March 16, 2023
Excerpt from Empowered Prayer: Spiritual Warfare by our Mother Foundress


“A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have Life and have It more abundantly.”  (Jn 10:10)

First of all, I’d like to just set the stage from Genesis 3:15 because this is where the Father declared war.  He was speaking directly to Satan when He said, “I will put enmity between you and the Woman, between your offspring and Hers (Her offspring who of course is Jesus).  He will strike at your head, while you strike at His heel.”  I was praying about this in depth one time.  I felt the Woman is Our Lady, but the Woman is also the Church and Her offspring, all of us.  Because of our Baptism, the Jesus in us is striking at the head of Satan.  We know that the greatest weapon that Jesus used, the greatest act of love, took place on Calvary, where He put sin to death.

Revelation 12 says that Satan went off to make war on Her offspring (Rv 12:17).  St. John spells out who “Her offspring” are – “those who keep God’s commandments and give witness to Jesus” (Rv 12:17).  Those who keep God’s commandments are the ones who Satan makes war with.  Since the ambush in the Garden, this long fight between God and Satan has dramatically escalated.  It has come into a full-scale war.  Whether we like it or not, we are at war, but we need to understand that God started it; He declared war.  

So it’s a constant struggle of evil versus good that we’re in.  It begins with our own soul.  There’s no escaping this battle.  Jesus made that very clear:  “You’re either with Me or you are not” (see Mt 12:30).  There isn’t any gray area.  There isn’t any compromising.   This is where this great gift of Fortitude that we received at Confirmation comes in and helps us to persevere in these times of trial and struggle.  

Jesus has stepped into the battlefield directly.  He came to confront the enemy.  He has won for us the decisive victory, but the redemption goes on.  The graces are there, but Paul tells us that it’s prayer warriors who distribute these beautiful graces to people who need these graces of life, of healing, of God’s promise.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us”  (Heb 12:1)