"Either we are for God or we are for the Devil. There is no other possibility."

Sister Lucy dos Santos

In all times, but especially in these Modern times, this must be our daily battle cry; "Fight the Devil". Catholics must know that we are bombarded by his attacks continuously. And we are losing the war. He has defeated us on many fronts, and continues to make progress in the ruination of our Souls. We must "Fight the Devil". For if we do not, we aid him in our own demise. Every temptation is an attack on our souls and we are given a chance to decide on whose side we will fight. We can choose to fight with God against him or to fight with him against God. When we choose the later we offend God and sorrow Him deeply. Consider if a child decided to assist the enemy of his parent and this enemy was trying to harm the parent. How betrayed, sad and angry the parent would feel. Realizing how much more we owe God than our own parents, it is not hard to see how much we offend God when we choose Satan over Him.

We cannot think that we are not as Satanists when we choose some worldly pleasure instead of pleasing God. For every choice that we make throughout the day either pleases God or Satan to various degrees. When we fail to believe and practice the expectations of God as revealed by the Catholic Church, we choose to follow Satan. There is no middle ground, no neutral arena, no time that either is indifferent. "Fight the Devil". He lures us though our senses and our selfish desires. His hatred of us is almost as strong as his hatred of God, He knows that God created each of us for Heaven and if he can steal a Soul into Hell, he hurts God. This is Satan's singular purpose. We must "Fight the Devil", for our own eternal salvation and the Love of God.

Rather than confront us viciously, and attack us as a manifest demon, he uses extremely subtle tactics. He knows that he can lead us to Hell easily with temptation, and by convincing us that he does not exist and that we are not offending God. If we fail to seek and practice the Truth, we may not even realize our offenses until we awaken at our Particular Judgment. Then we will know how much we have displeased God. The "Liar from the beginning" hides in the corners of our conscience, and entices us to satisfy our bodies, thoughts and emotions. All of our senses are attacked. Overindulgence of food, gluttony and waste, through our sense of taste and smell. Plush and comfortable adornments and environments to dull and eliminate every mortification and restriction that acts on our sense of touch. And through our eyes we are most horribly assaulted, with impure images, movies and fantasies, that work against all virtues. Percussive Music arouses senses with a methodical beat and licentious lyrics through our ears. We also hear lies and deceptions, uncharitable conversations, and many forms of diabolically-induced philosophies that are anti-God. Every time that we succumb to our daily distractions instead of dwelling on our eternity, we walk with Satan. Every time that we indulge ourselves in the trappings of the world, we walk with Satan. As insidiously as he works we would never be aware of it, but for the Grace of God. We must pray to God for the willingness to know His expectations and to resign ourselves to His will, not ours. We must choose to please God and to "Fight the Devil".

If it were not enough to satisfy ourselves with pleasing God, earning His Love and living our lives as He requires, we can consider the consequences of our disobedience. If we have displeased God to the extent that we remove ourselves from His Love and Mercy, we will find ourselves cast into the pit of despair. Here we can no longer "Fight the Devil". We are subject to the malicious torments of his evil minions. Unceasingly we will experience all forms of horrors, unimaginable pain and suffering, grotesque and hideous demons will violate all that we are, sensually and mentally. The sounds, sights, smells, tastes, and feelings will be of infinite disgust, terror, clamor, and nausea, but will never overwhelm us. The fire is real and vastly more painful than what we know on earth, but it will not consume us. We will never go into shock, never get dull to the pain, or feel a moments reprieve. Imagine the worst time of it and you are far short of how you will feel at any time. Imagine the duration of an eternity of unceasing abominations and you will have underestimated again.

Add to this misery that which is the most terrible suffering of all. Our souls were made for Heaven. Once they have experienced the presence of God and His Beauty, the soul is irresistibly drawn to its Creator. No earthly addict could imagine the desire that the soul feels towards Heaven and the euphoria that it feels when it is there. To have experienced Heaven even for a moment and then be cast out of it, forever, with no hope of ever coming close to experiencing it again, is truly the full meaning of despair. The soul in Hell always feels this pain of loss. There are billions in Hell and there are billions more doing the will of Satan who may join them.

If we are to resist Satan, how must we live out our day? We must love God with our whole mind, soul and body. We must be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. This is our Catholic Faith, the teaching of the Catholic Church. But perfection is so...not-human. How can we ever achieve it? This is the whisper of Satan. To cause you to see this monumental expectation laid down by God and Church, and then to despair. That is if you dwell on it at all. Because at the same time we are given multitudes of distractions to fill our day and busy our mind. But nothing in those days, with the hopeful exception of Sunday, will cause you to dwell on God, but by His Grace. For the World belongs to Satan and his earthly distractions are distractions from dwelling on God. Pretty soon we can no longer bother ourselves with thinking about God. Because again Satan whispers. God's expectations are too lofty and it causes me guilt and anxiety to think about it. There are many important matters to attend to. Children, parents, career, retirement, investments, .... the list goes on and on. We have got to realize and believe that everything is secondary before God. We pray "Thy Will be done" so why then do we incessantly choose our own? Because we do not resist the Devil and his temptations and distractions, his whispers.

We must recognize that when we say we are Catholic we have expectations and obligations. If we are not "all Catholic" we are not Catholic. And we then please Satan by bringing scandal on ourselves and God's Church. We must seek the Will of God as revealed by Him to His Catholic Church. Do not despair, as Satan would have you, before the Will of God. It is not the attainment of perfection, but rather the effort that is required and earns us merit. We must Fight Satan and strive to please God. Everything we do should be in the light of "pleasing God". A thousand occurrences daily offer themselves as opportunities to please God. Every nuisance, every annoyance, every stubbed toe, every inconsiderate driver, every red light, every ingratitude, every sorrow and every joy, and every time that we sacrifice and fight the urge to entertain or please ourselves. There is so much more everyone can do to please God on their road to perfection. So many little efforts, that we can apply over our whole lives. Resign you heart to the Will of God and resolve your soul to Fight the Devil's every attempt to stop you.

Fight the Devil. Recognize him, resist him, and reject his enticements. Please God, avoid eternal damnation, and someday dwell in Heaven.