Prepare for Spiritual Warfare to Engage the Enemy

Editor's note: This article appeared in the winter issue of the Les Femmes newsletter which will be posted soon on the Les Femmes website where all the past issues are archived. If you like this, check out the website.

We fight under the standard of Christ the King!
Painting credit: Peace is Coming by John McNaughton

We are born for a great enterprise – the monumental conflict between the forces of good under the banner of Jesus Christ versus the forces of evil under the prince of this world. Every person on earth was delivered on the battlefield. Recognition of that fact is impressed on Catholics from the earliest moments of life. On our baptism day the priest anointed us as soldiers committed to fight in the Church Militant. Later, confirmation confirmed our duty and gave us the strength to persevere. The sacraments initiate us into the battle and give us the weapons we need to fight. Our demonic enemies, vicious and powerful, are a lot smarter than we are. So unless we put on the armor of God, make use of the weapons of spiritual warfare, and embrace the battle strategy of our generals we are no match for the evil power of the bad angels. 

Monday Morning Musing: Good Questions from The Soul of the Apostolate

In my morning prayer time today I came across this paragraph from The Soul of the Apostolate which stopped me in my tracks:

When we see the repeated victories of our infernal foes, we
well wonder, in our anxiety, where to look for the salvation of our society. When will it be the Church's turn to win a few battles?

Sunday Meditation: The Mask is Off!

Evil is so eager to spread itself that it ends up consuming itself in its zeal for blood. Think of the guru of the French Revolution, Robespierre, who ended up losing his head to Madame Guillotine after orchestrating the murder of hundreds of thousands including about 170,000 Catholic martyrs of the Vendee. Hopefully, we are seeing the beginning of that same self-immolation beginning in our country.

The past two years have torn the mask off liberalism. While many still buy the lie of COVID tyranny, others have awakened and are pushing back. The airline employees who grounded hundreds of flights by refusing the vax mandates forced their CEOs to rethink the policy. The same with the trash workers in New York who tossed refuse over the fence at DeBlasio's mansion. How long will citizens tolerate the stench of garbage in their neighborhoods, a metaphor for the garbage occupying their government?

Thought for the Day: Embrace it all, both the joys and the sufferings!

From the Soul of the Apostolate:

The truly interior soul abandons itself to the good pleasure of God, and accepts with the same patience and evenness of heart both what is pleasing and what brings pain: indeed, it goes so far as to be joyful under affliction, and happy to carry the Cross.

No one ever said it was going to be easy! A rose garden has beautiful flowers but every stem holding a bud is covered with sharp thorns. You can't pick those roses without getting an occasional sharp prick even to the point of drawing blood. 

Today or tomorrow or next week will be filled with all kinds of moments: kisses and hugs from loved ones, telephone conversations that bring good news (or bad), a comments of praise that please us or criticism that pains us, fleeting moments of insight, battles over temptations.... How will we respond? Will we "accept with the same patience and evenness of heart" both the good and the bad? Will we pick up the cross and follow Him?

Today I'm picking a rose for the Blessed Mother. I'm feeling the thorn to remind myself that beauty is often accompanied by pain. I'm asking Mary to help me ponder it all in my heart that I might know and love the "good pleasure of God."

May your day be filled with blessings. I'll be offering my Mass and rosary for you. Please pray for me as well. 

Monday Morning Musings with Mary

 I finished The Imitation of Christ and The Imitation of Mary last week and started reading them again from the beginning. What wisdom and spiritual aid are contained in these two little gems! The Soul of the Apostolate has also become a daily companion. I've read it before, but it also is worth re-reading. Add a chapter from Scripture and one has a daily mini-retreat. 

The beginning of The Imitation of Mary calls her a "masterpiece of grace." Every newly baptized infant shares in that description as a mini-masterpiece of grace. Next time you hold a baptized baby, look into the little one's clean eyes and you will catch a glimpse of heaven. After Jesus, Mary is the source of our salvation. If you want to follow Him, follow her. She is a sure guide and will teach you to walk unerringly in His footsteps.

We don't see Mary in the bible busy running around. Her life was mostly spent in silence. She gives us only one piece of advice - at the wedding feast of Cana. "Do whatever He tells you." We can only follow that advice if we listen to Him. And we can only hear Him in silence, going apart like He did to a quiet place away from the world and it's distractions: