204th Meditation
“Only those who lose their courage are defeated. The victor is the one who wants to fight on” (St. Francis de Sales).
A maxim for this year and for all times… Whoever trusts in our Father will not lose courage and therefore not lose his fundamental course. The powers of evil try to fight against the Lord and His Anointed (Ps 2:2), but their efforts are in vain. In the end, the devil is only the “decived deceiver”. This is the reality and we must internalise this certainty!
In His wisdom God does not exempt us from the struggle against the three enemies of our soul: the world, our fallen nature and the devil. For each of these battles we need courage:
- The seductions of the world, with its false promises, we must renounce, flee from them and overcome them in the Lord. We are to live in the world in the right way, but not to be of it or enjoy it. It takes courage to say “no” when many people around us do not understand. The Father will reward us, strengthening our courage not to be polluted by the world.
- Our fallen nature, with its evil inclinations, is not easy to bear. We will suffer painful defeats and these may discourage us. Nevertheless, we must get up and fight on, take advantage of the help offered to us by the sacraments, examine carefully where our weaknesses are and protect them in a special way. We cannot give up, not even when defeats come again and again. Let us take heart, let us keep on fighting! Our Father will be proud of that son of His who does not capitulate and will grant him victory.
- The Devil must be resolutely rejected. Our Father delights to humble the proud fallen angel through His smallest creatures. All those who place themselves in the hands of the Lord and trust in Him will overcome the rebellious powers with God’s strength, and the woman will crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). We cannot allow ourselves to be defeated by Satan’s wickedness and darkness! He has already been defeated on the Cross, and now this victory must be realised on the whole earth. For this, courageous warriors are needed, who take up the spiritual fight.
Our Father not only strengthens us in the battle, but also enables us to accumulate merits that we can carry with us into eternity: “Only those who lose their courage are defeated. The victor is the one who wants to fight on”.