Father Joseph Johnson, pastor of Holy Family in St. Louis Park and spiritual director on the inner life, told “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Kayla Mayer that “spiritual pride can creep in” to Lenten sacrifices.

“There’s definitely an aspect of spiritual warfare there,” he said. “We need to just be humble about the whole thing.”

Father Johnson warned about the dangers of committing oneself to an unsustainable Lenten sacrifice.

“If you are not in the habit of having much daily prayer, then don’t leap to six Holy Hours. Say, ‘Maybe can I start my day by getting up 15 minutes earlier and having 15 minutes of prayer,’ or whatever is (an) incremental step is always more sustainable than going from zero to 100,” he said.

If you fail in your Lenten sacrifice, Father Johnson recommended first turning to Christ in gratitude for an opportunity to be humbled.

“I think the first thing you should do (if you fail) is say, ‘Lord, thank you for this lesson. That helps me to overcome spiritual pride,’” he said. “That’s the way of humility and trust in God’s mercy.”

Father Johnson said that there might be more susceptibility to spiritual attacks when trying to take a step toward God, since the devil wants to prevent that.

“If we were just kind of on cruise control and not interested in making spiritual progress, the devil doesn’t have that much interest in us. (But) as soon as we say, ‘No, I want to be a saint — I know that by my baptism I am called to holiness and I’m going to take concrete step towards it’ — now all of a sudden we become a threat,” Father Johnson said. “The devil sees this on his radar and says, ‘Ah, let’s torpedo that one. That one’s making progress.’”

To combat these spiritual attacks, Father Johnson said that we need to go “back to the goal.”

“I’m doing this to come closer to God. I’m doing this to become more spiritually fit, to become a mature disciple of Christ, you know, and that’s worth the sacrifices,” said Father Johnson.

To hear Father Johnson talk more about spiritual warfare and offer encouragement for Lent, tune into “Practicing Catholic” when it airs 9 p.m. Feb. 23 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, or when it repeats at 1 p.m. Feb. 24 and 2 p.m. Feb. 25.     

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes a discussion with Bishop Hebda about the upcoming archdiocesan listening sessions in preparation for the Vatican Synod. Also, Stillwater-based couple Dr. Mark and Molly Druffner discuss their work in Tanzania.

Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.