There is a classic teaching story attributed to the Cherokee people about two wolves that live inside of every person. The story is told in this way: “An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Within the spiritual life of every Christian and within every Christian community, there is also an interior spiritual battle going on that will affect the soul of the person or community. We are blessed to have a great Advocate that dwells within us from the time of our baptism. The good Spirit is the Holy Spirit who is given to us in sanctifying grace to strengthen us, to help us to live holy lives and to prepare us to share in the grace and glory of the divine life. This Spirit is a Spirit of love and truth. Great good can come to us if we follow the promptings of the Spirit of God within us. “The concern of the Spirit is life and peace.” (Rom 8,6) “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal 5,22)

There is also an enemy who pursues us from within, the Satan, or the Adversary, who is evil and threatens our soul. “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little.” (1Pt 5,8-10)

Jesus counsels us his disciples to, “Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26,41) We need to remain sober and vigilant, watchful in prayer in our lives so that we do not feed the spirit of evil or allow that spirit to creep into our communities. When we feed the spirit of God within us and nourish that spirit with prayer, scriptural reading, sacramental observance and holy friendships then we strengthen that spirit and allow it to rule our lives. However, when we give in to the desires of the flesh and feed the spirit of evil with hatred, anger, jealousy, envy, greed, indifference, pride, resentment and other impure vices we give into the temptations of the devil. We don’t want to give the devil free reign in our lives and allow him to destroy our peace.

We do not need to engage in this battle by ourselves. God has blessed us with community, friendships and people that will pray for us and fight with us in our spiritual battles. Like Ezekiel was for the people of Israel, God has appointed watchmen for us, companions on our spiritual journey. “Thus says the Lord: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman…” (Ez 33,7) As a watchman we are responsible for one another. We are called to love one another with the love of Christ. We are called to pray and support one another, watching out for one another and encouraging one another to strive for holiness and to live in peace. The prayer of Jesus helped Peter to win his battle against Satan: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22,31f) We must help one another to be strong in our faith along the way in our journey.

Jesus gives us clear guidelines for fraternal correction in Matthew 18,15-18. We don’t want anger, bitterness, resentment and hatred to have any place within our hearts, our homes or our communities. Satan wants to sift us and to divide us so that we will be weak and fail the test of our faith. We must remain united in faith, hope and love. When we stand together and agree in prayer we can do great good in this world. “Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Mt 18,19f).  If Jesus is with us, who can stand against us? (Rom 8,31) Satan doesn’t have a chance! Are you feeding the Spirit within you and helping to strengthen your brothers and sisters in faith? Watch and pray for one another.