Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare

 EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY   ‘SPIRITUAL WARFARE’?

Keep sober and alert, because your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that it is the same kind of suffering that the community of your brothers throughout the world is undergoing.  You will have to suffer only for a little while: the God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will restore you, he will confirm, strengthen and support you. His power lasts for ever and ever. Amen.

Spiritual Warfare is the struggle encountered in the Christian’s life between the war between God and Satan and between good and evil.  Jesus is the victor; yet, each Christian undergoes this struggle because Satan wishes to steal for himself those that belong to the kingdom of light/God. 

Satan is clever and he always used techniques, which attack us at our weakest spot. We may unwittingly submit to him even through the activity chosen may be indeed quite harmless. For example: I may be resolved to pray early in the morning.  However, I may choose through constant niggling from the evil one to ‘just check my emails- could be something important’. One email lead to another and before long, the time that I had set aside for the Lord is gone.  I then get the day underway without giving any time to the Lord.  Checking one’s emails is harmless, but putting it before prayer time can make it into a god of its own.  In the example given, the evil one ‘won’ because I was distracted from the Lord- that is in Satan’s interest- and anything is used to take the person away from Christ.

       Weapons which we as Christians have available to us include:

·                      Acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our life and submitting to Him in mind, body, soul and spirit.  Using the powerful name of Jesus helps the enemy to flee.

·                     Being covered by the precious blood of Jesus as a reminder of Jesus’ victory on the cross.

·                     Confessing the truth of the victory of Christ in our lives through personal testimony.

·                     Being totally committed to Christ and enduring when struggles occur.

·                     Prayer and fasting with the help of the Holy Spirit.

·                     Calling on the Holy Spirit in prayer using the spiritual gifts and fruits he has given us.

·                     Praise and worship is valuable because it is both a time of healing and it is centred on God and not on us.

·                     Resisting the enemy by standing firm, being steadfast in faith and renouncing and rebuking him in Jesus’ name.

Spiritual warfare has in the Catholic Church a diverse opinion- those who shun it and those who acknowledge its existence.  An excellent resource is called Spiritual Warfare- Undeniable reality on this topic by an truly amazing priest-Fr John Corapi.  Saint Ignatius acknowledged this concept of spiritual warfare.  My own view is more in accordance with what has been previously outlined, as I feel that many have been sold the greatest lie by the evil one, i.e. that he does not exist.  Believing this therefore means they seemingly have no reason to be on the alert for him, hence, giving him full power over them in their lives.

Another weapon appropriate in the Catholic Church to counterattack the enemy is frequent confession (reconciliation), which helps us to be in right relationship with God and ourselves and our neighbour.  Weekly/ daily participation at Mass strengthens the Christian, and provides the grace received to counterattack the enemy and to make Jesus Lord in our lives.