Be always on guard

THAT’S simply because our life will always be in some

warfare. And it is not so much in the outside or the visible world as

in the inside or the invisible aspects of our life. Our war will be

more in our mind, heart and soul, in our thoughts, desires,

intentions, memory, imagination, feelings and passions. We need to be

more aware of this reality.

   

            The Book of Job already warned us about it. “The life of

man upon earth is a warfare.” (7,1) We should not take things for

granted. We have to learn the art of spiritual warfare which should be

a continuing project for all of us, since the battlefronts of this

warfare will always be changing.

   

            We have to remember that we are ranged against very

powerful enemies, first among whom are our very own selves, our

weakened flesh that can be the most treacherous friend we can have. It

is afflicted with a three-fold concupiscence: the concupiscence of the

flesh, that of the eyes and the pride of life.

  

            Then we have the world that has absorbed the effects of

our sinfulness. As a consequence, it now has structures and systems of

evil working with great power and influence. Think, for example, of

the plague of pornography, corruption and deception, and of the

so-called culture of death that now legalizes and normalizes anomalies

like abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, etc.

  

            And then we have the devil himself, a pure spirit full of

malice and cunning, capable of organizing a very sophisticated

conspiracy to trip us in our way to our life eternal in heaven. We

should always be wary of him, since he is always hounding us, made

worse by the fact that he knows how to make his presence not felt by

us. He is good in disguising.

  

            Remember St. Paul’s warning: “We wrestle not against flesh

and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the

rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in

high places.” (Eph 6,12)

  

            We should not be naïve. Christ himself told us: “I am

sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as

snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Mt 10,16) The combination between

serpentine shrewdness and dove-like innocence may be tricky, but with

God, we can achieve it. There is no doubt about that.

  

            We cannot overemphasize the need for extreme vigilance.

This is not paranoia, but rather a basic norm of prudence. We have to

do some intelligence work to detect as early as possible any oncoming

danger and to nip it in the bud. We have to learn how to say No to

temptations and to quell a raging urge, a strong impulse to fall into

them. In this regard, we have to really be mean and lean, in perfect

shape and fit for battle.

  

            We also have to know how to closely monitor the progress

of this warfare of ours, while keeping a stable focus of the ultimate

destination we are aiming at. There, for sure, will be many decoys

meant to mislead and confuse us. There will be false apostles and

prophets and the devil himself can take on the form of an angel of

light. (cfr 2 Cor 11,13) We have to learn how to smell them from afar.

   

            For all this, we really need to be vitally identified with

Christ as much as possible, through prayers, recourse of the

sacraments, development of virtues, the waging of the ascetical

struggle, etc.

  

            We have to learn to be on guard always, never letting our

guard down even while resting or having some fun. Remember Christ

saying: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch

when he returns…Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the

night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed…” (Lk

12,37-38)