· Spiritual warfare is a reality in the life of every human being, especially every Catholic.
· Pope Francis says the Christian life “is a military life” and it takes ‘strength and courage to withstand the Devil’s temptation and to proclaim the truth.’ He goes on to say this is a ‘beautiful battle, a continuous battle, not a simple confrontation with the Prince of Darkness.’
· We must acknowledge the reality that the devil is real and he hates us. His goal is to get us to sin and separate us from God. Spiritual warfare is simply living in this reality.
· We are not afraid of the devil but we must resist him and acknowledge that without Jesus’ mercy we are helpless against him.
· Our Young Adult group recently read “Spiritual Warfare & Discernment of Spirits” by Dan Burke as their book study and discussion. They highly recommend it.
· Spiritual Warfare begins in our minds, with our thoughts. We can reject thoughts that are not from God through the power of the name of Jesus. One simple, but powerful, prayer that we can use to fight is called the Jesus Prayer: “Jesus, son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
o “For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. We destroy arguments and every pretension raising itself against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ” ~ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
o Begin becoming aware of your thoughts. Then start rejecting those that cause fear and anxiety. Replace them with the truth that comes from God.
· The scriptures say that our armor in this battle is made up of truth, prayer, faith, and the word of God.
· “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
· CCC 2729: ” Therein lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve.”