In any phase of our lives, in any decision we are about to make to live a good life, to strengthen our spiritual life, to nurture our faith or even in choosing a state in life, the evil spirit will be there suggesting that we are not worthy of making that kind of decision or that the price we will pay will be too high. Satan tries to convince us that, if we make the choice we are considering and that we know in our true self is the right thing choice for us, we will miss out of something too great to sacrifice. For example, let’s say that you are considering saying “yes” to attend a weekend retreat. An evil spirit could raise all kinds of reasons why you should not do that: “You are going to miss your friends’ gathering at the Mall—it’s a big shopping weekend with incredible sales. You don’t want to miss that! If you go, your parents will miss you. Your siblings and/or friends won’t forgive you. Something bad could happen if you do not stay around.” Any effort to grow more Christlike, to nurture one’s spiritual self by going to a place of solitude to pray, as Jesus often did, will be met with opposition.
Source: Discernment of Spirits by Warren Sazama, SJ, National Religious Vocation Conference, Chicago, IL 60615.
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