Spiritual Warfare

During Lent, I am reading the Desert Fathers. On occasion I will post sayings that strike me during my Lectio.

Here’s a little something in a martial theme, that strikes I think at the heart of our spiritual struggle:

Abba John the Dwarf said, “If a king wanted to take possession of his enemy’s city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food and so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh: if a man goes about fasting and hungry the enemies of his soul grow weak.”