Saturday, May 2, 2015

Fasting as Spiritual Weapon

 This is a great post on Fasting from The Catholic Gentleman:
Fasting gives birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful; fasting makes lawgivers wise. Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Fasting repels temptations, anoints unto piety; it is the comrade of watchfulness and the artificer of chastity. In war it fights bravely, in peace it teaches stillness. – St. Basil the Great
Are you struggling with a sin? I mean a sin that you just can’t seem to get rid of; a sin that is keeps you in a constant state of guilt and despair. You’ve prayed, you’ve frequented the sacraments, but you just can’t seem to break its hold.
We’ve all been there at one point or another, and such struggles are part and parcel of the spiritual life. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Today, I want to introduce you to a very powerful, but much neglected weapon in the spiritual arsenal: Fasting.
If you want to put to energize your spiritual life, if you want to slay a sin that has you in bondage,  if you want to grow in union with God, take up the holy weapon of fasting. For as Jesus said, there are some demons that “cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.”
Let’s examine this powerful weapon and its use in the spiritual life.

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