Escaping Darkness
I recently finished reading Fr. Robert Spitzer’s second book in his Called Out of Darkness trilogy — Escape from Evil’s Darkness. Like the first book in the series, this one starts slowly. I felt lost reading it because I couldn’t see where he was going. But the concepts start to build on each other making it an engaging and valuable read.
In his first book of the trilogy, Fr. Spitzer explains what evil is. He dove into the eight deadly sins, demonic possessions, and Jesus’ ultimate triumph over Satan. The second book can be thought of as the field manual for resisting that evil. He talks about routines and prayers someone can exercise to protect himself from sin and temptation.
Levels of Desire
The second book centers around moving to higher levels of desire. Satan operates around our lower-level, base desires while God operates at the high ones. Fr. Spitzer’s strategy for combating evil is simple — move to the higher levels toward God and away from Satan through prayer and devotion. Here’s a summary of the levels:
- Level one — externally stimulated or physical pleasures and possessions (food, drink, leisure, vices, etc.)
- Level two — ego-gratification (increased status, admiration, power, control)
- Level three — seeking happiness by making a positive difference for others
- Level four — the desire for perfection in love, goodness, and being with God
Fr. Spitzer discusses praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, attending Mass, and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And while much of what he says shouldn’t be new, especially to those who faithfully follow RosaryMeds, it is motivating to see how all these spiritual practices come together to form a defense against evil.