us, but rather in locking us in the Past, in the hope that we might neglect the Present.

Why? Because the Present is the only time that we can, with God's Grace, cooperate with Him.

The devil's strategy - the one that mostly imprisons people and prevents them from living the Present in unity with God - is a strategy that "could have been realized, but wasn't."

Let's leave the Past in the hands of God's Mercy, and let's leave the Future in the hands of His Providence. Only the Present is in our hands - along with the hand of God'.