Episode 53 -- Spiritual Combat c32.1 -- Devil Tries to Use Virtue Against Us

What does the devil do when he cannot lead us away from doing what is truly good?

In this episode we begin the last chapter about the devil’s principal tactics in leading human beings to eternal ruin. When all else fails, the devil will try to make us proud and vain about the progress we are making. In a word, the devil tries to use the good we are doing to make us forget how much we depend on God.

We saw last episode how the devil can easily tempt us because of the bad self-love that dwells in our hearts. We want to be something great. We want to do certain things. We tell ourselves it is for the Lord, but secretly pride and egoism infect our attitudes. Instead of patience and resignation, and loving acceptance of God’s plan, we try to rework things according to our own plans. Lord, open our hearts by the Holy Spirit to true self-knowledge. Come Holy Spirit! Help us accept God’s will.

Let us take heart! April 30th is the feast day of “the spiritual mother of the Americas,” the first nun in Canada, the “St Teresa of the new world”: St Marie of the Incarnation. How the Lord taught her patience. How He formed her through trials and disappointments. She was a wife, a mother, a widow, a business owner, a nun, a missionary, a mystic, a builder, a pioneer, a superior, a great letter writer, and a friend of those who suffer mental distress. St Marie pray for us to be courageous against the devil as you were!