"...Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls."
In our diocese, we still say the St. Michael prayer at the end of each Mass. Recently, those last three words—ruin of souls—have been standing out to me more than ever.
The Prayer to St. Michael, perhaps more than any other, reminds us that we are in the midst of a great spiritual battle. This isn’t some abstract idea or distant war—it’s happening now, in the depths of our hearts and throughout the world.
One side—the forces of darkness—desires nothing less than your utter destruction. Satan and his fallen angels prowl around like wolves, seeking to tear us away from God. As St. Peter warns, "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
But the other side—the side of Christ—doesn’t want you to merely scrape by. He desires your complete victory and glorification. Jesus didn’t die on the cross for us to live half-hearted lives of survival. He said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).
We cannot hide or remain on the sidelines. We are part of this cosmic struggle, whether we like it or not. And the stakes couldn’t be higher: eternal glory with God or an eternity in the ruins of hell.
There’s no middle ground.