You are learning about Spiritual Warfare the wrong way…

     Imagine trying to learn rocket science from watching the Space Shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral. You might try learn about the lives and habits of the astronauts themselves. You might learn all about the space shuttle with pictures and diagrams. You might even read countless stories of space flights and the different anecdotes that happen. You could read every article written by an astronaut or rocket scientist. Unfortunately, none of these would be a sufficient way to learn Rocket Science because you are jumping ahead in education about twenty years. Rocket Science begins with physics and simple things such as understanding gravity and propulsion and ends with the Space shuttle launch. This is an extreme example, but this is often the mistake we make when learning about spiritual warfare. 
     I travel all over the country and speak about Catholic Demonology. I can tell you, at least anecdotally, that the majority of what faithful Catholics know about the topic of spiritual warfare comes from books written by exorcists and from legends. I cannot count the amount of times that Fr. Gabriel Amorth has been quoted to me as proof of a point. Now there is nothing wrong with the books of Fr. Amorth. In fact, they are excellent, but his work is the Space Shuttle launch in the example and we need grade school Physical Science. If we are planning to fly the Space shuttle, then we should begin by experimenting with a backyard rocket and learning a whole lot of physics. 
 
Here are some ways people tend to learn about spiritual warfare that CAN impoverish our understanding of it: 
 

• Reading every book about exorcism available. 
• Following the legends (For example, a common one I hear: “Demons can’t go in to Churches.”)
• Taking anecdotal stories and drawing universal principles from them. (For example, hearing that a particular Saint intervened in an exorcism and deciding that Saint will be the only one you invoke in your spiritual battles. )
• Reading the pertinent Gospel stories without reading commentary from qualified sources. 
• Reading mainly extra-biblical sources on the topic. 
• Drawing only or mostly from the far sidelines of the Church (the more Charismatic or more Traditional)

 
     So how should we try to understand and learn about spiritual warfare? I’ll recommend some things under two different umbrellas: Study and Practice.
 
First some recommendations about Study: 
 

• Read everything you can about Baptism. Start with the catechism and get as deep into the theology as you can. 
• Read about spiritual warfare from the heart of the Churches Tradition first and foremost. What do the councils say? What have the Popes written? Again, start at the catechism and go deeper…
• For every legend or quote about spiritual warfare, find the source and if it can be a Universal principle supported theologically. 
• Read the Gospels over and over and over again and pay particular attention to the relationship between Jesus and the Devil. Then try to read excellent commentary on the Gospels. Start with the Fathers of the Church and keep going…

 
Second some simple recommendations on Practice: 
 

• Be a Saint! Really try to be Holy. The spoil of the spiritual battle is the heart of man. We learn spiritual warfare by fighting the battle for our own heart. 
• Spend some time in hands on Pro-Life ministry. Spend an hour a week praying in front of an abortion clinic, and you will learn a lot about the practice of spiritual warfare. 
• Practice Works of Mercy hands on. The Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy are in a sense the “currency of the Kingdom of Heaven”. Practice the works of Mercy and over time you will see how the Kingdom advances on the darkness and brings it into the Light. 

 
It is high time we shine the light on the Theology and practice of Spiritual Warfare. We need to learn once again the art of participation in the Angelic warfare for our souls. 

"‘Spiritual combat’ is [an] element of life which needs to be taught anew and proposed once more to all Christians today. It is a secret and interior art, an invisible struggle in which (we) engage every day…” ~ Pope St. John Paul II
 
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