Spiritual Warfare During Lent
On the lessons I am trying to learn through spiritual warfare during Lent.
This has been a very intense Lent for me, with different types of trials from the practical to the spiritual. I am also trying to learn how to profit spiritually through such bouts, with God alone as my Helper.
I have continually discovered on a daily basis my complete dependency on God's grace and Our Lady's help in making this year's Lent a profitable one. Although it is not easy. As I prayed this morning upon waking, I reflected on these two passages, contemplating their instruction for me as we prepare our souls to enter into the Passion of Our Lord.
"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry." Luke 4:1-2
And when he was come into the house, his disciples secretly asked him: Why could not we cast him out? And he said to them: This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. Mark 9:27-28
St. Thomas Aquinas taught, "Fasting is directed to to two things. The deletion of sin, and the raising of the mind to heavenly things."
We know that two of the enemies of the soul are the devil, who seeks to devour us, and also the flesh, meaning our own self will detached from sanctifying grace or stubbornly resisting actual graces.
In the desert, while Our Lord prayed and fasted for 40 days, He was attacked by the devil. And this came right after His luminous Baptism in the River Jordan with St. John the Baptist. He persevered, and at the conclusion of his fast, He was hungry. And we know His true hunger and thirst is for souls. He went forward in His public ministry, strengthened through His fasting in the desert.
Jesus instructed His Apostles that certain demons could only be expelled through much prayer and fasting. Let us understand through this the true importance of Lent, with its two sanctifying pillars of prayer and fasting. Among many other blessings, this season is intended to train and equip us in true spiritual warfare as soldiers of Christ the King.
Prayer requires faith, hope, humility, and fasting requires fortitude, perseverance, patience. These virtues strengthen our resolve and instruct us mentally, physically, and spiritually to be receptive to the graces that God sends us, as well as teach us to imitate Christ and His Saints. They also have the sublime effect of assisting us in only desiring the Divine Will to reign within our hearts. As Our Lord said in Gethsemane in His Agony, "Not My Will, but Thine be done."
When Jesus taught us to pray, He included this petition: "Adveniat regnum tuum, fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo et in terra." Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as It is in Heaven."
The only sure way we can stand strong in the midst of spiritual warfare is to keep our eyes on Christ, who has conquered the powers of Hell; know ourselves and thus, know our inabilities and limitations, so as to allow God to be the One to work within and through us by means of His Grace; align our desires with God's desires, be subservient to His call, so as to learn how to carry our crosses and endure to the end.
Prayer and fasting both aid us in innumerable ways toward these goals. And both work together in helping us grow in holiness. Even if the fruit is not evident at the outset, allow the season to do its work so that the sprouting can begin and slowly take form. Not all things are intended to be obvious from the beginning, which could very well lead us to pride and vanity. Rather, God slowly causes His fruit to take form in unseen and hidden ways, to keep us docile, trusting in His Providence to complete the good work that was started when we first turned to Him in repentance.
He is truly a Father patiently teaching His children on how to ride a bicycle for the first time. It takes time, because we are prone to wanting to ride on our own merit from the get-go, which inevitably leads to stumbles and falls. God provides the training wheels (the Sacraments, the wisdom of the Saints, the teachings of the Church, the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, the guidance of our Guardian Angels), and He also promises to never let go as He steers us in the direction most conducive to our sanctity and the attainment of virtue.
St. Augustine taught, "Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence." St. Peter Chrysologus said, "Fasting is the soul of prayer."
St. Jane Frances Chantal said, "God hides the prize of eternal glory in our mortifications and in the victory of ourselves, which we always strive for with great gentleness." St. Isaac the Syrian said, "When a man begins to fast, he straightway yearns in his mind to enter into converse with God."
St. John Chrysostom said, "Fasting is the support of our soul: it gives us wings to ascend on high, and to enjoy the highest contemplation!" Pope St. Gregory the Great said that without prayer and fasting, "It is impossible to engage in spiritual conflict."
As I wrote at the outset, profiting from the graces of this season is not easy, at least not evidently from the outset. Our Lord assures us that His yoke is indeed easy, and His burden is light. If it does not seem easy, perhaps I have too much of my self-will and pride still involved.
Lord, be merciful to me, and teach me to learn how to trust in Your way which is the truest yearning of my soul. Give me the desire to be a faithful child of Heaven and a servant of Your Majesty. Deliver me from evil, be my Shepherd in the valley of the shadow of death. For You alone are the sole consolation of my soul. And Our Lady is the sweet hope of my soul.
Your child and Your servant, forever indebted to Your patience and goodness, Joseph Nicholas.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls.
