[Salvation]

Helps in Spiritual Warfare

Pastor’s Column

27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 7, 2012

 

          Life can at times be a real battle zone! Things can be very peaceful, and then all of a sudden we are in a war-zone, and often we do not see this coming. Fortunately, our faith gives us many tools of spiritual warfare that we can use very effectively! Sometimes, it is precisely when the tasks seem beyond us that the Lord is actually inviting us through the Holy Spirit to let him wage these battles for us, whether we are fighting against sins, worry, crises of all kinds, or every kind of difficulty. Here is a short list of some of the tools God has given us.

 

Repentance. There are few actions we can take against evil in our lives that are more powerful than a good and sincere confession.

 

Forgiveness. Holding onto unforgiveness is like swallowing battery acid! Forgiveness is not a feeling. Rather, it consists of three parts: praying for the person who harmed us, not speaking ill of that person to others, and being kind to them if we are near them.

 

The Word of God. Using scripture effectively means having passages ready to help us when we are down. Why not begin your own list of scripture that help you as you read the bible? Jesus used scripture to do battle against Satan in the desert and we can too.

 

The Eucharist. When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, this is the moment to really thank God and offer him our particular problem. He is there for us in great power. Praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration chapel is very powerful as well.

 

Calling on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always ready to assist us if we but remember to ask! A very powerful and quick prayer to use would be “Come Holy Spirit!”

 

Practicing the Presence of God. This very effective practice involves learning to pray ourselves through the day by remembering that, no matter how we may feel or perceive it, God is always with us, watching over us and helping us. If we can just remember the Lord as we go through the day then many battles will be easier.

 

Intercessory Prayer.   Here we enlist others to pray for us! This includes making use of our prayer chain, asking a favorite saint to pray for us, asking the Mother of God to intercede for us by praying the rosary, praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory (who will in turn pray for us), asking others to pray for us, and asking our relatives and friends who have died to intercede are helps! Often, praying for others instead of ourselves also unlocks many graces.

 

Praise and Thanksgiving. Giving thanks in all things is the most powerful of prayers in difficult circumstances!

                                                                                          Father Gary

[Salvation]

St. Paul Center Blog

What God Has Joined: Reflections on the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 10.05.12 |

In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a trick question.

The “lawfulness” of divorce in Israel was never at issue. Moses had long ago allowed it (see Deuteronomy 24:1-4). But Jesus points His enemies back before Moses, to “the beginning,” interpreting the text we hear in today’s First Reading.

Divorce violates the order of creation, He says. Moses permitted it only as a concession to the people’s “hardness of heart”—their inability to live by God’s covenant Law. But Jesus comes to fulfill the Law, to reveal its true meaning and purpose, and to give people the grace to keep God’s commands.

Marriage, He reveals, is a sacrament, a divine, life-giving sign. Through the union of husband and wife, God intended to bestow His blessings on the human family—making it fruitful, multiplying it until it filled the earth (see Genesis 1:28).

Readings:
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 128:1-6
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16

That’s why today’s Gospel moves so easily from a debate about marriage to Jesus’ blessing of children. Children are blessings the Father bestows on couples who walk in His ways, as we sing in today’s Psalm.
Marriage also is a sign of God’s new covenant. As today’s Epistle hints, Jesus is the new Adam—made a little lower than the angels, born of a human family (see Romans 5:14; Psalm 8:5-7). The Church is the new Eve, the “woman” born of Christ’s pierced side as He hung in the sleep of death on the cross (see John 19:34; Revelation 12:1-17).

Through the union of Christ and the Church as “one flesh,” God’s plan for the world is fulfilled (see Ephesians 5:21-32). Eve was “mother of all the living” (see Genesis 3:20). And in baptism, we are made sons and daughters of the Church, children of the Father, heirs of the eternal glory He intended for the human family in the beginning.

The challenge for us is to live as children of the kingdom, growing up ever more faithful in our love and devotion to the ways of Christ and the teachings of His Church.