There is a reality that most Christians do not want to discuss or acknowledge, for it speaks to a topic that many find laughable or embarrassing to acknowledge. There is a great battle being fought each day for us. It is what C.S. Lewis wonderfully explored in ‘The Screwtape Letters’—being captured by the devil. The letters, written by a devil named Screwtape to his nephew, a young devil named Wormwood, are all about Wormwood’s tempting of a young man, the patient, to move away from God—the Enemy as Screwtape calls him—and embrace sin. Wormwood seeks to entice the patient [us] to live a life of sin, a life that separates us from communion with the Lord. It involves conduct on our part that could be described as impure, extravagant, idolatrous, mean-spirited, jealous, or being captured by the addictions of the world – drugs, sex, power, and the like. Wormwood’s secret is that he does this softly, with distraction, doubt, and fear. This is a real battle that Christ intimately knew of and is why he said the Father would send ‘The Advocate’ to be our guide, comforter, and warrior with the Evil One. The Advocate seeks to have our lives permeated with the light of love that is known by charity, joy, peace, patience, endurance, kindness, generosity, faith, mildness, and chastity. This dwelling in spirit is like, as Fr. Ron Rolheiser says, “the movement of giving and receiving in gratitude between two people that creates a warm hearth where others spontaneously come to seek the warmth in a world which offers too little peace, patience, joy, and the like.” The battle is real, and I pray that your life will be intimately connected to the power of the Advocate to fight the distractions of sin.