The world HATES you...

Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus. It took its position on the sand of the sea. - Apocalypse 12:17

We are at WAR. This is not puffery. Our souls, and the souls of those that we love are in mortal peril and they are under constant ATTACK from the Devil. After reading Terry Nelson's latest post over at Abbey Roads, I had to post about it. He nails home so many points that I harp on at this blog, and I am glad to see someone else taking up the same flag. Unfortunately, he is also right on another point: that many Catholics today do not really believe in things like spiritual warfare, the peril of souls, of even the Devil himself. He sums it up this way:

Today, when there is such an emphasis upon peace and justice, some Catholics do not like using the terms, spiritual warfare, combat, battle, or always hearing phrases such as 'we are at war' and so on. Yet that is what the Christian life has always been, it is a struggle - an intense, knock down, drag out fight, a very real spiritual combat: To quote St. Paul,

Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
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 world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. ~~Ephesians 6:10-12

He is so right! Just the other day in my parish there was a discussion about what theme will be used for the parish-wide Catechesis program. The choices were: Prayer & Spirituality, Morality, and Justice (ie Peace & Social Justice). The overwhelming response was: Justice. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but most people felt that the #1 issue facing our Church today was not the lack of prayer and spirituality, or morality, but a lack of Justice. The other parish in the area... facing the same question picked: Justice.

Don't get me wrong, I think these are worthy and important areas of Catholic teaching and belief, but I just wonder how that can be the number one issue facing us as Catholics. As a Church we are at War with the culture, the homosexual priestly abuse crisis, the lack of vocations, the 'progressive modernization' of our faith, the feminist agenda, the corruption of our children, the culture of death, the onslaught of pornography and infidelity, the debasement of our Sacred traditions and symbols; and we as a people cry for social justice for the oppressed. Who exactly are the oppressed? Aren't we as Catholics oppressed? Or worse yet, are we not HUNTED? If the world and our culture are consuming folks and it is unjust, what is the best avenue to combat this? When people are held captive and imprisoned how to we best free them from the shackles?

Reading an article over at Sancte Pater, one of, if not the, leading exorcists in the Vatican says that more needs to be done in the War against the Devil:

The Catholic Church's most famous exorcist says more should be done to fight the devil. Father Gabriele Amorth has conducted 70,000 exorcisms for the church during his lengthy career.

In an interview with Italian daily, Corriere Della Sera, the 85-year-old priest said it would be worth extending the practice of exorcism.

"It would not be a bad idea," he told the daily. "In Italy moral decay is evident. Families are often breaking down.

"Do you know what I would do if I was the Pope for a moment?" he asked. "I would provide every opportunity for exorcisms. Like the Orthodox Church. There you do not need the permission of a bishop."

Social justice will only come when the forces of evil, the purveyors of injustice are defeated. We MUST PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD if we have ANY chance to defend ourselves in this battle. Therefore, if we go out there, looking for justice and peace, and we do not possess the ARMOR OF GOD, we are thrusting ourselves, defenseless, into WAR. A true, honest to GOD, WAR! We must treat our world and culture in this way, or we are being nothing but foolish and naive. Therefore we must arm ourselves with Truth, Morality, Love, and walk in the Commandments of God... prior to going into battle. We cannot seek Justice without those things. We can not and must not enter into battle weaponless. So how do we arm ourselves?

Terry Nelson suggests:

...begin to pray - to really pray - prepare yourself for trials. Whenever you embark upon anything good in the spiritual life, the combat begins. Sometimes that can be a sign to "do even more" as St. Paul says. Frequent Mass and the sacraments - especially confession. And use sacramentals - especially wearing Our Lady's livery: The Scapular of Mt. Carmel along with the shield of the Miraculous Medal, and keep the very best weapon of the Rosary with you at all times. These are tools, weapons, Our Lady herself has given to her children through the saints. These are not foolish devotions or superstitious.

The Devil is real, like it or not. As a Catholic you must believe not only that he is real but also that he seeks the eternal damnation of your soul, his only chance at victory, albeit already foretold and written, is to seek the ruin of as many souls as possible. Your soul is no safer than anyone else... you are NOT GUARANTEED Heaven... unless you do that which is required of you by GOD. Social Justice is an honorable, worthy, and important goal. Yet, it cannot simply occur through the good intentions of the faithful. We all know what road is paved with good intentions. We must actively defend ourselves, our souls, and the souls of those around us.

We must be counter-cultural. We must strike against culture, against 'the world', and against evil. I heard a teen say the other day that they come to Mass and learn the faith, and love the faith but have a hard time knowing how to live it out each day. This is honestly a good thing... they realize that there is a incongruity between the world and Catholicism. We are not made for the world, we are not made for its culture, its riches and gold. We are made for GOD and we should seek Heaven. Our religion is surely about love... but love does not only mean lollipops and gum-drops. Sometimes love is a battle... and the greatest love is to lay down your life for another. This isn't always in physical death, but sometimes 'death' comes in another form.

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.
"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
-John 15:9-19

The world HATES you. Say itout loud right now... 'The World Hates ME!'

Then... repeat the promise from the start of this section: "As the Father loves Jesus, so also will I be loved. If I keep the commandments of God, I will remain in HIS LOVE." What more could we ask for? But as I have said in this post, it will not come easy... we are at WAR.

So we must stand firm and resolute in our desire to keep the commandments of God. We must put on the ARMOR OF GOD. We must arm ourselves with the weapons of the faith: the Rosary, the Scapular, and Medals. We must spiritually fight through prayer and meditation. We must seek Social Justice and Peace for people and not for the world. It takes great strength and courage to be a Catholic in today's world... and yet it has always been such. If you need inspiration... look to any CHILD Saint that was ready willing and able to DIE for their faith. Can we even FATHOM THAT? No wonder we don't like phrases such as "SPIRITUAL WARFARE." I wonder if Spiritual War will chip my nails, muddy my gym shoes, or ruin my designer handbag?

Again, I have no problem with seeking Social Justice... I just do not believe we can bring about that type of change unless we are truly willing to enter the war. Our faith and our souls are under constant attack. Justice will not be served until we can protect and preserve the souls of those that seek and follow Christ. The only way we can do that is if we are willing to take up arms against the enemy, put on the Armor of God and Defend our FAITH in battle!

The Battles To Come...

I started this blog a little over 3 months ago. It was in response to some conversations I had with my best friend concerning the current state of the Catholic Church in America, the culture of American Catholic families, the dualistic nature of the Church in terms of the Traditionalist movement ["reform of the reform"] versus the more modern Progressives congregations [this is not meant to be read in a pejorative sense], and how socio-political aspects of American life and politics juxtapose against these facets of American Catholicism. In short we were talking essentially about what it means to be an American Catholic in todays day and age. [We also spoke specifically of our vocations as Husbands, Fathers, and Lawyers]

Both my friend and I were in our last year of law school, married, and expecting our first child in our respective families. We realized that the country and culture we were raised in no longer existed, at least not fully. We also saw the changes occurring in our faith because of the culture of the world. Vatican II was meant to be a development within the Church to explain and evolve the way in which our faith existed within the modern world. Unfortunately, here in America it came during the social chaos of the 1960's and 1970's. A once stoic and traditional Catholic Church had become something modern and incongruent with the past. It rested its laurels less on rubrics and tradition and more on comfort and relativism. The Church had been devolving in many regards since then; although not necessarily because of Vatican II but more the state of our world in terms of culture and belief.

As we talked we realized that our families, faith, and country were in battles. ["the kingdom of Heaven has been subjected to violenceand the violent are taking it by storm." Matthew 11:12] I know for many this seems highly exaggerated but it isn't. Just turn on the the TV and watch the way prime-time shows portray families and culture. Watch the commercials and see the products they push and the families the use to push them. We realized for sure that there was a culture war. We also saw the same thing in our church. Granted we went to a Catholic law school, so we definitely had more traditionalist beliefs and tendencies but we saw the way the Church was no longer the same across the board. Walking into some churches you felt as if kneeling and latin were prohibited whereas walking into others you were close to excommunication if you weren't constantly kneeling and only speaking latin. It seemed as if the war had engulfed even the Church itself turning brother against brother - a sort of Civil war.

So this blog was born... as a way to get these ideas out there. The first 3 months the posts were a little scattered. Yet as I move forward I hope to be more focused. I plan to concentrate on the wars waging over our families, faith, and country. It should be obvious as to what some of these topics will be and others I am sure will develop spontaneously as such things have a tendency to do.

• I hope to cover more family pertinent issues as my first child is about 2 weeks from birth. I think that more so than ever natural Catholic families are under attack. The way we raise our children in their faith, in the American culture, and their educational opportunities are under constant attack from relativism and secularism. I plan to discuss all the ways in which we can fight to preserve our traditions, needs and desires when it comes to our children and families. ["You may not be rich; you may be unable to bequeath any great possessions to your children; but one thing you can give them; the heritage of your blessing. And it is better to be blessed than to be rich." - St. Ambrose]
• I also hope to cover the way in which our marriages are constantly under attack. Whether it is the way that the family dynamic is portrayed or the way in which the roles of husbands and wives exist in our culture. As Catholics, our marriages begin with the Sacrament of Matrimony. A tri-union with ourselves, our spouse and our God. ["...a threefold cord is not easily broken." - Eccl. 4:12] We must fight to preserve them as a true union with God and an everlasting fidelity to love.
• Our Church, our faith, the liturgy, and tradition are undergoing a revolution. As with all revolutions there is the chance that it could end badly and leave nothing more than a shell of what we had prior to the uprising. Yet, it could also leave in its wake the fertile ground unto which a grand and glorious garden could grow - with a multitude of fruits and graces. It is up to us those - the Body of Christ, to ensure that this "reform of the reform," that this revolution occurs properly and in the right way. That we uphold true traditions with meaning and purpose and not solely for the sake of tradtion. We must also embrace the reforms of Vatican II, those that have been done properly and for the Holy purpose of bringing Greater Glory to God. It our job as members of the Church Militant to instill in our children and families the proper way to balance tradition with modernity to ensure growth and love in the Church and in our world. ["Take heed to thyself and to doctrine: be earnest in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." 1 Timothy 4:16]
• There is also a need to expose and discuss the Anti-Christian and Anti-Catholic tone that exists in American Politics. As more and more of our elected officials vote against Catholic teaching and morals we need to exert our voices and our voting power upon them. Especially those that wave the flag of Catholicism only to support legislation contrary to its teaching. Explaining such actions away through some relativistic explanation. There is certainly a separation between Church and State, and it should exist to the proper degree - but not at the cost of the extermination of religion. Our country was not, is not, and should not be a secularist one. ["And Jesus answering, said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Mark 12:17]
• Finally, I hope to show how the intercession and protection of St. Michael, the Archangels, and all the angels and saints can protect us in these battles. We cannot do this alone - we must implore the help and protection of the angels. 

So moving forward... there are many battles to come. I hope that this blog can be a place to help prepare all of us for such battles, and the overall war against evil. Don't get me wrong - I do not think of myself as anything great or even capable of doing such a thing. I only feel that God has inspired me to do such in a way that through Him, if it be His Will, then I will be capable of achieving such a feat. 

A final note; I am a traditionalist for sure. I have a great place in my heart for the Extraordinary Form (Tridentine & Dominican Rites), latin prayers and hymns, and the practices of Catholicism that are more traditional. This does not mean though, that I abhor all new and modern means of worship. In fact, I live in a place where the "New Order" (Novus Ordo) is the only one in which I can attend. I understand that when done correctly, its beauty is befitting the extent of mans ability to worship God. So my preference for the traditional should not be taken as an indictment of the modern. Instead I hope to show that the age and maturity of the older form show how stability and focus on the Mystery and Eucharist allow the Church to flourish. The older form, latin, and the traditional practices have had almost 500 years to attempt to perfect themselves. Whereas the new Mass has had only 40. [In essence it is like comparing a 50 year old with a 4 year old in terms of knowledge and refinement.] So I hope to show through the comparison of the new to the old the ways in which we must center and focus our attention as Catholics. Not in attempt to simply reclaim tradition, but instead to ensure that the meaning of our woship and faith is Christ centered and not people centered. 

In conclusion I hope this blog will touch all of you, and hopefully bring some of you to a greater relationship and understanding of our God. I hope that it brings Greater Glory to God and upholds the Holy Catholic Church in all of Her Glory and Graces.