The end of the liturgical year is approaching. At the end of November, we will celebrate the feast of Christ the King. This celebration reminds us that the end of time will come for all of us, maybe even for some of us today. Christ will come back, and we need to be ready. Soon we will also be celebrating All Souls Day and All Saints day. All of these feasts should then remind us of the imminent nature of the end of our lives. Today’s reading from Ephesians reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle with eternal consequences. It tells us to put on the armor of God so that we can withstand the “wiles of the devil.”
We often refer to this battle when we call Christians here on earth, the Church militant. Today it’s not as popular to talk of our faith as military in nature. The Church has always spoken in those terms precisely because we are in a perpetual battle against sin and the powers of evil. God has called us to be His holy warriors, fighting against our fallen nature to conform our wills with His.
Many people see this as just praying and hiding, keeping their heads down. Notice that the armor of God isn’t just defensive! No, it’s also offensive! We are supposed to equip ourselves to defend against the devil’s tactics and strike at our weakness through prayer and fasting. Saint Paul lists off each armor with these attributes: righteousness, truth, faith, and salvation. He also declares that our offensive tool is the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. We can use a blade to parry and block. A warrior also uses a weapon to drive an attack, push forward, and break down their opponent’s defense.
Paul isn’t mincing words. We aren’t supposed to be passive people hiding behind the walls of our churches and homes. Jesus has called us to go out into the world to spread the good news, fight against evil, and bring about His Kingdom here and now. The idea sounds exciting, but also scary. If God expects us to fight, how then do we put on this armor? It makes a lot more sense when we look at the words Saint Paul uses.
Righteousness: Paul tells us in Corinthians that Jesus is the righteousness of God.
Truth: Jesus told us that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
Faith: Hebrews says that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.
Salvation: In Acts, Luke records, “Salvation is found in no one else” but Jesus Christ.
The Word of God: John tells us in the very first line of his Gospel that Jesus Christ is the word of God.
That’s how we put on the armor of God. We put on the blood of Jesus Christ. When we walk forward to receive Him in the Eucharist, a good thing to think about is this: We are at war. The Sacraments equip us; they arm us to fight this battle. Without armor, we are sitting ducks. When we put Jesus Christ into our hearts, into our minds, and into every aspect of our lives, we begin to stand a chance in this battle. Jesus has already won the war for us; we need to wrap ourselves in Him and let Him do the fighting.
I think we can’t stop there, though. We need to be going out into our world wherever God has us planted armed for battle. We also need to be looking around at those people in our lives who aren’t getting ready. A battalion can fall if too many of its members are lost. We are saved personally, but not privately; our faith is not in a void. Jesus won the war, but we have to win our own battles, and we want as few casualties as possible. So reach out to someone today. Invite them back to Mass, back to the Church. Tell them how much Jesus means to you and let Him begin to work on their hearts. We are stronger and more complete when we are together. This is a call to arms because our eternal lives are truly at stake!
A homily for Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time: October 29th, 2020