20141030 CHRISTIAN WARFARE MUST BE FOUGHT WITH THE ARMOUR OF
GOD
First
reading
Ephesians
6:10-20 ©
Grow
strong in the Lord, with the strength of his power. Put God’s armour on so as
to be able to resist the devil’s tactics. For it is not against human enemies
that we have to struggle, but against the Sovereignties and the Powers who
originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army of evil in the
heavens. That is why you must rely on God’s armour, or you will not be able to
put up any resistance when the worst happens, or have enough resources to hold
your ground.
So stand your ground, with truth buckled
round your waist, and integrity for a breastplate, wearing for shoes on your
feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace and always carrying the shield
of faith so that you can use it to put out the burning arrows of the evil one.
And then you must accept salvation from God to be your helmet and receive the
word of God from the Spirit to use as a sword.
Pray all the time, asking for what you need,
praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion. Never get tired of staying
awake to pray for all the saints; and pray for me to be given an opportunity to
open my mouth and speak without fear and give out the mystery of the gospel of
which I am an ambassador in chains; pray that in proclaiming it I may speak as
boldly as I ought to.
Psalm
Psalm
143:1-2,9-10 ©
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my arms for battle,
who prepares my hands for war.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
He
is my love, my fortress;
he is my stronghold, my saviour
my
shield, my place of refuge.
He brings peoples under my rule.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
To
you, O God, will I sing a new song;
I will play on the ten-stringed lute
to
you who give kings their victory,
who set David your servant free.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
Gospel
Acclamation Ps147:12,15
Alleluia,
alleluia!
O
praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He
sends out his word to the earth.
Alleluia!
Or cf.Lk19:38,2:14
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Blessings
on the King who comes,
in
the name of the Lord!
Peace
in heaven
and
glory in the highest heavens!
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 13:31-35 ©
Some
Pharisees came up. ‘Go away’ they said. ‘Leave this place, because Herod means
to kill you.’ He replied, ‘You may go and give that fox this message: Learn
that today and tomorrow I cast out devils and on the third day attain my end.
But for today and tomorrow and the next day I must go on, since it would not be
right for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem.
‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the
prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather
your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused! So
be it! Your house will be left to you. Yes, I promise you, you shall not see me
till the time comes when you say:
‘Blessings
on him who comes in the name of the Lord!’
CHRISTIAN
WARFARE MUST BE FOUGHT WITH THE ARMOUR OF GOD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: EPH 6:10-20; LK 13:31-35
Every
Christian by virtue of their baptism is called upon to spread the Good News by
extending the reign of Christ’s love in the hearts of all men and women.
Yet this mission is fraught with challenges.
The gospel recounts the
growing hostility against Jesus in His ministry. He had to contend with both
religious and political foes, the religious leaders on the one hand; Herod and
the Romans on the other. When the Pharisees came to warn Jesus about
Herod’s intention to kill him, it was not done out of concern for His safety
but as a pretext to discourage Jesus from going up to Jerusalem from fulfilling
His mission.
However, if our mission is
simply to deal with earthly powers and challenges, then the works of charity,
social services, technological progress, advancement in science and domination
in politics can solve all problems. But as St Paul reiterates “for it is
not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the
Sovereignties and the Powers who originate the darkness of this world, the
spiritual army of evil in the heavens.” Indeed, Jesus’ proclamation of
the Kingdom of God was also set against the kingdom of darkness whose leader is
Satan. Truly, the mission of the Church primarily is a spiritual
mission. Our enemies are not human beings but the forces of evil
manifested in the current trends of society that are atheistic, secularist,
materialistic and even anti-Christian.
We have witnessed for
ourselves how daunting this battle is for us all. The work of Satan in seeking to
destroy the credibility of Church leaders, clerical or laity and the unity of
marriage and family is obvious. How many of us have fallen under the
temptations of the Evil One when it comes to living a life of holiness,
integrity, faithfulness and justice in our vocation. In various degrees we have
fallen into the snares of the Evil One, wittingly by unwittingly embracing the
sensual, materialistic and individualistic values of the world.
Hence, it is important to
ask ourselves, how prepared are we unseen forces that seek to wreak
havoc in society and in our Church? Are we able to hold our ground,
as St Paul exhorted us, “so stand your ground.” We need to be alert and
intuitive like Jesus. We also need to be courageous like Jesus who
continued in His mission in spite of the threats against Him, resolute in His
mission without turning back. How do we prepare ourselves for the
ministry and engage in the mission of the Church without losing our ground to
the Devil?
The Good News is that this
battle is not fought by us alone. On the contrary, this battle is
fought by Christ Himself. He is our Chief Commander of the Army. Just
as Yahweh fought the battles for Israel in days of old, Jesus will fight for
us. The responsorial psalm affirms the mighty power of God when it says,
“Blessed
be the Lord my rock, who
trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war. My mercy and my fortress, my
stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust, who subdues my people
under me.”
Secondly, the outcome of
the battle is a foregone conclusion. Jesus will win. God’s plan
cannot be destroyed. Jesus knows that the Father will see Him through for
“He replied, ‘You may go and give that fox this message: Learn that today and
tomorrow I cast out devils and on the third day attain my end. But for
today and tomorrow and the next day I must go on, since it would not be right
for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem.” There is no question about God’s final
victory. He has already won it in principal when He died to sin in His
death and raised to a new life in the Resurrection, and now, seated at the
right hand of the Father, continues to exert His influence on humanity through
us.
If the outcome is a
decisive win, why then bother to fight at all? The truth is that God who
created us without us will not save us without us. He ascended on high to
give gifts to us all so that He could fight the battle in and through us.
Although the outcome of the battle is clear, the form and shape it will take is
not yet pre-determined. The Kingdom that is to come, although brought
about by God, does not exclude the distinctive flavor that we contribute to the
eventual realization of this Kingdom.
This leaves us with the
most important question for today’s reflection. How should we conduct
this spiritual warfare? St Paul, aware of the incapacity of men to
fight against Satan, advises us to “put God’s armour on so as to be able to
resist the devil’s tactics.” Without vesting the right armour, we will
surely be wounded on the battlefield if not killed. Without divine
protection, we will not be able to put up any resistance when the worst happens,
or have enough resources to hold our ground.
So what kind of Divine
Armour is St Paul speaking about? Firstly, we must strengthen our
spiritual life. Let us not over-estimate ourselves. If we
are not spiritually strong, we will be defeated easily by the Evil One. To
strengthen our spiritual life, we must first grow in faith, in trust and in
understanding, in personal faith and doctrinal faith. St Paul says,
“Carrying the shield of faith so that you can use it to put out the burning
arrows of the evil one.” This faith is ours if we “accept salvation
from God to be your helmet.” That is to say, we must surrender our
lives to Him and our whole being to Him so that He can take control over
us. For faith to grow and nurture, one cannot be naïve to think
that it happens without our active cooperation. A strong faith requires
that we “receive the Word of God from the Spirit to use as a sword.” We
must be like Jeremiah who wrote, “When your words came, I ate them; they were
my joy and my heart’s delight.” (Jer 15:16) Finally, we must, as St Paul
says, “Pray all the time, asking for what you need, praying in the Spirit on
every possible occasion.” Without a persistent, persevering, faithful,
devout and fervent prayer life, how we can ever expect to defend ourselves against
every trial and challenge that comes our way when we seek to be faithful to
Christ and His gospel values?
Secondly, to put on the
Divine Armour necessarily demands that we live out what we believe in our
Christian life. St Paul urges us to live a life of holiness
“with truth buckled round your waist, and integrity for a breastplate.”
This is a great challenge for us all, for we all know how difficult it is be
faithful to the values we hold so dearly. Because of human weakness, we
succumb so easily to the temptation of the flesh and our pride. Yet we
must be realistic that integrity is not something to be achieved in one day but
a life long struggle.
Finally, to put on the
Divine Armour is to put on the heart of Jesus our Good Shepherd. We
cannot but be inspired by Jesus’ compassion for His people and His enemies when
He prayed for Jerusalem crying out, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the
prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather
your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused! So
be it! Your house will be left to you. Yes, I promise you, you shall not see me
till the time comes when you say: Blessings on him who comes in the name of the
Lord!” It was with regret and sorrow that He said this, knowing what was
going to befall His people because of their pride and unrepentant heart.
Don’t we feel the same for our loved ones when they remain unrepentant and
continue with their sinful and unenlightened lifestyle? But let our
hearts not only feel for those we love but for everyone who is destroying his
life and those who are related to him.
That is why we must
engage in the work of evangelization in spreading the Good News of the
Kingdom. St Paul exhorts us to “speak without fear and give out the
mystery of the gospel of which I am an ambassador in chains; pray that in
proclaiming it I may speak as boldly as I ought to.” Only by changing the
world, can evil be thwarted. As it is said, instead of cursing the
darkness, we can offer to light the candle. By destroying evil with
goodness, hatred with love, cruelty with kindness, revenge with forgiveness,
falsehood with truth, then the kingdom of God will prevail over the kingdom of
darkness.
In order to have such an
evangelical zeal, a passion like Jesus for the world, a visionary mind and
courage from start to end, St Paul’s word of wisdom is simply to pray.
Prayer is the only way to sustain our zeal, inspire us in our discouragement,
hope in failure and fortitude in the face of persecution. Most of all,
praying takes us from the influence of the Evil One and puts us under the
divine protection of God.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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