Please listen to Fr. Broom's talk on Spiritual Combat
Our life on earth is constant combat,
warfare, struggle and fighting against three major enemies: the devil, the
flesh and the world. Until our dying breath, the struggle and battle must be
waged. Work hard, fight courageously now then in heaven we can rest for all
eternity---- this is the work-plan and strategy of the saints, our brothers and
sisters in heaven.
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"The Devil is the Enemy of Human Nature"
St. Ignatius of Loyola
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Never forget! The devil never rests. He
works 366 days a year, 8 days a week, 25
hours a day. Indeed he never goes on vacation; and when we go on vacation he
goes along with us. In this article we will
give names for the devil from the Bible and the saints. Following we will
pinpoint five specific areas that the devil utilizes to enter into our lives,
to tempt us and submerge us into sin. The Desert Fathers insistently remind us
of the extreme necessity of self-knowledge. Their short by penetrating axiom should
be our lighthouse in our defense against the devil:
KNOW THYSELF!
KNOW THYSELF! KNOW THYSELF!
NAMES FOR THE DEVIL. There are various names for the devil from
the Bible as well as names the saints have given for the devil during the
course of history. Let us start with the Bible and some common names for the
devil: Satan, Lucifer (Light-bearer), demon, devil, Prince of this world, the
ancient serpent, and the accuser. Jesus calls the devil “A liar and murderer
from the beginning” (Jn. 8), as well as Beelzebub, which means “the Lord of the
flies”.
SAINTS VOCABULARY. The saints have their own specific way that
they name or describe the devil and each description manifests a different
dimension of the evil of the devil himself.
St. Augustine calls him an angry dog bound to a chain. St. Thomas
Aquinas, famous for his concise theological definitions defines him by his
function, “The tempter!” St. Ignatius of
Loyola who gave us the meditation of the Two Standards of the mortal combat of
Jesus against Satan calls the devil, “the enemy of our human nature.” St. Martin of Tours describes the devil as “a
bloody brute.” Finally, the Prince of
the Apostles, St Peter calls the devil “a roaring lion seeking whom he can
devour…” Both these Biblical names as well
as names that the saints have coined for us can help us to understand the
malicious intent of the devil!
PURPOSE OF THE DEVIL. The devil has an intense hatred for
God. Consequently, he hates all that God
loves. Of all His creation, the actual
crown of creation in the world is the human person---man and woman. The devil hates the human person who is
created in the image and likeness of God. The devil’s intent and purpose is to
destroy man by tempting him to fall into sin--- especially mortal sin, to tempt
him to fall frequently into mortal sin such that it becomes a habit, a vice.
This vice becomes slavery, a chain, an addiction, a binding force, so that when
this person dies in this state he will lose God for all eternity, be condemned
to hell-fire, and be eternally tortured and tormented by the devil himself for
all eternity. How ugly but how true this is! We must be aware of the purpose
and intent of the devil so as to fight valiantly against his assaults!
WHEN DOES THE DEVIL LAUNCH HIS ATTACKS?
ALWAYS! As said earlier, the devil never rests nor
goes on vacation—even though we do and possibly too much! We can never let down our guard and say,
“The coast is clear and all is safe from the attacks of the devil.” Constantly Jesus warns us in words and
Parables with: Stay away! Be alert! Be
vigilant! He will come like a thief in
the night when you least expect it. In
the Garden of Gethsemane He warned the Apostles, “Stay awake and pray so that
you will not be put to the test because the spirit is willing and the flesh is
weak.”
1.
DESOLATION.
St. Ignatius of Loyola warns us in the Rules for discernment and the
state of desolation. What is desolation? Let us listen to St. Ignatius himself:
“Darkness of soul. Turmoil of spirit,
inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness rising from many disturbances
and temptations which lead to want of faith, want of hope, want of love. The
soul is wholly slothful tepid, sad, and separated, as it were, from its Creator
and Lord… (Rule 4, Rules for Discernment, St Ignatius of Loyola). When we
find ourselves in this state of soul, and everybody in the world experiences
this at times, then we are a prime target for the devil and must know the spiritual
arms and strategy that we must employ to engage in mortal combat against the
enemy. If not, there is a good chance that his deceits and trickery will
conquer us!
2.
PHYSICAL STATE OF WEARINESS OR EXHAUASTION. Do not think that because you are sick, tired,
wearied to the point of exhaustion that the devil is sick and tired of
attacking you! On the contrary, when he
sees us depleted of energy and worn down to a thread, he marshals up his forces
and tactics double to go for the kill! Once again vigilance and spiritual
alertness is all the more necessary!
3.
WOUNDEDNESS! Vultures are carnivorous birds that prey
on the weakness of animals. It is especially true that the vulture detects a
wounded animal—it can even be a human person.
When the vulture detects a gaping wound of an animal who approaches
death he prepares for the attack with his fellow vultures by flying and
hovering over his victim to eventually swoop down for the kill and to devour
mercilessly! Like a vulture, the devil
is keenly aware of a wounded individual. Once one is filled with anger, bitterness, vindictiveness,
unwilling to forgive past hurts but ready for revenge--- all of these are clear
signs of a wounded individual. This is a
ripe and fertile terrain for the wily and astute “ancient serpent”, the
“consummate liar” to insinuate himself, cajole, seduce, tempt and conquer.
4.
KRYPTONITE/WEAK POINT! The famous series of SUPERMAN can serve to teach us how the devil attacks
us. Superman had superhuman strength in
all aspects: flying, running, scaling walls and buildings, not to mention sheer
human Herculean strength. However, if exposed to one element Superman’s
strength was rendered impotent and it was the simple exposure to the fictional
chemical element that was called
KRYPTONITE. Once in contact with Kryptonite, Superman was as weak and
vulnerable as any other human person. It was his major “Weak-point.” Once again St. Ignatius in his 14th
Rule for discernment describes the devil as a commander and leader of an
army. He will camp near the
fortification that he wants to conquer; once discovered the weak point he
attacks to plunder to sack to kill and be off with the
treasures! Therefore, it is incumbent on the follower of Christ the King to
arrive at self-knowledge, to know his major weak-point, to know his own
“Kryptonite” so as to put up his defense and avoid moral disaster!
In the
following article we will outline a series of practical means (spiritual
weapons) we can utilize in fighting the good fight against the devil in his
many snares and traps he places in front of our pathway to heaven!
