Spiritual Warfare
One
There is a War
In Matthew, chapter ten, Jesus says, “Think not that I have come to bring peace – I have come not to bring peace, but the sword.”
That’s a surprising thing to hear from the Prince of Peace. From Jesus meek and mild. But it’s true. This life is war. We are the Church militant, we’re a military Church, and we’re engaged in a struggle against a common foe. And just in case we were unclear about who the Enemy is, St. Paul spells it out for us, “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the rulers of this present darkness, with the hosts of evil spirits from the heavens.” (Ephesians 6:11-12).
This life is a continual war against the common enemy: Satan himself, and his army. This isn’t a fight we started, but it’s a fight we’re pledged to see through to the end.
Two
Start of the War: The First Couple
Satan started this war. There was the human race, all there was of it, the first couple, a man and a woman, minding their own business. Then the evil angel came to them, and out of pure malice, struck them down with the mortal wounds of envy and rebellion, pride and presumption and self-indulgence. He wantonly blasted them with temptation, which led to sin, which led to death.
These abominable weapons the devil hit us with weren’t just lethal to our parents, they corrupted the race, like a kind of heinous genetic germ warfare. No matter how hard the human race fought to live righteously, we were no match for the more ingenious, powerful, and sophisticated warfare of the demons. For a long time, for many, many centuries, we were losing the war. And then one day, all that changed.
Three
Counter-Offensive: The Next Couple
The first strike against humanity was launched by a wicked angel who came to the first woman and found Eve to be a willing accomplice in the destruction of her own people. The great counter-offensive against the demons began with a good angel who came to a new woman, and this good angel, Gabriel, found Mary to be a willing accomplice in the redemption of her own people. This woman would prove to be humanity’s greatest warrior queen against Satan and from her came humanity’s greatest Warrior King.
These two, Jesus and Mary, together destroyed sin and crushed Satan’s head at the cross. Ever since that day the human race has been winning the battle against the demons.
Four
Fighting Our Sins and the Army Medics
Battles in the war are won and lost very simply based on whether or not we give in to the temptation to sin. Adam and Eve lost the battle, in fact, they almost lost the war because they gave into Satan’s temptation. Christ, when He confronted Satan face-to-face in the desert, He defeated Satan simply by not giving in to his temptations.
This is how we fight the devil and this is how we win against the devil, by fighting our own temptations. That’s what it means to fight in this army of the Church militant.
Now it will happen that sometimes we’ll get wounded in this fight. We’ll fall in battle. We will sometimes give in to temptation. We will sometimes sin, and sometimes we’ll sin big. But actually, we can deal with that. Because this army has medics. We have priests who hear confessions.
So try to resist temptation, but if you do sin, if you do get wounded by one of Satan’s snipers, just go find a medic, go to confession, and get that wound bandaged up. Stop the bleeding, and then get back into the battle and keep fighting. We need you out there.
Five
Warrior-Queen and Warrior-King
It was our Warrior Queen and our Warrior King who launched this counter-offensive, and they’re still the ones leading the war. It’s Mary, with her double title: Queen of Victory, Queen of the Rosary. So keep your rosary handy, as a knight should hold on to his sword. Because that’s Our Lady’s favorite weapon, and Satan fears it like few others.
Jesus is our army’s Warrior-King. He leads every charge, He always fights on the front line. He always takes the fight into enemy territory. He fought Satan as a Man on Earth. He fought Him at Calvary in Death. He fought Him down in the land of the dead. And He still fights Satan on the main battlefield, the battlefield of our souls. That’s why now He comes in the Eucharist, so He can lead the charge into us.
In the Old Testament, when the Israelites were on the move through the desert, they would raise up the ark of the covenant, the privileged place of God’s presence. And Moses would say, “Arise Lord, and scatter your enemies before you, that those who hate you may flee before you” (Numbers 10).
We should pray that before we receive communion, when Christ in the Eucharist, which is now the privileged place of God’s presence, leads the charge into our souls. We pray, “Arise Lord, and scatter your enemies before you.” Scatter the lust, vanity, envy, anger, laziness in my soul. Defeat them utterly. “That those who hate you, the demons, and any stronghold they may have in my soul, “may flee before you.”
Christ leads the charge to fight evil in our souls. And we follow Him to the same battlefield, that we may fight with Him. And if we fight with Him, we shall surely conquer.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Spiritual warfare is fought by avoiding sin and temptation, so address where you find yourself most tempted this week and cut it out.
Seek out a medic as often as possible by going to Confession regularly.
Practice saying the prayer, “Arise Lord, and scatter your enemies before you. That those who hate you, the demons, and any stronghold they may have in my soul, may flee before you,” before Communion.