The Winning Strategy : The Integrated Catholic Life.
A hard hitting piece by Dr. Peter Kreeft on Spiritual Warfare, written about 20 months ago and very suitable for our times. We should never forget this and we should especially keep this in mind as we enter the Year of Faith.
Servus Fidelis ~ The Faithful Servant 
That’s some tough love!
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Indeed it is!
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That’s an excellent piece, but I disagree on one point. Islam is also the enemy, and if we think it is not, we go badly wrong.
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Yes, I wasn’t pleased with the way that he wrote or spoke on some of the particulars: however, I think his point is well taken, that what is behind Islam and all the other abberations is more of the symptom than the cause. He is trying to take us to the very core of evil: Satan and Sin. It seems the dynamic duo has created many a menace for man and will continue to do so. At least that is they way I was reading it. 🙂
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Yes, I think that is right, and I think he’s right about the core of evil, but my own view of that Islam counterfeits true belief and is therefore part of that evil.
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Oh indeed Islam is a counterfeit faith as is Baal and others. Satan is the architect and inventor and the mover of the hearts and minds of the followers: darkening the intellect of people is one of his greatest tricks. Without that going on for him, would Islam have any followers at all? Make no mistake we must oppose all of the symptoms (patients as he called them) and resisit their every move as the Church has done many times before. But he has a point: can man himself put a stop to the workings of Satan in this and other evil enterprises or persons or must we rely on the God’s power and might? I think we need to get us some saints alright. Had it not been for Bernard of Clairvaux would the Church have had any chance of raising an army of Crusaders against Islam in his day? He was instrumental. Saints aren’t people who are afraid to fight and die for their cause: St. Joan of Arc for instance.
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That’s certainly right my friends – more Saints is the answer – and of course, that is a call to each of us 🙂
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It truly is a call to every Christian to a deeper and more abiding faith. We all need to aspire to be saints in our own lives. It’s always hard for me to get those specks out of other people’s eyes when I have a great big log in my own. 🙂
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Isn’t that the truth 🙂
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“If you will look into your own heart in complete honesty, you must admit that there is one and only one reason why you are not a saint: you do not wholly want to be.”
I’m writing this down, and it will go with me in my wallet, so I can read it every day.
It’s easy to say, well, I’m this way because of the way my father treated me. Or because Biff the bully beat me up in grade school. Or because yada yada yada yada ad nauseam, but the truth is the only thing holding us back is ourselves.
Thanks for sharing this article!
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You’re welcome. I thought this fit the moment pretty well; not just in today’s society but because the Year of Faith will be kicking off the New Evangelization.
You are so right! We need to know that Christ has asked us to be perfect as His Heavenly Father is perfect. But how few even think about attempting it. Christ stands to help anyone who will surrender themselves to Him. Sainthood could be there for any of us . . . all we have to do is surrender to the task.
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FYI:
Verily shalt thou blame thy parents for thy sins and for failing to do that which is right, for thus the soul is comforted by the idea that it is not responsible for its failings.
Hesitations 3:10
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Oh, I hadn’t read that. But I know that somewhere in the Book of Resuscitations it says you can blame your brother or sister if you want to.
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