Deliver Us From Evil

I still have a hard time grasping why bad things happen to good people.  It seems every week now--sometimes multiple times per week--I receive a prayer request from our parish men's group and other sources requesting prayers for various intentions, many of them illnesses.  Only a few weeks ago a young boy, 13, the son of one of the men's friends, contracted a rare blood infection and was gone in a matter of days.   Only a few days latter, we were asked for prayers for a family whose wife and mother, 38, had recently passed away after a brief battle with cancer, leaving a husband and young children behind.  In my mind and in my heart of hearts, I know that the suffering and death that we encounter in this life is only the natural (or supernatural) consequence of our original sin.

Even worse are the encounters with rampant, destructive, predatory evil the likes of which we have seen so graphically in the terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and other acts of violence that seem almost commonplace and expected on the daily news.  Add on top of it a general sentiment of skepticism at best--and outright hatred at worse--of Catholics who strive day in and day out to live to live the Truth of the Gospel and to carry it to all they meet, and very quickly a thought and an image begin to emerge.  The thought is that, "something is wrong.  It shouldn't be this way," and the image of a city under siege from all sides, yet continuing to rise from the ashes and carry the light of the Gospel to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

Most of all, I cannot conceive how so many are able to convince themselves that the taking of innocent human life, before birth and in the intended safety of their mother's womb, is anything but the most evil and barbaric act of our time.

As I listened again to Peter Kreeft's talk (now a book), "How to Win the Culture War," and in picking up Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth for the fourth time (that's four times trying to finish, not four times through), I was reminded this week of a stark reality that is so easy to forget:  We are behind enemy lines, operating like guerillas in enemy territory.  This world is possessed, quite literally, by the prince of lies and darkness and his forces, whose primary aim is to rob us of our relationship with Christ and his unbounded, redeeming love and, in doing so, to destroy our souls.

The topic of the reality and ugliness of evil and sin is not something that is popular or "nice" to talk about in our society, where sinful, destructive--in short, evil--behavior is blamed on any number of external and psychological factors.  In Jesus of Nazareth, in reflecting on the mission of the Twelve "to preach and have authority to cast out demons" (Mk 3:14f; Mt 10:1), the Holy Father speaks to the necessity of the second part of their mission that we so often today "find surprising, or even disturbing."  Quoting Heinrich Schlier, he reminds us who our true enemies are:

"The enemies are not this or that person, not even myself.  They are not flesh and blood...The conflict goes deeper.  It is a fight against a host of opponents that never stop coming; they cannot really be pinned down and have no proper name, only collective denominations.  They also start out with superior advantage over man, and that is because of their superior position, their position 'in the heavens' of existence...These enemies are, finally, all full of essential, deadly malice" (Brief an die Epheser, p. 291). 

Who could fail to see here a description of our world as well, in which the Christian is threatened by an anonymous atmosphere, by something "in the air" that wants to make the faith seem ludicrous and absurd to him?  And who could fail to see the poisoning of the spiritual climate all over the world that threatens the dignity of man, indeed his very existence?

As Christians, we are called to step each day onto a deadly battlefield, with the "whole armor of God" to stand "against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph 6:10-12).  Armed with faith, and the assurance of victory that is given to us in the Resurrection and the Eucharist, let us march bravely into this fight, to rescue the countless souls who may be waiting for us to be their first taste of his love, and of his victory that has already been won.

Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...


St. Joseph and Holy Mary, terror of demons, PRAY FOR US.


Our Father...deliver us from evil.


+AMDG+

The Backup Plan

There's a story about the time after Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension that illustrates how much God is depending on us to take the Good News of Christ into the world, to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19-20):

In heaven, all the angels could still see the wound marks on Jesus' hands and feet.  They all bowed down before Him.  Finally, St. Michael went up to Jesus and said, 'Jesus, do they know how much You love them?

"A group of them know", Jesus said.

"Well," St. Michael replied, "How are you going to tell the rest of the world?"

"I told Peter and I told James and I told John and I told the rest of the Twelve," Jesus said, "and they are going to have to tell others."

"Come on, Jesus", St. Michael said.  "How else are you going to do it?"

"This is it,", Jesus said.  "If they don't tell them, then the world will never know."

St. Michael asked, "What is your backup plan?"

"There is no backup plan.  If they don't do it the world will never know."

Ladies and gentlemen, we are the backup plan.  We, the Church, are the last chance that God has planned for humanity.  While there is certainly no "boxing in" God's capacity for mercy and creativity in countering evil, so far as we are concerned and privleged to know this side of the grave, we are it.  Beginning with Mary's fiat (be it done), made manifest in the person of Christ, and continuing in our own time, God has chosen us--you and me--to be his eyes, ears, voice, hands, and feet in the world.  The time has come for our generation to claim its call as servants of Christ and to live out that call with the intent of nothing less than changing the world.  This is not something we should take lightly or sitting down, for we are sent as sheep among wolves to follow Christ's model of laying down his life for we who he now calls friends.

In his homily for last week's Feast of the Assumption, our priest pointed out that God, the all-powerful creator of the universe, chose to hinge His entire plan for salvation on the yes of one poor, young, (but humble  and faithful) servant girl.  "God," as he put it, "likes to play dangerously."  The stakes are high, but now He has no less faith in us than He did in Christ; as we pray in the Eucharistic Prayer, "look not on our sins but on the faith of your Church..."  As he went "all in" with Mary 2000 years ago, and was satisfied by the faithfulness and perfect sacrifice of His only Son whom she bore into the world, now He looks to us.  The Lord of Hosts is hedging His bet on you and me.

This is our time.  This is the appointed time and place for us to enter the battle, like those who have fought so bravely before us, so that we might shine brighter than the stars, glorifying Him with them for all eternity.

Who Is Like Unto God?

This blog is placed under the patronage and guardianship of St. Michael, the captain of the heavenly armies of God who, with the battle cry that is his name, "Who is like unto God?", drove the rebel Lucifer from heaven like a bolt of lightning to end the great conflict of the heavenly hosts.  He now intercedes for us as the champion of the faithful who struggle with the powers of evil.

Michael appears in Scripture as the guardian of the children of Israel, as their comfort and protector who prepared their return from the Persian captivity (Daniel 10:13).  Just as he rescued the body of Moses from the grasp of the evil one (Jude 9), today he continues to fulfill in a particular and powerful way the final petition of the Lord's Prayer, "deliver us from evil," at the same time both strengthening and encouraging the Church Militant and equipping the faithful with courage and fortitude to fight for the salvation of souls.

Michael stands by the side of the faithful in the hour of their death, ready to escort them to their final judgement and into the glory that is promised those who live and die as friends of God.

Finally, at the end of time, Michael will unfurl the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet signalling the end of time, and bind together the beast and his servants, chaining them for eternity in the burning pool (cf Daniel 12, Revelation 12:7).

Saint Michael the Archangel,

Defend us in battle

Be our protection against the

wickedness and snares

of the devil;

May God rebuke him,

we humbly pray;

O Prince of the heavenly host,

By the power of God,

thrust into hell

Satan and all evil spirits

Who prowl about the world

Seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

Saint Michael's feast day is celebrated on September 29.  He is the patron saint of police, knights, soldiers, those in battle, grocers, and radiologists.