The Enemies of Spiritual Liberation and Healing

4.2 The Enemies of Spiritual Liberation and Healing

If we are to be asked what have we observed to be the major hindrances for the speedy healing and liberation of a spiritually afflicted, we would enumerate the following:

• Gluttony
• Unchastity/Lust (including all illicit and immoral relationships, sexual sins, abortion, pornography)
• Substance abuse (drugs and alcohol)
• Greed and Envy
• Worldly Sadness (sadness for the absence of food, drink, sex, and wealth in one’ life)
• Anger and Hatred (including violence towards self and others)
• Sloth (Spiritual Laziness)
• Vain-glory (vanity and sinful extravagant lifestyle)
• Pride
• Unforgiveness
• Resentment
• Occult and New Age Practices
• Idolatrous Practices (including all superstitious practices and beliefs)
• Unrepentance
• Bad Confession (hiding sins from confessor)
• Lack of Faith and Trust in the Power, Love, and Mercy of God (including despair and attempts of suicide)
• Lack of Loving Surrender to the Divine Wisdom and Will

One would notice that included in the list are sins directly connected with the flesh. Although sins of the flesh flow from human weakness, but it is those sins that men readily succumbed to without even the slightest resistance. They simply consider it normal, part of being a human being, as if it is normal that men simply give in. In this case the evil one uses this human tendency to his advantage. Because knowing how man readily seeks pleasure, he can then hook him up to addiction and slavery.

The other category has something to do with emotions, passions and desires. Here the will is the target. The evil one uses the strong negative emotions in a person making it ever alive in one's heart. Again bondage is so easy to forge. In fact the sins of the flesh are easily forgiven in the sacrament of reconciliation if confessed. However, the sins that flow from remembering of wrongs, that is from emotions, passions, and desires are often hidden and not confessed at all. In this case the attack would always be in that level simply because the person would not let go and surrender to God the memory and the feeling.