What to fight against?

We would like to start today with St. Paul, who was a glorious and aware soldier of Christ. He knew the reason for his sufferings. It was not in vain. He knew where he had put his trust and did not have doubts about the power of God.
“That is why I am experiencing my present sufferings; but I am not ashamed, because I know in whom I have put my trust, and I have no doubt at all that he is able to safeguard until that Day what I have entrusted to him.” (1 Timothy 1:12)
How many Christians today are all ashamed, they can only complain and murmur (which is the praise of the grubby, as Father Leo, SHJ would call the evil one) before God and men about their sufferings, their pain, about all bad that happens in their lives and do not accept anything that happens to them. Nothing is ever good! And by not being good they even come to say that God does not exist because they suffer too much.
St. Thomas Aquinas have already addressed some of these matters in his Summa Theologiae and in his sermons, attesting that God does exist indeed, and He acts in the same way as a doctor in relation to people he look after. God will not do things to please some and destroy others because He loves everyone the same way, even though not everyone accepts the pedagogy he uses and the way he chooses to deal with us. God knows and has the best for us!
Dear brethren and God's beloved, we want to state that we are in a war, we are in a spiritual combat, we are in a battle. This is something happening constantly and not only for just a moment, since those whose we fight against are constantly waiting for our downfalls and our weaknesses to succumb and lose the fight. They are waiting until we give up fighting.
The question that could arise today is: What to fight against?  We could also ask: Why to fight? How to fight? What sort of weapons should we use? We must wake up and raise up urgently from all spiritual sleep! 
Christ's favorite friends St. Peter, St. James and St. John, fell asleep when Jesus needed them most vigilantly. Perhaps they had not understood until then that they were in a war. Jesus did not stroke their head, but He rebuked them with a severe admonition when he was going through his agony:

"He came back and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, 'Simon, are you asleep? Had you not the strength to stay awake one hour? Stay awake and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak.' Again, he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came back and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy; and they could find no answer for him. He came back a third time and said to them, 'You can sleep on now and have your rest. It is all over. The hour has come. Now the Son of man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. (Mark 14:37-41)

If you are a friend of Christ, you need to know that you will also be called to witness your faith in the Lord and will need to be awake and ready for every battle. Our battle and fight are against three specific things that we are going to explore in this post: against the evil that is within us (our flesh), against the evil that is outside (the world) and the agent of all evil (the evil one).

In order not to waste time let's start with the evil that is within us, and this text we just read fits perfectly in this context. THE SPIRIT IS WILLING ENOUGH, BUT HUMAN NATURE IS WEAK!

This has already become a theme for music, soap opera, fashion, shamelessness and cause for sin, but we who want to follow Jesus Christ and please him with our lives, we must fight against ourselves, against our old man that must die for the new one to live. It is not a matter of forgetting who we are and our natural evil tendencies, human weaknesses and desires of the flesh. It it is about living a life based on the faith we profess, feeding the spiritual man in truth that we are called to be.

Along with the wonderful example of St. Paul who said that he would do the evil he did not want to and the good he wanted to do, he could not do because of the sin that dwelt in his flesh (Romans 7:19) let's try to understand better what each one of the baptized Christians are called to do:

“In fact, preaching the gospel gives me nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion and I should be in trouble if I failed to do it. If I did it on my own initiative, I would deserve a reward; but if I do it under compulsion, I am simply accepting a task entrusted to me. What reward do I have, then? That in my preaching I offer the gospel free of charge to avoid using the rights which the gospel allows me. So, though I was not a slave to any human being, I put myself in slavery to all people, to win as many as I could. To the Jews I made myself as a Jew, to win the Jews; to those under the Law as one under the Law (though I am not), in order to win those under the Law; to those outside the Law as one outside the Law, though I am not outside the Law but under Christ's law, to win those outside the Law. To the weak, I made myself weak, to win the weak. I accommodated myself to people in all kinds of different situations, so that by all possible means I might bring some to salvation. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, that I may share its benefits with others. Do you not realize that, though all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, only one of them gets the prize? Run like that -- to win. Every athlete concentrates completely on training, and this is to win a wreath that will wither, whereas ours will never wither. So that is how I run, not without a clear goal; and how I box, not wasting blows on air. I punish my body and bring it under control, to avoid any risk that, having acted as herald for others, I myself may be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:16-27)

THIS IS THE GREAT ATTITUDE TO THOSE WHO FOUND OUT THAT THEY ARE IN BATTLE AGAINST THEIR OWN FLESH NEED TO TAKE: PUNISH THE BODY AND KEEP IT IN SERVICE, EVEN THOUGH IF IT IS ONLY TO BE COHERENT AS ST PAUL OR AFRAID OF ACT AS HERALD FOR OTHERS AFTER PREACHING THE TRUTH TO OTHERS.

St. Augustine said, "Be careful so that your life does not run contrary to the testimony of your mouth." That is the reason why St. Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel always, and when it is necessary, use words."
St. Paul could only preach and do everything he did for everyone because he lived in constant battle against himself. He did not let his flesh be a barrier to what he believed and to what Jesus asked of him. He made out of his life a preaching. He knew he had to fight against himself, so he didn't hit the air but sought perfection and did his best to honor his calling.

Do you know what Christians are on about today (especially Catholics)? Either they live a mediocre life far away from the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14), or they speak beautifully and preach about extraordinary things about Jesus, but living a life extremely opposed to what they preach.

We cannot judge anyone because we do not know what is inside everyone's inner self, but we can perceive the Christian life one has through the fruits they bear (Luke 6:44). Whether if it is through wisdom, a good preaching, fame of holiness, humility, prayer life or through what we see, the simple fact of walking with Christ leads everyone to bear fruit, because it was this for what Christ has called us to (Jon 15:16).

Some people could be pleased to see themselves bearing fruit in their lives, perhaps even acknowledging this is God's grace, but let's look at what Jesus said:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.” (John 15:1-2)

We can never stop! We have to walk to follow Jesus to the end of our lives, until the last consequences, to martyrdom if necessary, believing that our blood being shed will serve as seed for new Christians. Where are the real apostles of Jesus Christ who are willing to give up their lives for him? They are endangered! If you feel your heart burning for this reason, get to know that you are being called to be a witness, for that is the reason and meaning of martyrdom.

Getting back to our first point, many have not wanted to fight against their own flesh, but have fed the flesh, fed the disordered passions, the tendencies of the old life, giving freedom to sin and wishes. To those St Paul urges:

“So this I say to you and attest to you in the Lord, do not go on living the empty-headed life that the gentiles live. Intellectually they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance which is the consequence of closed minds. Their sense of right and wrong once dulled, they have abandoned all self-control and pursue to excess every kind of uncleanness. Now that is hardly the way you have learnt Christ, unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus. You were to put aside your old self, which belongs to your old way of life and is corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind was to be renewed in spirit so that you could put on the New Man that has been created on God's principles, in the uprightness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:17-24)

Brothers, that word says it all to close this first part of the fight against the evil that is in us! HOW MANY TODAY INSIDE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ARE WILLING TO LIVING AS PAGANS DO, WALKING ABOUT WITH TERRIBLE IDEAS. EXAMPLES LIKE THESE ARE NOT LACKING!

They are those who keep on trying on transforming the Church in places for rock concerts, funk dances, ballads and raves, impure environments that are propitious to sin, bringing along the image of disgusting places, creating environments of hell. There is a big number of pagans and atheists inside the Catholic Church nowadays!

They have not yet understood that not everything is convenient (1 Corinthians 6:12), they have a darkened understanding, ignorance and a hardened heart, because they have been so bogged down in sin that they do not realize the evil they are doing as well as the influence of it. It is being left to the next generations. In other words, if there is time left before the wrath of God to be unleashed upon the earth, as Christians themselves commit such sins. If it weren't God's Mercy, the Virgin Mary and Holy Mass, what would be of this World?

Each one of us can tell from our own lives and weaknesses where our battle needs to be more intense. Some people are blinded like the in the picture above: crazy for money. How many people, in this unbridled pursuit of money, even use faith and mercy as means of making money? This is what we see everywhere nowadays, especially in Protestant temples (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

Others have addictions and do not want or can not renounce at all, because they have given themselves out to sin and, therefore, are slaves (John 8:34). Sins of any form of addiction such as smoking, drinking, drugs, gambling, gossip, envy, quarreling, pride, vanity and miscellaneous are all reasons for fighting against ourselves. What destroys humanity most though are the sins related to our sexuality.

We need to understand that the homosexual tendency some people have is not a sin. If you have this tendency you need to know that God loves you just as he loves everyone. What you do with this tendency though can become a sin. That is the same thing that could happen to someone who want to have sex before marriage in a natural relationship. The desire is not sin at all, but what you do with that desire.

Men and women who commit the sin of masturbation, couples who have already made a commitment with God and come to commit the sin of adultery, those who sin for malice and clap their hands for impurity are all in the same boat and need to go to confession. These are all passions and forces that can drag us to hell. Saint John of the Cross already said: "Because of brief and momentary pleasures, great eternal torments are suffered."

The wonderful Saint Philip Neri used to say and teach: "In the fight against impurity, the one who runs away wins."

We have to learn to control our disordered passions, since its name already says: they are messed up in us, out of order, out of place, out of time. We must battle against ourselves so that we will not fall into sin and stand in God's grace, obeying and seeking God's will, always growing in grace and bearing more fruit to the Lord God almighty.

In this second moment we will talk about the fight we need to wage against the World. We know that our struggle is not against the wonderful and holy things God created in the World, but we must fight against the wickedness and the mentality that prevails in the world, namely the Aeon. In other words, our fight is against the corrupted values of this society.

Our Lord Jesus Christ left valuable tips for his apostles (that are directed to us today) to open their eyes to the reality that the world hates all those who are and abide with Him, as it hated him in first place:

“If the world hates you, you must realize that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because my choice of you has drawn you out of the world, that is why the world hates you. Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well. But it will be on my account that they will do all this to you, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come, if I had not spoken to them, they would have been blameless; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me hates my Father. If I had not performed such works among them as no one else has ever done, they would be blameless; but as it is, in spite of what they have seen, they hate both me and my Father. But all this was only to fulfill the words written in their Law: They hated me without reason. When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:18-27)

See how serious are our Savior's words: IF YOU ARE FROM THE WORLD, THE WORLD LOVES YOU, BUT IF YOU ARE MY SERVE, THE WORLD HATES YOU, BECAUSE IT HAS ALWAYS HATED ME AND THE SERVE IS NO BIGGER THAN HIS LORD.

In the same way as they persecuted Christ they will also persecute us. It is because of Christ and his testimony that Christians have to suffer. You may already know what St. Paul wrote to the community of the Philippians, but let us get back to it so to emphasize:

“And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names; so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

The Aeon world which is ruled and governed by the prince of darkness, that is the evil one (1 John 5:19) hates Christ. They are disgusted and afraid of the person and of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently, they feel exactly in the same way with all those who bring into their lives the name of the Lord and echoes that name with their way of living an authentic Christianity. That's why there is so much hate! They see Christ in us!!

The testimony we bring is too strong and bothers people who live in the lies, in the sorrow, in the death that the world offers as a rule of life. St. Augustine said, "The better someone is, more annoyance they bring to bad people."

He who is in darkness certainly gets very annoyed when they see someone reflecting a strong light, which is the light of God (1 John 1:5). The same thing happens to someone who is living a life of sins (aware of it) who get very annoyed by someone who lives a holy life. And be certain of it: the more holiness, the more annoyance it will bring.

That is the reason why we, who fight against the world, must constantly get to know, to love, to taste, to live by and to feed ourselves with the mighty Word of God (the Holy Bible) for we must shine in this world of darkness and sin. When we take and swallow the scroll that is the Holy Scriptures, as Ezekiel did (Ezekiel 3:1-3) and eat this Holy Book, as Saint John did (Revelations 10:8-10) we will be able to shine. That is what St Paul asked in his letter to the Ephesians:

“Let your behavior be free of murmuring and complaining so that you remain faultless and pure, unspoiled children of God surrounded by a deceitful and underhand brood, shining out among them like bright stars in the world, proffering to it the Word of life. Then I shall have reason to be proud on the Day of Christ, for it will not be for nothing that I have run the race and toiled so hard. Indeed, even if my blood has to be poured as a libation over your sacrifice and the offering of your faith, then I shall be glad and join in your rejoicing.” (Ephesians 2:14-17)

The society we live in is depraved and malicious. If our weakness is in this area of malice and impurity (in thoughts and deeds), we must redouble our strength to fight our own disordered passion, which is influenced and nourished by this corrupted world. Or even, to make it clearer: all our unruly and sinful passions are enhanced by what is in the world.

SIN ATTRACTS SIN, ADDICTION ATTRACTS ADDICTION, DEATH ATTRACTS DEATH, DISGRACE ATTRACTS DISGRACE. EVERYTHING THAT IS EVIL IN US, THE FRUIT OF OUR SIN AND OUR BAD CHOICES, IS PUMPED AND FED BY THE EVIL THAT IS OUTSIDE. WE NEED TO STAY ALERT!

For that reason, we should keep our eyes wide opened because of the people we meet everywhere we go and the ones we call friends:

“So do not let anyone lead you astray, Bad company corrupts good ways.” (1 Corinthians 15:34)

We must be very careful, even with the smallest details of the life we live in this world, so that we do not get corrupted and lose the grace that St. John tells us in his first letter:

“You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children -- which is what we are! The reason why the world does not acknowledge us is that it did not acknowledge him. My dear friends, we are already God's children, but what we shall be in the future has not yet been revealed. We are well aware that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.” (1 John 3:1-2)

This means that because we belong to Christ, because we are children of God and because we have the Holy Spirit in us, the world does not know, hate, reject and persecute us. But when is revealed what we ought to be, we will see God face to face. IT IS AN ETERNAL GLORY THAT AWAITS US!

Meanwhile, we have this hope and the world will continue to hate us because we have eternal life, love and we are the image of the one who made us:

“Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.  We are well aware that we have passed over from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love, remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you are well aware that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. This is the proof of love, that he laid down his life for us, and we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (1 John 3:13-16)

To be a Christian is to resemble Christ, to be another Christ on earth, to do the same as Jesus did, to lay down our lives for our brethren, to sow heaven and to give the opportunity to everyone around us to get to know and experience the wonders of the Kingdom of God.

Rather than doing that, how many Christians and people of other religions who live in death!? They murder people, kill their fellowmen, desire evil for others, curse each other, utter mischievous words for each other, make wars and disputes for nothing, and do not realize that our "only enemy" is acting in the world and influencing us to do all these things and messing with our lives and moral values in the madness of this 21st century.

We cannot take part of the values of this world. That's why we have to fight! We need to make a war for being holy people, to be standing by the power of the grace of God and do not allow ourselves to be carried away by the fleeting and empty pleasures the world offers, the easy and soft way of living.

Father Leo, SHJ used to say that life is only hard for those who are too soft. What a beautiful testimony this priest gave in his last preaching in 2005 in a Brazilian event called "Hosana Brazil", when he said, "The world can steal everything I had outside but it has no power to touch what I have inside." Certainly this only applies to those who truly have Christian values, those who seek holiness, those who do not give up regardless the struggles in this world and swim against the counter waves, for God is the one who gives us strength.

We need to be soldiers to fight the world, (like in the image above). We cannot sleep or be discouraged. We have bear in mind that we are in a war and fighting for our salvation because the greatest victory the world could have over our lives is to get us away from God's presence, to make us weak/soft Christians and to kill the faith that is inside of us and that is a God's gift.

Do not be thinking as well that the world wants to bring you down, want to make you another fool of their system and corrupt you because you are very important. You need to know that when it does try to hit you, the God that is inside of you, Jesus that you receive in each Holy Mass, the Holy Spirit of which you are a temple are all vilified along with you and your testimony goes down the drain.

St. Paul wrote to his letter to Timothy an invitation that is also to each of us today. We need to be good soldiers of Christ, to go against the world and fight for the Kingdom of God:

“Bear with your share of difficulties, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one on active service involves himself in the affairs of civilian life, because he must win the approval of the man who enlisted him; or again someone who enters an athletic contest wins only by competing in the sports -- a prize can be won only by competing according to the rules.” (2 Timothy 2:3-5)

And we need not worry about the hatred and death that is in the world, for though we are weak and have so many inclinations to sin and the world influences us each day to fall into sin trying to make us lose the grace of God, all that is in the world can never overcome us if we take for granted what the Word of God does guarantee:

“Children, you are from God and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

That is why St. Anthony Mary Claret said, when he was talking about salvation (and that is how we should think), "To be saved we must have eternity in our minds, God in our hearts, and the world under our feet."

The world and its values we fight against must remain under our feet, since we must be missionaries and bring the Word of God to all peoples and we should not imprisoned with anything in the world, for in Christ we are triumphantly victorious (cf. Rom 8:37).

We have at last the fight against the evil agent, who works in the world and who wants to lead us to the lust of our flesh, so that we stop walking with Christ, move away from God's plans for our life, do not make any difference in the world and ultimately lose our salvation. 

Father Leo SHJ said before to warn us, "The grubby has a very clear and objective plan for me and for you. He will do what is possible and impossible, imaginable and unimaginable to seduce us. And in one detail: he never gives up!”

Our constant struggle must be intensified every day, for our adversary does not give up on tempting us, throwing against us his fiery darts of opportunity for us to sin and give up on being instruments in God's hands.

By now you should have the answers to the questions we raised at the beginning of this post: we need to fight for God, fight for holiness, fight for salvation, fight for heaven, fight for God's Kingdom, fight for the Word of God to be shared everywhere. fight for the conversion of our family and friends, fight to stand firm in the fight until the end of life here on earth, for our life will continue in heaven.

What weapons do we use in this fight? How to fight? These questions will be answered in this last dimension of battle we must wage against the evil one. We are not urging or encouraging anyone to fight the evil one but we are saying that he will continue to do his best and the impossible to seduce us. We cannot accept what he offers, so we must fight.

It is the glorious St Paul who teaches us in this sense, a man who was aware of the spiritual warfare that must be fought, for we do not fight against men of flesh and blood. We need to be strengthened and protected with God's armor:

“Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with the strength of his power. Put on the full armour of God so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics. For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the principalities and the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world, the spirits of evil in the heavens. That is why you must take up all God's armor, or you will not be able to put up any resistance on the evil day or stand your ground even though you exert yourselves to the full.” (Ephesians 6:10-13)

Our protection must be from head to toe, with the pieces of armor that Paul talks about: truth, justice, readiness, faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit, and prayer in all circumstances since our struggle is against the principalities and powers, against the demons that produce this spiritual and negative force of evil that are in the heavens.

WE NEED TO RESIST THE DEMON'S TRAPS, WE NEED TO BE AWAKE, READY AND DO NOT BE LED ASTRAY TO BE TEMPTED. THE POWER OF THE DEMONS IS TO TRY US. THAT SEEMS TO BE A SIMPLE THING, BUT SINCE WE ARE NOT PROTECTED WITH THIS ARMOR, WE FALL INTO HIS TRAP SO MANY TIMES WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES.

St. Peter, the first pope, wrote in his letter the same thing as Father Leo, SHJ did, looking at the evil one like a lion, saying that we need to be sober and watch over him:

“Keep sober and alert, because your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that it is the same kind of suffering that the community of your brothers throughout the world is undergoing.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Can you see that it seems that everything around us wants to push us to fall into temptation and find ourselves in a deadlock? The world offers every possible and imaginable means for us not to be sober and what is offered to us is precisely to lead us to fall in our worst weaknesses and to accept evil. It is precisely on these occasions that we are not sober that the evil one devours and attacks with all intensity. But who can the devil devour? All those who do not remain in awake, in other words, in the integrity of self-consciousness, self-control and vigilance.

Many people fence their integrity off at church parties and the demons that keep on walking around us will pick these occasions to attempt to make us fall in sin. There are some communities where priests do not pray and bishops do not honor their calling, where there is alcohol being sold inside our Churches, what is totally unnecessary.

How many men betrayed their wives and had put an end to their marriage after going to parties of the Church!? How many women returned to addiction after being in this sort of environments!? How many young people had their first sexual intercourse after (or even during) these lightweight religious parties?! This is very serious! We need to be aware of the places and who with we are, under all circumstances!

Besides being protected by God's armor, fortified by his grace and resisting the temptations, we have weapons. St Paul explains in his letter to the community of Corinthians about some of them:

“For although we are human, it is not by human methods that we do battle. The weapons with which we do battle are not those of human nature, but they have the power, in God's cause, to demolish fortresses. It is ideas that we demolish, every presumptuous notion that is set up against the knowledge of God, and we bring every thought into captivity and obedience to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

These spiritual weapons we fight with are powerful but only in God they are capable of demolish fortresses. St. Paul is saying that the spiritual weapons we fight with are capable of destroying an entire army of demons, an entire infernal structure that is causing distress on Earth. We have to take possession and make use of these weapons!

Jesus overcame the evil one in the wilderness when he was tempted because he was protected with the armor of God, he was full of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, he was seeking to do the will of the Father and because he had full knowledge and knew how to use the sword of the Spirit that is the Word of God. How many people are seduced by the evil one even through the Holy Bible!?

Christians nowadays know everything about fashion, the sort of music that is in the mainstream, the latest in the soap operas, the gossip of famous people, the books that are successful in the world (most of them are of self-help that is a disgrace). They know all about worldly events, technology, movies, series and everything else. They just don't know anything about the Word of God, the Holy Bible that is their greatest weapon against the devil. That is why so many have fallen in the pitiful trap of false religions and everything else!

You may ask: Will this fight against the flesh, the world, and the devil ever have an end? We could answer in away to lead us to prayer: ONLY WHEN WE ARRIVE IN HEAVEN! UNTIL THERE, LET'S WALK IN THE PATHS OF BATTLES AND FIGHTS WE NEED TO WAGE IN THIS WORLD TRUSTING IN THE GOD WHO FIGHTS FOR US AND WITH US.

Let's put ourselves in God's presence:

"Beloved and glorious Father, I come to your presence at this moment to plead with you for this grace in my life: give me the grace of being a warrior. Taking possession of every prophetic word in this post today I want to be touched by your grace and be strengthened by the gift of faith that you Lord have given me and I want to ask you to increase this faith in my heart. I cry out for your infinite love, that you put your armor on me from my head to my toes. I want, my Lord and my God, to resist and fight against everything that wants to take me away from your holy presence and one thing is certain: I can't, so I want to ask you right now: sanctify my life, Father. Fill me with your love, your grace and your power. I don't want to be this soft person who has no commitment to you and who gives up fighting in front of any difficulty. I believe in your promises, I believe in your word, I believe in your mercy and I ask you to fill me with hope and charity as well.

Beloved Jesus, by the power of your name, to which every knee needs to bend in heaven, on earth and in hell, I want to beg you to deliver me from all evil and all temptation. I need you to pour out your most holy Blood over me and to protect me against the temptations of the world and the evil one, against everything that is inside of me. Set me free from all sin, set me free from all addiction, set me free from every prison and come to make me a new creature, a better Christian by the power of your cross, your shed blood, your five wounds and the intercession of Your most Holy mother. 

I want to be unattached of everything that makes me sleepy and attached to my old way of living, but only by Thy grace I could go steadfastly. Save me, Lord! Save me from myself, save me from what might compromise my salvation, save me from the danger of living a life away from Your presence. Pour your power upon me and let your Spirit envelop me with the fullness of your power.

Come Spirit of God, love of the Father and the Son, comforter, come sweet guest of my soul, lawyer, faithful friend. Come to fight with me and in me against all sin, against all weakness, against every inclination I have for sin and to do evil. Come to help me by joining with my spirit and making me strong in Thee. Holy Spirit, make me a noble warrior of Christ, a good soldier of the Word of God. Come to transform me and cry out within me with your ineffable moans, sealing this moment of prayer, giving me the strength I need to run away from every occasion of sin, every evil bond of the evil one that surround me. Give me strength to resist all evil and to fight for good, for holiness, for the manifestation of the glory and love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed Virgin, my mother and intercessor, crush the head of the old serpent, cover me with your sacred cloak and help me to be always opened to the power of the Holy Spirit, since you were in that upper room in Pentecost. 

St. Michael, prince of angels, help me and come to cry out WHO IS LIKE GOD in my heart to bring into my life the holy fear of God. Deliver me, my guardian angel from the pitfalls and temptations of the evil one, deliver me from all spiritual contamination and help me to keep my eyes fixed in Christ.

Thank you, Lord God, for all the protection, all the coating of Your grace and Your power, for all the help and all the revival in my soul. I glorify Thee Jesus for all your goodness and your mercy, for Thy blood shed upon me. Thank you Holy Spirit, for strengthening me and filling me with your glory. I thank you, Father, for all your grace and your love for me. Glory to the Lord forever!"

"The grace of God is given to us to do good and to avoid evil." (St. Thomas Aquinas)

May we consciously fight against the evil that is within us, the evil that is outside and the causative agent of evil in the world, the evil one, so that we may grow and become good spiritual warriors, always trusting in the grace and protection of the Lord dispensed in our lives that gives us strength to avoid all evil and do good, establishing the Kingdom of God everywhere, precipitating Heaven on earth.

May God bless us and give us the grace to fight without ever giving up.

(Adapted from Brazilian Portuguese from my other blog: www.vounessadirecao.blogspot.com)