All humans struggle with moral perfection, and temptations to sin are ever-present. Jesus tells us, “Temptations to sin are sure to come . . .” (Lk 17:1; RSV-CE). Yet Jesus, the Catholic Church, and Sacred Scripture call us to moral per … [Read more...]
The Importance of Recognizing Satan’s Existence
August 30, 2022 by John Boyle
This essay is a sequel to my article, “Disbelief in the Existence of Personified Evil” in the August 2020 issue of this same publication. In that article, I explained Satan’s identity, his motives, his ways, the times in which he attacks, an … [Read more...]
Today’s Disbelief in the Existence of Personified Evil
The World, the Flesh, and the Devil
August 28, 2020 by John Boyle
In my vocation as a coach, I have regular contact with youth and young adults, and they often confide their troubles to me. I have met many who have struggled with temptation, fallen into sin, and become enslaved by sinful habits. Their … [Read more...]
A Surprising Beatitude
Dashing the Little Ones upon the Rock
January 1, 2019 by Kevin M. Clarke
In a 2007 class on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesuit Fr. James Swetnam passed along to us two words of wisdom from German Biblical scholar Joachim Jeremias. The first word: read a chapter of New Testament Greek every day. Indeed, very wise … [Read more...]
The Noonday Devil
January 1, 2019 by Fr. William P. Clark, OMI
The ninety-first psalm speaks of “the scourge that wreaks havoc at high noon.” It also expresses confidence in God’s protection from that scourge, as well as other evils. Based on that psalm some spiritual writers speak of the “Noonday Devil … [Read more...]
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
February 21, 2017 by Douglas G. Bushman, STL
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Cor 13:11). It is a very good thing to learn one’s faith at a young age. And it is a very good thing … [Read more...]
Sifting Interior Movements of the Heart
November 21, 2016 by Fr. James Rafferty, S.T.D.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving … [Read more...]
God’s Armor versus the Devil’s Stratagems
Spiritual Combat Revisited
August 29, 2016 by Fr. Andreas Hoeck, SSD
Introduction To say that we are living in thoroughly trying times is unfortunately neither an exaggeration nor a platitude. We are witnessing the symmetrically opposite progression of falling ethical standards on the one hand, and rising … [Read more...]
Lent: A Time for Conversion
March 4, 2014 by Fr. Richard Gribble, CSC
Each and every day, we have the opportunity to be converted, to draw closer to Christ, and to better, and to more fully understand, our Christian responsibility to complete Jesus’ work in our world. Many years ago, while walking with a … [Read more...]
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