You want to defend the church? Don't neglect your own spiritual life. Dan Burke is next.

Hello and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Cancer's podcast for living,

understanding and defending your Catholic faith. I'm Sy Kelly at your host.

And I remember being a young California Catholic, heading off to Boston College to study theology

and somebody putting St. Teresa of Avala's book, A Way of Perfection in my Hands,

and I was not prepared for it. It was completely and utterly over my head at the time,

but I couldn't stop reading it. I read it, covered cover, and never stopped thinking about it,

and I know it had a profound effect on me, but even to the day I couldn't tell you the nature of

the effect it had on me. But I always felt from that time, about maybe 19 years old,

that St. Teresa of Avala was my friend and that I should attend her and listen to what she had to

say. And so very delighted when Dan Burke, also a big, should I say fan? I don't know, fan is

strong enough word of St. Teresa, brought out his latest book, Devil in the Castle, St. Teresa of

Avala, Spiritual Warfare, and the progress of the soul. What I wanted to talk with Dan Burke about

was at an intellectual apostolate, like this one here at Catholic Answers, and in the intellectual

apostolates that are happening on the local level all over with the birth of the new apologetics,

people learning their faith, becoming well-versed in their faith, going out and defending their faith,

going out into the streets even, and evangelizing the laity are picking up the kind of mantle that

was handed to them after the Second Vatican Council to learn the faith and to be fully alive in it

and to share it. Well, what about the spiritual lives of those who engage in that work? We know

that many of you who listen are engaged in that work, and we thought you would benefit, and I

certainly thought I would benefit from talking to Dan Burke about St. Teresa of Avala, the great

doctor of souls and what she has to say about engaging in spiritual battle to be fully prepared to

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