The Church gives us weapons to battle the powers of evil

For the Christian, spiritual warfare is our life-long battle to reject temptation to sin and choose God. Temptations may come from the demons, or through our fallen human nature. The Catechism notes that an effect of Original Sin is that we are “…inclined to sin – an inclination to evil that is called ‘concupiscence.’” Our Baptism removes Original Sin, but, in this life, not its effects, including concupiscence: “the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.” (405)

Temptation may also come from people and things around us that point us to worldly things rather than God; for centuries, Catholic religious have fled to remote areas to found communities away from the worldliness of the civilizations in which they found themselves. St. Benedict (480-547), the father of western monasticism and author of the Rule of St. Benedict (a rule of life for monks), for example, found the licentiousness of Rome harmful to the health of his soul, so he fled to the mountains in search of solitude. He went on to found 12 monasteries and settled in the famous monastery Monte Cassino in southern Italy. His twin sister, Scholastica, followed her brother’s example, and founded the first “Benedictine” community for women.

Scripture repeatedly reminds us of the reality of spiritual warfare…

Ephesians 6:11: “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.”
1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour.”

Christ Himself knew well the weakness of human nature and the importance of continual prayer if we are to stay out of sin. Recall the night in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus underwent His agony, breaking from His regular practice of going off to pray alone, He brought the Apostles Peter, James and John with Him. He repeated this warning to them:

Luke 22:40: “Pray, that you may not undergo the test.”

The fact that we are told, “And [the Apostles] all left him and fled” (Mark 14:50), as well as Peter’s denial of Jesus (Luke 22:54-62), suggests that the Apostles did more sleeping than praying!

Our battle against evil must begin with an awareness of evil, and the use of the spiritual weapons the Church offers us with which to protect ourselves. These weapons include many of the things we’ve been speaking about in this book: regular prayer, the Mass, the sacraments, sacramentals, devotion to the Blessed Mother, penance and mortification, etc.

We must also work to overcome sin and remove the things in our lives that lead to sin, as sin is the portal through which we invite the devil into our lives. If we are living a devout Catholic life and are striving to avoid sin, the devil will have little power over us. Yet if we neglect our spiritual lives and live a life of sin, the opposite will be true

In this petition [“but deliver us from evil”], evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The devil (dia-bolos) is the one who “throws himself across” God’s plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2851

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.
Ephesians 6:12

Deacon Steve Greco is a permanent deacon of the Dioces of Orange, CA, and a member of Legatus' Orange County Chapter. He is also founder and president of Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry, and winner of Legatus' 2021 Bowie Kuhn Special Award for Evangelization.