The head of Human Life International, Father Tom Euteneuer, discusses the subject of Exorcism and Spiritual Warfare in a new book called "Exorcism and the Church Militant": Click Here
Question: why does God permit us to experience Spiritual Warfare?
God permits us to experience spiritual warfare not only to allow us to win souls for Him but to make us into saints. We do so by spiritually training hard like athletes so we may be spiritually fit and deserving of the imperishable crown won at the end of the race, the imperishable crown being Eternal Life in Heaven where we will enjoy the Beatific Vision if we gain Final Perseverance at the end of life and die in a state of Sanctifying Grace (the spiritual warfare/athlete/imperishable crown theme is also the teaching of Saint Paul). Saint Paul says,
"Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
If we never fought the battle as the Church Militant (the Church Militant is engaged in spiritual war against the world, the flesh and Satan) then we would not be properly prepared and deserving of Heaven. It takes a real commitment to Jesus and His Church, a love for TRUTH, to overcome obstacles in the spiritual life so we may reach the end of the race victoriously even though we may be beaten up and fall very often along the way. Keeping our eyes on the prize even though Satan forces us to lose focus by causing us to be distracted along the way of the spiritual life is something that can be achieved only through prayer and through frequent reception of the Sacraments and through daily acts of Mortification. We have to achieve this in obedience to Our Lord and Savior Jesus who commands us to "be perfect" (holy) as our Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).
This is also why we must consistently support and pray for each other out of charity and love for the TRUTH as members of the Church Militant (by practicing the Spiritual Works of Mercy (which concerns the soul: http://www.secondexodus.com/html/catholicdefinitions/spiritualworksofmercy.htm) and the Corporal Works of Mercy (which concerns the body: http://www.secondexodus.com/html/catholicdefinitions/corporalworksofmercy.htm).
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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Catholic Converts Blog
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7 comments:
what is spiritual exercise? So, if you arent spiritually strong you lose the battle? What happens to you when you lose? Why do we have to fight spiritual battles? We arent in the spirit world. Our spirit is in the spirit world. Our body is in the physical world.
I will answer your questions this time, but I really have not been paying too much attention to this blog for a long period of time as you can tell by the very few articles I have been posting during the past two or three years (by the way, this blog was formerly called Catholic Apologetics of America). I have been spending much of my time these days studying for degrees in Theology at a local college. The best way to receive a more detailed and ongoing response is by joining an active Catholic discussion forum called Pascendi's Catholic Forum: http://pascendi2.websitetoolbox.com/ The administrator and members of the aforementioned forum are also knowledgeable in their Catholic faith and are very much charitable when dealing with other people, including those who do not agree with them.
I believe the best way to understand the Catholic meaning of "spiritual exercises" is to study the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Here is Father John Hardon's definition of St. Ignatius' spiritual exercises taken from his Modern Catholic Dictionary which is available Online at this address: http://therealpresence.org/dictionary/adict.htm
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. Any set program of religious duties, notably the prayers, meditations, and spiritual reading required of persons following a distinctive rule of life. Also the period of silence and prayerful reflection practiced annually (or more often) in a retreat. Particularly the Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius Loyola, drawn up as a method of arriving at the amendment of one's life and resolving on a determined way of holiness. The Exercises of St. Ignatius were first composed by him in a cave at Manresa, in Spain, after his conversion. They have been recommended by successive popes as a most effective program of spiritual renewal for priests, religious, and the laity. Their underlying principle is their opening statement that "Man was created to praise, reverence and serve our Creator and Lord, and by this means to save his soul." Given this basic purpose of human existence, the believer is told how to reach his or her destiny by overcoming sinful tendencies and imitating Christ in carrying the Cross on earth in order to be glorified with Christ in the life to come.
To understand the Catholic understanding of the spiritual battle we are going through in this world it is important to understand that the Catholic Church teaches that there are three states of the Church forming what is called the "Mystical Body of Christ". There is the Church Militant (Catholics in this world who are striving for holiness as they battle against the sins of the flesh, the world and Satan); there is the Church Suffering (the holy souls in Purgatory) and the Church Triumphant (i.e., Heaven which includes those Heavenly citizens, the Saints, who achieved Final Perseverance and died in this world (and gained Heaven) in a state of Sanctifying Grace and who now enjoy the Beatific Vision -the full definitions of these and other key Catholic terms can be found in any Online Catholic dictionary and in Catholic Encyclopedias, e.g., http://therealpresence.org/dictionary/adict.htm; http://www.secondexodus.com/html/catholicdefinitions/centraldefinitions.htm; http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexncd.htm and http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/).
We are human beings made of both Body and Soul ever since our First Parents, Adam and Eve, were infused by God with a soul at the moment of their creation (see the Catechism for a complete understanding of this topic: http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p6.htm; the CCC also discusses the Catholic understanding of "body and soul"). As our First Parents were tempted by Satan and lost Original Justice which was replaced by Original Sin so we too are vulnerable to the temptations of Satan and his minions, but this is overcome through the mercy and generosity of God by Baptism which is necessary for our salvation (see John 3) because it removes Original Sin from our souls and makes us members of the Body of Christ. The Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation removes Actual Sin http://www.catholicity.com/baltimore-catechism/lesson06.html(unlike Original Sin, these are sins that we actually commit after Baptism at the age of reason and thereafter and they are either mortal and venial. Venial sins can be pardoned without this sacrament). Confession restores sanctifying grace to our souls and restores us to the Body of Christ. The Eucharist (see John 6 and 1 Corinthians 11) is also necessary because it is truly the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ and gives grace, the life of Christ Himself, to the soul for our spiritual nourishment. Just as the body needs food and water for [physical nourishment] so too do our souls need [spiritual nourishment] through Christ and the Sacraments (JESUS IS THE ONE AND ONLY PRIMARY EFFICIENT CAUSE OF THE SACRAMENTS).
This is Formal Church Teaching on the Soul:
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. p. 900 - The spiritual principle of human beings. The soul is the subject of human consciousness and freedom; soul and body together form one unique human nature. Each human soul is individual and immortal, immediately created by God. The soul does not die with the body, from which it is separated by death, and with which it will be reunited in the final resurrection (363, 366; cf. 1703).
From Father Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary, p. 514 - The spiritual immortal part in a human being that animates his body. Though a substance in itself, the soul is naturally ordained toward a body. Separated, it is an incomplete substance. The soul has no parts, it is therefore simple, but it is not without accidents. The faculties are its proper accidents. Every experience adds to its accidental form. It is individually created for each person by God and infused into the body at the time of human insemination. It is moreover created in respect to the body it will inform, so that the substance of bodily features and of mental characteristics insofar as they depend on organic functions is safeguarded. As a simple and spiritual substance the soul cannot die. Yet it is not the total human nature, since a human person is composed of body animated by the soul. In philosophy, animals and plants are also said to have souls, which operate as sensitive and vegetative principles of life. Unlike the human spirit, these souls are perishable. The rational soul contains all the powers of the two other souls and is the origin of the sensitive and vegetative functions in the human being. [END]
As human beings, we also have free will and we either choose good or evil as we journey through life just as our First Parents were able to choose good or evil in the Garden of Eden through free will. Evil or sin, mortal or venial, is always damaging to the soul because it deprives the soul of grace whereas when we turn away from sin and choose good, choose holiness over evil, through the right use of free will then our souls are spiritually nourished because they receive the light of grace. We are each called by Jesus to become holy, (e.g., see Matthew 5) and enter His kingdom but “the way” is not easy because so many souls turn bad thus turning away from God in favor of sin. As Jesus says, "Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able" (Luke 13:24). We strive to enter Heaven simply by being faithful to Jesus who is "the Way and the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6) and His Church which Saint Paul describes in the singular sense as "the pillar and bulwark (ground, foundation) of the Truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).
Through Jesus we find rest for our souls...
Matthew 11:29
"Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls."
Luke 9:56
"The Son of man came not to destroy souls, but to save."
Luke 5:31-32
"And Jesus answering, said to them: 'They that are whole, need not the physician: but they that are sick. I came not to call the just, but sinners to penance.'"
Sacred Scripture, the early Church Fathers, the Saints, Mystics, Doctors of the Church, and the immutable teachings of the Magisterium have each stated that in this world there is an ongoing battle for souls being waged between God and Satan and his minions. As 1 Peter 5:8 warns, "Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." See also Ephesians 6:10ff http://drbo.org/chapter/56006.htm (in Saint John's gospel, Satan is described as the "prince of this world", a world that is temporal thus his power is temporary because of the presence of Christ and His Church which are always present to bring people to salvation. Christ will wipe away all evil at His Second Coming when the General Judgment and General Resurrection shall take place).
In Ephesians 6, Saint Paul says that "our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places." ("high places" that is "the lowest of the celestial regions; in which God permits [these] wicked spirits or fallen angels to wander" ~Douay Rheims Bible). Those who are “wrestling” and lose the spiritual battle, i.e., lose their salvation, are those who commit grave matter (mortal sin) with full knowledge of their sinful act or actions and with full and deliberate consent of the will and who continue to follow Satan and his minions and their evil plans freely till death without converting. They are in danger of going to Hell (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm) because of their freely chosen rejection of God who is not a God of evil but a God of love (1 John 4:8). It is not that God sends souls to Hell because He wishes to send them to Hell. God desires not the death of a sinner, but that the sinner convert and live (Ezekiel 18:32). Souls go to Hell because of Divine justice. God respects our human freedom and, therefore, souls go to hell because they freely rejected God by choosing evil over good. What is evil? Evil is an absence of good and Hell is an absence of God who is Perfect Beauty, Perfect Wisdom and Perfect Goodness. God alone is Infinite Truth.
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