“The world’s greatest need is great men, someone who will understand that there is no greater conquest than victory over oneself; someone who will realize that the real worth is achieved, not so much by activity, as by silence; someone who will seek the Kingdom of God and His justice, and put into actual practice the law that it is only by dying to the life of the body that we ever live to the life of the spirit; someone who will brave the taunts of a Good Friday to win the joy of Easter Sunday; who will, like a lightning-flash, burn away the bonds of feeble interests which tie down our energies to the world; who, with a fearless voice, like John the Baptist, will arouse our enfeebled nature out of the sleek dream of unheroic repose; who will gain victories, not by stepping down from the Cross and compromising with the world, but who will suffer in order to conquer the world.

In a word, what we need are saints, for saints are the truly great men … I assume without further ado that the grace of God is the one thing necessary, and that God will give that grace to those who do His will.” -Venerable Fulton Sheen

 

What Will Arouse Us to Action?

I don’t know how bad things need to get before we reach a point where we begin to realize “something drastic needs to happen in order to turn things around again.” I’M THERE!!

In the past 50 years, our world has suffered through a radical shift; an onslaught of secular humanism and outright debauchery and depravity. Jeffrey Kuhner of the Washington Times sums it up well …

“For the past 50 years, every major institution has been captured by the radical secular left. The media, Hollywood, TV, universities, public schools, theater, the arts, literature — they relentlessly promote the false gods of sexual hedonism and radical individualism. Conservatives have ceded the culture to the enemy. Tens of millions of unborn babies have been slaughtered; illegitimacy rates have soared; divorce has skyrocketed; pornography is rampant; drug use has exploded; sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS have killed millions; birth control is a way of life; 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; and sodomy and homosexuality are celebrated openly. America has become the new Babylon.”

Our Church has not been immune to this onslaught of secular humanism. I agree with Fr. Dwight Longnecker’s assessment. Here is a portion (you can read the rest here) …

People are leaving religion in droves because it’s not religion anymore.

 

It’s become a charity with meetings on Sundays, and the problem is modernism. Modernism is the idea that the supernatural is out of date and unbelievable. The “de-mythologizers” tried to weed out all the miracles and supernatural elements from the gospels. For the last hundred years their influence has gained in seminaries and pulpits across the world.

 

Tales of the supernatural had to be removed. They didn’t fit with the modern world. Doctrines about devils and angels, heaven and hell had to be quietly excised from the faith because they were primitive and medieval and incredible to modern folk. Transubstantiation? A pious medieval philosophical explanation of what we all know is really symbolic. Supernatural revelation? No. Religion is all man made. Miracles? We know they don’t really happen.

 

Religious leaders–and I mean Catholics and Protestants alike–turned the Christian religion into an organization that does good works.

 

Christ’s Elite Fighting Force

Understanding the gravity of our situation today, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted recently sent out a clarion call by way of an Apostolic Exhortation entitled, “Into the Breach.” He begins with …

“Men, do not hesitate to engage in the battle that is raging around you, the battle that is wounding our children and families, the battle that is distorting the dignity of both women and men. This battle is often hidden, but the battle is real. It is primarily spiritual, but it is progressively killing the remaining Christian ethos in our society and culture, and even in our own homes.

 

The world is under attack by Satan, as our Lord said it would be (1 Peter 5:8-14). This battle is occurring in the Church herself, and the devastation is all too evident. Since AD 2000, 14 million Catholics have left the faith, parish religious education of children has dropped by 24%, Catholic school attendance has dropped by 19%, infant baptism has dropped by 28%, adult baptism has dropped by 31%, and sacramental Catholic marriages have dropped by 41%. This is a serious breach, a gaping hole in Christ’s battle lines.

 

One of the key reasons that the Church is faltering under the attacks of Satan is that many Catholic men have not been willing to “step into the breach” – to fill this gap that lies open and vulnerable to further attack. A large number have left the faith, and many who remain “Catholic” practice the faith timidly and are only minimally committed to passing the faith on to their children.

Bishop Olmsted is correct when he calls this a “spiritual battle.” As St. Paul says, “Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. Put on the armor of God so you can stand against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces in the heavenly realm” (Ephesians 6:10-12). But, if we are not seeking the power and armor of God, we stand naked on the battlefield – no spiritual armor, no spiritual weapons – prone to every deception the devil sends our way. Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We need to build a great army of supernaturalized warriors for Christ … Christ’s Superheroes!

Whether it’s a Navy SEAL or a Saint, we admire those who put it all on the line — go “all in!” — those who are totally dedicated to the mission. In the military, this dedication is revealed in the Warrior Ethos, four simple lines embedded in the Soldier’s Creed:

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

Sustained and developed through discipline, commitment, and pride, these four lines motivate every soldier to persevere and, ultimately, to refuse defeat. What would happen if we dedicated ourselves to the training and mission of Jesus Christ with the same intensity?

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.”

 

Enlistment Requirements

Jesus answered, and said to him: “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him” (John 14:23).

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (James 4:3-6).

Everything … I mean EVERYTHING … depends upon OBEDIENCE. Obedience is the very “Key” that unlocks the door to the Divine Life … the paradise of God’s Presence and Power of Supernatural Grace, once lost by the disobedience of our first parents. Mary is the New Eve who, by her fiat (Yes), brought us a Savior. And, the very last words Mary ever speaks were at the Wedding at Cana, “Do whatever He tells you.” With that call to obedience, bland and tasteless water was turned into the “best of wines” … wine is symbolic of the “inebriation of the Holy Spirit.”

Two Common Acts of Disobedience (and, therefore, disqualifiers for enlistment in Christ’s Elite Fight Force)

1. Cafeteria Catholicism: Picking which Church teaching on faith and morals one chooses to follow. We must obey them ALL.
2. Anti-Authority: Disobeying and/or disrespecting legitimate authority (Pope, Bishop, Priest), unless they violate the traditions of the faith.

Bare Bones Basics of Obedience (based on the precepts of the Church) 

1. Mass on Sunday and all Holy Days of obligation.
2. Confession at least once a month, and immediately after mortal sin.
3. Communion at every Mass in a state of grace (Confession, if needed).
4. Fast and abstain on prescribed days and no meat on all Fridays year round.
5. Register at a parish and offer parish some of your time, talent and treasure.

 

Church Militant Rank

The heroes of our faith are the warrior saints who have gone before us. God worked mightily and miraculously through them. Therefore, we must study their ways. In humility, obedience, and trust (“Go weapons H.O.T.”), we ask: How did they remain so well connected, in such strong friendship with God, so that His river of supernatural grace could flow so freely through them? What do these “SEALS for Christ,” teach us about the ideal spiritual disciplines, the ultimate daily regimen of prayer?

“Pray with great confidence,” St. Louis de Montfort says, “with confidence based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water that flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.”

Prayer is our outstanding supernatural resource for fighting the wiles of the enemy. St. Alphonsus said, “Prayer is, beyond doubt, the most powerful weapon the Lord gives us to conquer evil … but we must really put ourselves into the prayer, it is not enough just to say the words, it must come from the heart. And also prayer needs to be continuous, we must pray no matter what kind of situation we find ourselves in: the warfare we are engaged in is ongoing, so our prayer must be on-going also.”

The following are based in large part on Fr. John McCloskey’s Seven Daily Habits of Holy Apostolic People and include:

Seven Daily Habits

1. The Morning Offering
2. Mental Prayer (at least 15 minutes)
3. Spiritual Reading (at least 15 minutes)
4. Daily Holy Mass and Communion (if possible)
5. The Angelus (6 AM, noon and/or 6 PM)
6. The Holy Rosary
7. Brief Examination of Conscience (at night)

What rank are you in God’s Army?

The more you pour yourself into your prayer life, the more God will entrust His missions to you and, therefore, the more grace He will pour into your efforts.

Private – practices one daily habit

Sergeant – practices two daily habits

Lieutenant – practices three daily habits

Captain – practices four daily habits

Major – practices five daily habits

Colonel – practices six daily habits

General – practices all seven daily habits (may exclude daily Mass, if impossible to attend)

 

Special Forces – Decide if you are ready for Special Operations!

• Fasting and/or abstinence beyond prescribed days and Fridays
• Practice some form of daily penance (recommend a healthy habit that is challenging for you, e.g., exercise)
• Eucharistic Adoration at least one hour per month
• Enrollment in the Brown Scapular
• Practice Liturgy of the Hours
• 10% of gross income to parish and charities
• Enroll in some kind of Faith Formation (e.g., Holy League, That Man is You, etc.)
• Build your Holy Alliance while gaining one indulgence per day
• Practice other private devotions (Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Holy Face Chaplet, etc.)
• Volunteer at your parish
• Volunteer for some outreach effort (Soup kitchen, etc.)
• Participate in special operations to tactical targets (e.g., pray in front of Planned Parenthood)

 

Are you brave enough to join Christ’s Elite Fighting Force?  For training for God’s Army, go HERE