“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13).

 

Peace Through Strength … in the Lord

In today’s Gospel, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem …

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” -Luke 19:41-45

“If this day you only knew what makes for peace …” What does make for peace? Notice Jesus goes on to point to the impending destruction of Jerusalem. In essence, Jesus was noting that Jerusalem was “vulnerable to attack” … they had become weak, and their enemies were ready to take advantage of this opportunity. Of course, Jesus was not referring to their cash of spears, swords and arrows … but their spiritual weakness.

We know that rarely, if ever, will evil seek compromise or sit down for negotiations, as it is, literally, “hell bent” on conquering new territory. So, evil looks for “weaknesses” … “breaches in the wall.” Jerusalem had become spiritually weak and, therefore, vulnerable to attack. Jesus wept because they did not understand that, as Ronald Reagan once said, “We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression.”

 

Weakness Invites Aggression from Satan

Admission into Christ’s elite fighting force begins by knowing that by your baptism you have been “commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill a most dramatic mission; it is the mission of saving souls. This mission cannot be accomplished without entering into conflict with ‘the world, the flesh and the devil.’ It is not a mission for the fainthearted or for those who wish to take the wide road to heaven. It is the path of warfare, of spiritual battle.”

“Holiness,” writes Pope Benedict XVI, “has its deepest root in the grace of baptism, in being grafted on to the Paschal Mystery of Christ, by which his Spirit is communicated to us, his very life as the Risen One.” “Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them” (CCC 783).

In St. Faustina’s Diary (742), our Lord put it this way:

“I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love of me.”

Notice how these three degrees of mercy — prayer, word, and deed — are present in the corresponding offices of priest, prophet, and king. From the very first days of our membership in the Mystical Body of Christ, we are, in essence, commissioned officers in the Church Militant. In other words, the power of the Holy Spirit to combat evil and rescue souls proceeds precisely through the three offices of Christ: Priest, Prophet, and King.

In modern times, we have witnessed this “weakening” in the effective campaign of militant secularists who have sought to de-mythologize our faith, a flat out rejection of the supernatural power of God. Once the devil has us convinced that we can challenge him under our own natural power, or simply deny that he even exists, he’s cut us off from the only real power capable of defeating him: God’s supernatural grace.

Much of this “weakening” can be attributed to a combination of a growing Deism (a heresy in which there is belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe … basically, a denial of the supernatural), and a well-intentioned campaign to become more ecumenical. However, this ecumenism, that placed great emphasis on the written word (sola scriptura … scripture alone) came at the expense of de-emphasizing the supernatural.

So, while we have seen an emphasis on the “Office of Prophet” we received in Baptism, we are witnessing a de-emphasis on the “Office of Priest” (the power of prayer and a reliance on the supernatural). And, I believe, this has led to de-emphasizing the “Office of King,” as our ability to lead by a contagious zeal and fervent devotion was, subsequently, reduced considerably.

This has made us puny and weak, in spiritual terms. St. Peter warns us to be fortes in fide – strong in faith – because the devil prowls around like a lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pt 5:8-9). Lions size up a herd to find the weakest and easiest target. Once we are detached from God and his supernatural grace, we are powerless to defend ourselves from the tactics of the devil.

When we have become weakened in grace, or lose that grace completely through mortal sin, the devil sees an opening and he seizes it. He steals the peace in our heart … and he works through us to steal the peace in our homes, workplace, parish and community. With the apostasy so prevalent in our land, it is no wonder why we are seeing illegitimacy rates have soared; divorce has skyrocketed; sex outside of wedlock has become the norm; countless children have been permanently damaged — their innocence lost forever — because of the proliferation of broken homes. We simply MUST become supernaturally strong again!!

 

It’s Time to Raise an Elite Fighting Force!

In an article I wrote earlier this year (see HERE), I pointed to the fact that the “Grid of Grace” is down. In it I said …

So much is spoken, in our times, of an epidemic of illiteracy when it comes to our faith. We place blame on poor catechesis – and that may be part of the problem – but one rarely hears about the lack of “hunger for the truth.” Yes, we must educate, but where is the “hunger” to “be” educated? That comes from someone who is filled with grace!

 

Not only that, but where is the “real talk” of spiritual warfare? You see? I believe evil is running unabated in our times because, as the passage from Matthew (12:43-45) states, there is a spiritual emptiness that evil has come to fill.

Msgr. Charles Pope says …

We are at war for our own souls and the souls of people we love. We are at war for the soul of this culture and nation. And like any soldier, we must train to fight well. We must study our faith and be more committed than ever. We must also know our enemy and his tactics, and we must be prepared to suffer — and even to lose our life.

We must, as St. Paul says, become “strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:10)

This is why I am calling us to re-double our efforts, especially as we have seen a potential positive turn in our culture … we may have gained a beachhead, but we must now move inland and reclaim surrendered ground.

I am calling all men, from around the world, to join forces in training to become a kind of NAVY SEAL level spiritual warrior – “St. Michael’s Militia.”

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, 2017, we will embark upon an intensive training which will include “Exodus 90,” which was developed by Fr. Father Brian Doerr, with seminarians at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. But, I will be leading what I call, “Exodus 90 Plus,” as I am adding to it the supernatural elements of the 54 Day “Training in Holiness” Rosary Novena, the St. Louis de Montfort 33 Day Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, membership in the Angelic Warfare Confraternity, regular Adoration, daily rosary and wearing the scapular.

Consecration Day will be May 31st, 2017, the Feast of the Visitation and, according to the old calendar, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary.

Peace Through Strength – You want peace of heart and soul? You want peace in your home? You want peace in your parish and local community? You want peace in our country and the world? Then you MUST keep the devil at bay by becoming Strong in the Lord and in His Mighty Power!!