Week Two

I completed the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola a few years ago. St. Ignatius became convinced that these Exercises could help other people draw closer to God and discern God’s call in their lives, much as they had helped him. For lay people, a purpose of the Exercises is to grow in union with God while still being in the world, finding God in all things.

A key activity of the Spiritual Exercises is discerning one’s election, which is defined as a decision on how God is calling me to be. My election is a warrior with a heart of love. For those who know me well, I definitely know how to be a warrior. But it is for such a time as this that I need to know how to have a heart of love.  After spending some time in prayer on the harsh realities now facing the world because of the spread of the coronavirus, I believe that God is now calling His battle-hardened warriors to report for duty, but in a spirit of love.

Verses 6:10-20 of the New Testament Letter to the Ephesians addresses the reality of spiritual warfare.  In these verses, we are warned of the battle between good and evil that rages unseen to most human eyes.  Christ and His Church do not spread the Good News of salvation unopposed, but are under continual attack by the spiritual forces of evil.  However, ‘greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world’, and all Christians have the victory over evil because of Christ’s definitive victory over Satan at the Cross.

Very military language is used in these verses, reflecting an Old Testament image of God as a divine Warrior (Exodus 15). The imagery of this section depicts the battle gear of the Roman foot soldier.  The Church requires weaponry to ‘fight the good fight’, but the weaponry is spiritual.
 
Christians have been equipped by Christ in His Church to resist evil, as follows:

•  Our first defense is to put on the armor of God, which is the graces and virtues given to us to resist temptation and sin. When we ‘put on’ the new man by Baptism and leave behind the old, we put on Christ Himself, who is truth and holiness incarnate.
• Our weaponry in spiritual combat is both defensive and offensive. 

 Our defensive weapons are as follows:

• The belt of truth.  Girding of the waist was a sign of getting ready for important work. Truth enables Christians to understand what constitutes error and to not be lured into it and away from the important work of evangelization.
• The breastplate of righteousness or holiness or justice. The breastplate was used by Roman soldiers to protect vital organs such as the heart, functioning like the bullet-proof vest worn by modern combat soldiers.  The breastplate of righteousness enables Christians to protect their hearts and walk as children of the God who is Love.
• The shoes of the Good News of the Gospel of peace.  Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15 tell of ‘how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bring good news’.  Those who are ready to share the Good News of Christ are beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.
• The shield of faith.  The Roman shield was a large oblong piece of sturdy metal and covered the entire front of the soldier’s body.  The sturdy shield of faith equips Christians to fend off the attacks/’flaming arrows’ of Satan. Relying on only our human resources, we are ‘target practice’ for the attacks of the enemy of our soul.  With the shield of faith, the enemy of our soul becomes our ‘target practice’!
• The helmet of salvation.  The helmet protects the brain, which gives us the assurance of how we are saved, through belief in Christ and obedience of His commandments, we protect our minds from doubt and fear.
• Our only offensive weapon listed is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God in Holy Scripture.  Those of you in Catholic Scripture Study are well on your way to becoming battle-hardened warriors!

However, it is important to note that the armor and weapons of the Roman soldier still left his back exposed.  That is why they marched in rows of close ranks, with locked shields, when they advanced in battle.  Soldiers in battle never fight alone.  Similarly, we should not battle alone.  There are no ‘lone rangers’ in Christianity.  It is our brothers and sisters in Christ and in Christian community who have our backs covered with their prayers.  In the end, all that St. Paul asks us to do is to stand and hold our ground for Christ.  We can all just stand, and stand together, in love for each other and for the world.

We are now at ‘such a time as this’, when we are being summoned to take up our positions as battle-hardened warriors of our Lord. How can we do that? 

We can:

• Pray, pray, pray.
• As we are all being required to spend more time at home, let’s begin the spiritual practice of journaling our prayer time. Reflect on the armor and weapons of God and journal what each might mean for you. What do you need to make ready and put on?
• Finally, just stand together, not in paralyzed fear, but in radiant hope, for we serve a mighty God.

Rise up and report for duty for such a time as this.