3rd SUNDAY OF LENT C: SIN IS DEADLY

3^RD SUNDAY OF LENT C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

MARCH 24, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

Tragedies, whether they be natural or man-made, are usually deemed as punishments from God. I remember when “Yolanda” struck Samar, an insensitive post came out in the social media. It said that tragedy befell them because the people living there were all sinners. I suppose that the Lord was referring to this same mentality when he referred to the Galileans executed by Pontius Pilate and those 18 persons who perished at the collapse of the tower of Siloam. He asked: “Were they more guilty than anyone else in Jerusalem?” Were the victims of calamities more sinful than all of us? And the answer of the Lord was: “By no means!” And indeed, he is right. They cannot be regarded as greater sinners because all of us are sinners. All of us are guilty. That is why “if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

In the 2^nd reading, St. Paul gives us a clear explanation. He spoke of the Israelites who perished in the desert. He said: “These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things as they did…These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.”

The Lord teaches us of the deadly effects of sin. Many of us take sin lightly because they are ignorant of what it can do to us. Sin is deadly. When sin entered the world, together with it came death. What happened to the executed Galileans and to the victims of the fallen tower of Siloam were the natural consequences of sin. If we were spared of such catastrophe, it was simply because our time has not yet come and we should not wait for it to happen. We must repent as soon as possible.

Sin is deadly and all of us are enslaved by it. Our afflictions are caused by sin. They do not come from God. They are the effects of sin. When we sin, we turn away from the Lord who is Life, Love, and Good. That is why we are afflicted by death, violence, and evil. Evil cannot come from God because He is holy. From the burning bush, God told Moses to come no nearer and to take off his sandals because the place where he stood was holy ground. “I have witnessed the affliction of my people and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well that they are suffering. Therefore, I have come down to rescue them…and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

The venerable Senyor of Pakil, Laguna

As we saw last time, God does not delight in our affliction. He does not delight in the death of the sinner. He is kind and merciful. That is why he came to save us. “He pardons all (our) iniquities, heals all (our) ills. He redeems (our) life from destruction, crowns (us) with kindness and compassion. He desires nothing but our salvation. Thus, he descended from heaven and took flesh from the Virgin’s womb. He took upon himself our affliction. Like the Galileans executed by Pilate as they offered sacrifice, he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. And in dying, Christ offered God the most perfect sacrifice. His Blood did not mingle with his sacrifice. His Blood was The Sacrifice itself. Like all men who were afflicted by death’s serious blow, he descended into hell. The sinless One shared the lot (kapalaran) of sinners. And he did this to take us out of hell. He resurrected from the dead and “when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive. And he bestowed gifts to men.” (Ephesians 4:8) Now, we eat the same spiritual food and drink from the spiritual rock who is Christ himself.

Therefore, let us repent while we can. Let us not wait for disaster to fall on us. He gives us a chance to bear fruits. He cultivates the ground around us and fertilizes us with the Eucharist, our spiritual food and drink. Let us turn from our evil ways and turn to Him who is kind and merciful. “For if (we) do not repent, (we) will all perish as they did!”

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

1st Sunday of Lent C: Christ's Battle

1^ST SUNDAY OF LENT C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

March 10, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

Whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we beg the Father: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Today, we hear the exact opposite in our Gospel reading. After his baptism at the River Jordan, the Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert “to be tempted by the devil.” The Holy Spirit did not lead Jesus away from temptation but led him into it. It was as if the Holy Spirit fortified Jesus for a battle – a battle that the Lord decided to engage in because the Lord “heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression” brought about by his enemy, the devil. As the Egyptians maltreated the Israelites, so did the devil maltreat and oppressed by imposing the hard labor of suffering, illness, and death upon us.  The Lord knew that we were powerless against this oppression that is why he himself came down to this earthly desert of our exile in order to engage the devil in a fight so that he can bring us out of our Egypt “with his strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders.” In leading us out of this enslaving world, he intends to bring us to heaven, the land overflowing with milk and honey.

The weapon the devil used against Jesus was the same weapon he used against Adam and Eve: temptation. He used temptation to seduce our first parents away from the path of holiness which the Lord intended for them. The devil has his way of doing it. In a temptation, the devil could make something so horrible look attractive. The devil made the forbidden fruit look delicious to eat. Adam and Eve were so enticed by the assurance that eating the forbidden fruit would not kill them. Rather, it would make them like God. Our first parents fell into this trap. They ate the forbidden fruit. They disobeyed the Lord and so sin entered the world and together with sin came suffering, illness, and death.

The devil tried using the same temptation on Jesus. Capitalizing on our Lord’s hunger from fasting, the devil attempted to make the stones look like bread: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  It is as if the devil was saying: “You are the Son of God. You do not even have to go hungry because you have the power to do the impossible. Change stone to bread and help yourself. Use your power to indulge yourself.”

The devil seduced Adam and Eve with an empty promise: they will become gods if they disobeyed the Lord. He now seduced Jesus with the promise of earthly power and glory in exchange for a renunciation of his Divinity. He must have thought the Jesus was no different from Esau who sold away his birthright in exchange for a bowl of soup to satisfy his hunger. It was as if the devil told Jesus: “You do not have to suffer and die in order to receive power and glory. Simply relinquish your Divinity and worship me and then, power and glory will be yours with the least effort.”

The devil tried to instill in Christ doubt in the Father’s love for him: “Go and jump from the parapet of the temple and test the Father’s love for you. If he loves you, he will send his angels to catch you and keep you from harming yourself.” After 3 years, the devil will reiterate this temptation on Calvary. The devil would speak to Jesus as he hanged on the Cross: “Where is your Father now? Where are your angels now? Did they not defend you from this cruelty? Why are you all alone now?” The devil would speak through the jeering crowd: “If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross and we will believe in you.”

But Jesus would not jump. He will not test the Father. He will not come down from the Cross. He will stay on the side of his Father. He will be obedient until death. He will stay on the Cross because the Cross will be his weapon against the devil. The outstretched arm he will use to lead us out of the slavery of sin will be that arm which he will stretch out upon the wood of the Cross. The terrifying power of Christ will be that of his unconditional obedience to the Father. His signs and wonders will be his Cross and his Resurrection. Indeed, the Lord will win this battle by his fasting, by his suffering, by his unwavering obedience, by his Cross, and by his Resurrection.

And he empowers us with the same weapons in our spiritual battle against the devil. This Lenten season, he invites us to join him in his fast. Strengthen your soul by the weakness of your body. Fast and pray. Arm yourself with the Word of God. Obey his word. Restrain yourself. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. Let us arm ourselves with the weapon of self-restraint as we take up battle against spiritual evils (Collect of Ash Wednesday). Do not be afraid. Christ has gone before us in this battle. He has engaged the enemy in a battle. He fought and he won. He has conquered the world.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Faith in God and Feng Shui?

Mother of God

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!

Feng Shui masters are the stars of the moment. I have always said that New Year’s Eve is perhaps the most superstitious night of the year because people are so obsessed with appropriating for themselves the power that does not belong to them, that is, the power to influence the elements of nature to their own advantage. But be careful of harnessing these so-called “powers” for these are not simple energies. Rather, they are what St. Paul calls the “principalities and powers, rulers of the world of this darkness, the spirits of wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12) In other words, these are demons who will do all they can to deceive you into believing that they can assure you of a good future only if you do their bidding. Remember that our Lord himself was promised by Satan all the kingdoms of the earth if only he bows down to worship the devil. Many say that there is no harm in trying what to them seem to be innocent rituals. “Wala namang mawawala,” we always say. But we are wrong. Mayroong mawawala at iyan ay ang pananampalataya natin at pagtitiwala sa Diyos.

In fact, superstition steals away freedom and joy. Underneath the noise and merry making is fear and slavery. We are enslaved to the performance of these rituals because failure to do them might cause bad luck in the coming year. We are not conscious of it but we are actually compelled to have the 12 fruits on the table, to light firecrackers, to wear polkadots…all by the fear of ill luck. Father, you might says, hindi totoo yan…hindi kami napipilitan ng takot. Talaga? Sige nga, hinahamon ko kayo, kung talagang hindi kayo takot, pagsapit ng hatinggabi, huwag ninyo gawin ang lahat ng iyan at maglakas loob lang kayo na magtiwala sa Diyos. Magagawa ninyo? I challenge you to be truly Catholic tonight…to put your faith in action…to trust God’s love for you.

I found these tips for feng shui in the home and honestly, I think they are all a load of crap. But I will share them with you to point out what is the more Catholic way of doing it.

Clean it up!

Instead of just cleaning your house, why don’t you come clean before the Lord? Confess your sins and reconcile with your enemies. Start the year with a clean slate.

Be colorful!

I do not see how Red brings power, and green brings in wealth. Ano naman ang kinalaman ng kulay sa kapalaran? Instead of putting your trust in colors that have no powers at all to bring in fortune, why don’t you just allow God, family, and friends to put color into your life? Allow their friendship to bring meaning to your life.

Serve a spread!

How will a media noche feast, composed of meat, fish, and vegetable dishes and different types of fruits and cakes on the dining table, bring in prosperity and good luck? How can making sure that having leftovers of each will assure you will not run out of food the rest of the year? Go instead to Mass and receive Communion worthily. The Body of Christ is the Feast that God prepares for his people.

Go fruity!

At ano naman talaga ang kinalaman ng 12 different fruits: Pineapples, oranges, apples, grapes, bananas, mangoes, lemons, watermelons, papaya, lychees, avocadoes, and pomelosa kapalaran? How will the combination of these fruits bring about good fortune, harmony, happiness, prosperity, happiness, good fortune, and good health? Instead of being preoccupied with these 12 fruits, why not be preoccupied with bearing the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Check it!

Leaky faucets will not bring about leaks in your finances; nor will burned out bulbs bring poor “chi” flow. There is simply no relationship between them. Instead, engage in an examination of conscience tonight. Measure your life

against the 10 commandments and the 8 beatitudes. Examine the leakages in your relationship with God, meaning, those graces which you did not put into use for your salvation and those of others.

See red!

How can giving ampao, those red envelopes with gold Chinese characters, with some money inside bring protection and good luck? Instead, give to the poor. Donate to charities. Instead, think of those who are hungry tonight. Think of those who have suffered because of the storm. Share your food with the hungry. Charity covers a multitude of sins.

Make noise!

Blowing on your torotot and whistles, banging on those pot covers will not drive away evil spirits. Believe me, it does not work this way. I know what I am talking about. Evil spirits are driven away by prayer and fasting. That is why, tonight, it is better to pray. Sing hymns and canticles to God. Make joyful noise unto the Lord.

In the end will always be a disclaimer: kailangang samahan ito ng panalangin, pananampalataya, sipag at tiyaga in order to give a senseless report on geomancy some credibility to modern observers. I always say: if there is faith, effort, and patience, what do you need geomancy for? Feng shui compromises faith. It is an expression of lack of trust in the providence of God.

Tonight, let us imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary who kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. New Year’s Eve need not be expensive and dangerous. Libre at ligtas ang manalangin. Ang pagkakawanggawa ay nagdudulot ng kapatawaran ng kasalanan. Ang Panginoon lang ang nagdudulot ng kaligtasan.

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Terrible as an army set in battle array (On the Birth of the Virgin)

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!

Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army in battle array?

This verse coming from the canticles is recited everyday by the members of the Legion of Mary as part of what they call the “Catena Legionis”. It speaks of the coming forth of the Blessed Virgin as compared to the dawn which breaks the darkness of the night. The birth of the Blessed Virgin is like the dawn of a new creation. New because the old creation was destroyed by sin and death on account of the disobedience of our first parents: by the disobedience of one man, sin entered into the world and together with sin entered death. What was supposed to be an imperishable creation was destroyed by the envy of the devil. But “behold, I make all things new,” says the Lord. He, who is about to create a new heaven and a new earth, created this wonderful child, like a new garden which the serpent was not allowed to enter. “Truly a better paradise than the first is given us at this hour. Eden, fear no more that man will endeavor to enter thee; thy Cherubim may leave the gates and return to heaven. What are thy beautiful fruits to us, since we cannot touch these without dying? Death is now for those who will not eat of the fruit so soon to appear amid the flowers of the virgin earth to which our God has led us.” (Abb. Gueranger, The Liturgical Year, Sept. 8.) Adam and Eve were prohibited from eating the death-giving fruit of the garden of Eden. But you and I are told to eat the fruit of the womb of Mary so that we may have life: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, you cannot have life in you.”

The saints were not lacking in words in praising this day of the birth of the Virgin Mary. “St. Andrew of Crete calls this day a solemnity of entrance, a feast of beginning, whose end is the union of the Word with our flesh; a virginal feast full of joy and confident for all…’It is the beginning of salvation, the origin of every feast,’ says St. Peter Damian, ‘for behold! The Mother of the Bridegroom is born. With good reason does the whole world rejoice today; and the Church, beside herself, bids her choirs sing wedding songs.’” (Gueranger) Indeed, what a beautiful child is born for us today! “Mother of God, Queen of heaven, Sovereign of the world, all generations call you blessed, for you have brought forth life and glory for all. In you, the angels ever find their joy, the just find grace, sinners pardon; in you, and by you, and from you, the merciful hand of the Almighty has reformed the first creation!” (St. Bernard of Clairvaux) But while we admire the beauty of this little child, let us not forget that she is like an army arrayed for battle. St. Louie de Montfort said: “It is by Mary that the salvation of the world has begun, and it is by Mary that it must be consummated. Being the way by which Jesus Christ came to us the first time, she will also be the way by which He will come the second time, though not in the same manner. Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might, and in grace in these latter times: in mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive the poor strayed sinners who shall be converted and shall return to the Catholic Church; in might, against the enemies of God, idolaters, schismatics, Mahometans, Jews, and souls hardened in impiety, who shall rise in terrible revolt against God, to seduce all those who shall be contrary to them, and make them fall by promises and threats; and finally, she must shine forth in grace, in order to animate and sustain the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, who shall do battle for his interests. Mary must be terrible as an army ranged in battle, principally in these latter times. It is principally of these last and cruel persecutions of the devil, which shall go on increasing daily till the reign of the Antichrist, that we ought to understand that first and celebrated prediction and curse of God, pronounced in the terrestrial paradise against the serpent; ‘I will put enmities between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed.’

“God has never made or formed but one enmity; but it is an irreconcilable one: it is between Mary, his worthy Mother, and the devil; between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and the instruments of Lucifer. Satan fears Mary not only more than all the angels and men, but in some sense, more than God himself. It is not that the anger, the hatred, and the power of God are not infinitely greater than those of the blessed Virgin, for the perfections of Mary are limited; but it is because Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little and humble handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the Divine power. The devils fear one of her sighs for a soul more than all the prayers of all the saints, and one of her menaces against them more than all other torments.” (True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin)

As we find ourselves in the middle of this raging battle between the Woman and the serpent, as the violence against the Christians in the Middle East escalates, as the threat of the Islamic Caliphate becomes more disturbing everyday, let us run to Mary and beg her to crush the head of the Serpent. “Together with the Church, let us ask, as the fruit of this feast, for that peace which seems to flee ever farther and farther from our unhappy times.” (Gueranger) “(May) the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin…bring deeper peace to those for whom the birth of her Son was the dawning of salvation.”

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit vs. Demonic Possession

As we are in the Octave of Pentecost, it is good to continue meditating on the Indwelling of the Holy

Spirit. We said that God could not have made another way to be closer to us than what he does in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He does not come to stand above or below us. Nor does he stand before nor behind us nor beside us. he dwells in us.

As we talk about the Holy Spirit, we have to clarify what we mean by "spirit". Ordinarily, people associate "spirit" with ghosts. And we can partly agree with this for in former times, we used to refer to the 3rd Person of the Trinity as "Holy Ghost." But on account of the fact that English is a living language, the nuance of "ghost" has changed for the frightening. And so we now say "Holy Spirit".

But what do we mean by "spirit"?  A spirit is a disembodied being that knows and wills. Angels and demons are spirits. The Holy Spirit is obviously a spirit. The difference between them is that angels and demons are created spirits (they are creatures) while the Holy Spirit is uncreated (He is God). The difference between angels and demons is that the angelic mind is oriented towards the Truth while the demonic mind is oriented towards a Lie. The angelic will is inclined towards the Good while the demonic will is inclined towards evil. Of course, the Holy Spirit's mind is the Truth (He is the Spirit of Truth) and His will is the Good (He is Holy). 

The Holy Spirit dwells in our souls. We received him on the day of our Baptism. He dwells in our souls to transform our minds and orient them to the Truth (who is God). He dwells in our souls to transform our will and orient it to the Good (who is God). 

On the other hand, in a demonic possession, the demon takes over (dwells) in the human body and not in the soul. His objective is very simple...he wants to kill and destroy. The father of the possessed boy said to Jesus: "It has often thrown him into fire and water to kill him." (Mk. 9 - Monday 7th Wk in Ord Time). But of course, while the devil can make the body of the possessed his plaything, he cannot enter the soul where the Holy Spirit dwells unless...the person opens the door of the soul and lets the devil enter. The devil is like a roaring lion in search for someone to devour. But he stays outside the heart until the door is opened from within and he is invited to enter. This happens in the person's willful cooperation with the devil in mortal sin. And when the door of the soul is opened to let the devil in, the person closes his heart to the Holy Spirit and rejects Him. Jesus himself said, "No one can serve two masters. He will love one and despise the other..." In mortal sin, the person loses the indwelling of the Holy Spirit whom he rejects and drives away. Losing the Holy Spirit who is the Giver of Life, the soul dies. Thus, the plan of the devil is accomplished because he came to kill and destroy. This is the reason why mortal sin is called "mortal" - it kills the soul.

The only way to revive the dead soul is by the sacrament of Confession. In the Sacrament of Confession, the Holy Spirit returns to his dwelling in response to the contrition of the penitent. the Holy Spirit brings about the forgiveness of sins and also he infuses the Divine Life into the soul. Thus, He restores what sin has taken away and once again He transform the person's mind and heart unto the mind and heart of Christ.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is God's most precious gift to us. Let us take care of this gift. Let us preserve the Divine Life in us through regular confession and frequent communion.

The Weapons Against Evil

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

“Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for 40 days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry…” It was at the moment when the Lord was hungry due to fasting that the devil decided to approach and tempt him. Perhaps, he thought that the hunger would make the Lord physically weak and so, it would be easier for him to fall into temptation. However, the devil was badly mistaken. He misunderstood the dynamics between flesh and spirit which are opposed to each other. The flesh struggles against the spirit and the spirit struggles against the flesh. That is why, the weaker the flesh is, the stronger the spirit and the stronger the flesh, the weaker the spirit. It was easy to tempt Adam and Eve. After all, they were in the midst of so much comfort in the garden of Eden. Their bodies were pampered. There was so much food to eat. The will of the soul weakens when the body is very comfortable. But the Lord was in the desert and he ate nothing for 40 days. He deliberately ate nothing…is that not training in self-mastery? He could eat but he did not – and the Lord sustained this resolution for 40 days. The devil should have seen it as a sign of a very firm and resolute will. It was a will that would withstand temptations.

It would not come as a surprise that the Lord would triumph. It is not just because he is God, but his human will was firm and resolute to do the Father’s will. He has so decided to be concerned with his Father’s affairs, as he declared in the temple when he was but a boy of 12. The firmness of his will is the manifestation of self-mastery. And means to this were prayer and fasting. “Why is there so much evil in the world today? Because people have thrown away their most reliable weapon, the all-victorious weapon with which every evil, every sin, and every demon are assuredly vanquished on all battlefields. And this weapon is fasting and prayer.” (St. Justin Popovich) The Lord went into the desert to fight the devil. And he came with his weapons: the Holy Spirit, prayer, and fasting. Against such weapons, the devil did not stand a chance.

And true enough, we know why we are constantly defeated in the spiritual warfare: we have been feasting and playing instead of fasting and praying! Feasting and playing around make us vulnerable targets of the devil. He dangles before us bread, power and glory. And we easily fall for these temptations. Not setting our hearts on higher and sublime things, we settle for bread that does not satisfy, power that flees, and glory that fades. We easily forget that we are meant for greater things to which the Holy Spirit dwelling is us testifies.

We should strive to win the spiritual battle for we are soldiers of Christ. And in this struggle against sin, the first battlefield is found in ourselves. We must master ourselves. We must dominate ourselves by learning to say “no” to what we want. And the weapons we need are but within our reach: “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart – that is, the word of faith…” Prayer and fasting are means offered to us. The Holy Spirit dwells in us. Let us arise in battle, for “no one who puts his belief in him will be put to shame.”

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

The Immaculate Conception and the Emnity with the Serpent

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

In the recent debates on the RH Bill, Congressman Edcel Lagman refused to look into the beginnings of life: “This House has no competence to tell when life begins,” he said. While scientists still debate on the question, the Church has a very simple answer: at conception. Life begins at conception. The mystery which we celebrate today tells us so: the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We believe that God infused an immaculate human soul into the fertilized ovum in the womb of St. Anne. (On account of the fact that the human soul is infused into the fertilized ovum, it is already a human person.) Mary has never been touched by sin in any way nor in any point in time. She has always been ‘full of grace’. The Lord has always been with her. The Holy Spirit has been dwelling in her soul since the first instance of her conception. (the mere fact that we speak of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Mary at the first instance of her conception already tells us of the existence of the human soul at the early point of her existence. For if it were not so, where would the Holy Spirit dwell in her?) The greatness of Mary has been hers even from the beginning of her life.

The book of Genesis speaks of a perpetual enmity between the serpent and the Woman, between his seed and her seed. The spiritual battle wages on until today and all of us are in it. We have to take sides, there is no neutral ground. Either you are on the side of the Woman or on the side of the serpent. Either you are her seed or the serpent’s own. In this battle between good and evil, God has entrusted his cause to the Woman who was conceived without sin. It is to her that God has given to crush the serpent under her feet. But why? Why did the Lord entrust this spiritual battle to the Woman? Why to a creature so small and humble? Why to someone who seems utterly powerless before the rebellious serpent? Why to the Immaculate Conception? Imagine, the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary at the most vulnerable and most defenseless point in her life. (The human being is most vulnerable and most defenseless at the moment of conception. Why is it so? Well, a morning after pill is enough to expel a fertilized ovum from the womb ) Why did God make this Immaculate Fertilized Ovum the general of His army? The answer is found in the epistle of St. Paul: “And he said to me: ‘My grace is sufficient for thee’; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Our Lady’s humility is so much the reverse of the pride of the serpent. While he declared “I will not serve,” Our Lady said, “Be it done unto me according to your word.” While the serpent, in his arrogance, deemed himself equal to God, our Lady called herself “the handmaid of the Lord.” In the Immaculate Conception, the Lord reveals to us the sufficiency of his grace.

And so, while the enemies of God bask in their self-proclaimed glory, while the enemies of the Church gloat over their money (63 million dollars) and political power, we kneel before the Immaculate Conception and entrust to her our humble cause. All seems lost in our struggle against the culture of death but we continue to have confidence in the Immaculata. To her hands God entrusted the spiritual battle. To her feet God gave the power to crush the serpent’s head. “Who is she that comes forth like the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?” (Song 6:10)

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

On Spiritual Warfare

On this Feast of St.Michael the Archangel, our thoughts are raised towards the reality of spiritual warfare. St. Teresa of Jesus has this to say:

"I am certain that those who seek perfection do not ask the Lord to free them from trials or temptations or persecutions or struggles. This is another very great and certain effect of the contemplation and the favors His Majesty gives and of the Lord's Spirit rather than of an illusion...These persons desire, ask for, and love trials. They are like soldiers who are happier when there are more wars because they then hope to earn more. If there is no war, they receive their wages but realize they won't get rich.

"Believe, sisters, that the soldiers of Christ, those who experience contemplation and engage in prayer, are very eager to fight. They never fear public enemies very much; they already recognize them and know that their enemies have no power against the strength the Lord gives and that they themselves always come out victors and with much gain. They never turn from these enemies. Those whom they fear...are the traitorous enemies, the devils who transfigure themselves into angels of light, who come disguised. Not until they have done much harm to the soul do they allow themselves to be recognized. They suck away our blood and destroy our virtues, and we go about in the midst of the same temptation but do not know it. With regard to these enemies, let us ask and often beg the Lord in the Our Father to free us and not let us walk into temptation, so that they will not draw us into error or hide the light and truth from us, that the poison will be discovered...

"Consider, daughters, the many ways these enemies can cause harm. Don't think that they do so only by making us suppose that the delights and consolations they can feign in us are from God. This seems to me the least harm...they can cause: rather it could be that by means of this they will make one advance more quickly. For, in being fed on that delight, such a person will spend more hours in prayer. Since he doesn't know that the delight is from the devil and since he sees he is unworthy of these consolations, he doesn't stop thanking God. He will feel greater obligation to serve Him and, thinking the favors came from the hand of the Lord, he will strive to dispose himself so that God will grant him more.

"Strive always, sisters, for humility and to see that you are unworthy of these favors; do not seek them. I hold that the devil loses many souls who strive for this humility. He thinks he is going to bring them to perdition, but the Lord draws good from the evil the devil aims at. His Majesty looks at our intention, which is to please and serve Him and remain with Him in prayer; and the Lord is faithful. It's good to be on one's guard lest there be a break in humility, or some vainglory emerge. If you bessech the Lord to free you from this, do not fear that His Majesty will allow you to be favored very much by anyone other than Himself.

"The way the devil can do a great deal of harm, without our realizing it, is to make us believe we have virtues when we do not. This is a pestilence. In regard to the delights and consolations, it seems merely that we are receiving and that we have the greater obligation to serve. In regard to our thinking we are virtuous, it seems we are serving and giving and that the Lord is obliged to pay. Thus little by little this latter notion does great harm. On the one hand, it weakens humility, and on the other hand, we grow careless about acquiring that virtue which we think we have already acquired. Well, what is the remedy, sisters? That which seems best to me is what our Master teaches us: prayer and supplication to the Eternal Father not to let us enter into temptation.

St. Teresa of Jesus, The Way of Perfection, XXXVII, 1-5.

The Spiritual Warfare and Santiago Matamoros

I joined our Diocesan Clergy Renewal in Dapitan. When we were there, we visited the Parish Church which was under the patronage of St. James the Greater (Santiago Major). I was amused by the tour guide who spoke about the town fiesta which is called the "Kinabayuhan Festival" in honor of the town patron. When asked why the name "kinabayuhan", he said that it is because Santiago rode a horse ("kabayo") in order to bring peace between the Christians and Muslims in Spain. Of course, those who are familiar with the story would immediately laugh as the story of the apparition of St. James in Spain was not to bring peace between the two groups. Rather, St. James led the Christian forces to victoriously defeat the Muslims who then subjected Spain to their rule. Thus, he is called "Santiago Matamoros" or St. James, the Moor slayer.

I read a prayer to St. James in that Church. This prayer tried to make sense of the image of St. James as a warrior leading men to victory. I could not remember the exact text but, as far as I could remember, it invoked St. James to lead us in our struggles against our spiritual enemies. This calls to mind what St. Paul said about the Christian life being a struggle, a warfare, not only against human beings but against powers and principalities in high places. The image of Santiago Matamoros reminds us of the militant character of our Christian faith.

But how are we to engage in this spiritual warfare? The iconography of Santiago Matamoros shows us the answer. Usually, saints (especially Martyrs) are shown as people who are tortured or executed. Seldom do we see a saint in the act of "killing" somebody or something else. Aside from Santiago Matamoros, the only one I could think of at present would be St. George slaying the dragon. Santiago is depicted as one wielding his sword over the sarecenes. Santiago shows us that in order to engage in this spiritual warfare, we have to "kill" somebody - and that "somebody" would be our own self.

St. Paul said: "We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh."

The paradigm of the world associated victory with might. Gladiators, Greek and Roman soldiers are depicted as brawny men. We do not even have to look so far. The popular wrestling icons are bulky mascular men. But this is not the paradigm of the spirit. Ironically, victory in spiritual warfare is achieve not by the strength of the body but by its weakness. The spirit and the body pine against each other. When the body is comfortably pampered, the spirit is weak. But when the body is mortified, then the spirit is strong. Thus saints engaged in the mortification of their flesh in order to win the struggle against the spiritual enemy. The spiritual battle is won through self-denial. "For it is when you are weak, it is then that I am strong...My grace is sufficient for you," so said our Lord to St. Paul.

The Lord told Sts. James and John that they will have to drink his chalice. What is the Lord's chalice? In the garden of Getsemane, the Lord Jesus asked the Father to "let this chalice pass me by. But it is not my will, but your will be done." The chalice marked the death of our Lord's own will so that he could submit it to his Father's will. Is it not ironic that it was when he died on the Cross that our Lord conquered sin and death?

Our Christian life is a spiritual warfare. It is a struggle against very powerful enemies: principalities and powers in high places. The only way to defeat these spiritual enemies is by dying to our own selves - by drinking the chalice which the Lord drinks!

Viva Santiago Matamoros! Viva!