By JAMES MONTI
At the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend last year (2015) I had the privilege of watching a flyover of the U.S. Air Force F-16 Thunderbird squadron as they traveled up the Hudson River and back. A thin wisp of cloud in a clear blue sky was the first sign of the squadron’s approach, produced by the contrails of the jets as they rapidly advanced. The planes turned their wings perpendicular to the earth as they made a majestic banking U-turn over the river in close formation. On a second pass the Thunderbirds dropped altitude and flew low directly over me.
This peaceful manifestation of military skill has remained in my mind as a powerful metaphor of the invisible battle to which we as Catholics have been summoned since our Baptism.
From the beginning the Church has described the drama of salvation and our role in it as a spiritual battle between good and evil. Thus in the Book of Revelation St. John the Evangelist presents to us a vision of Christ as a warrior, cloaked in a blood-stained garment, riding a white horse into battle as He leads the armies of Heaven into combat against Satan and his cohort (Rev. 19:11-21).
Utilizing a title for Christ dating back to St. Augustine (+430), St. Catherine of Siena (+1380) identifies Christ as “our captain on this battlefield” (Letter 50, in S. Noffke, OP, ed., The Letters of St. Catherine of Siena, Volume 1, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1988, p. 152).
St. Thomas of Villanova (+1555) hails Him as our “vigorous Leader of war” who binds Satan and rescues us “by doing valiant battle on the mount of Calvary with the strong horse of the cross” (Sermon 1 for the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in J. Rotelle, OSA, The Works of Saint Thomas of Villanova: Sermons, Part 7: Marian, Augustinian Press, 2001, p. 18).
St. Paul could be said to be the great prophet of our role in the battle for salvation, defining a Christian as “a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3) called to fight the good fight (1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7). But it is in his Letter to the Ephesians that he develops this analogy most expansively, exhorting the faithful to put on “the whole armour of God,” girding themselves with truth, their feet shod with “the gospel of peace,” and arming themselves with “the breastplate of righteousness…the shield of faith…the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:11-17).
In this spiritual warfare our principal adversary is Satan, as Blessed Pope Paul VI (+1978) vividly teaches in a 1972 general audience talk:
“What are the greatest needs of the Church today?. . . one of the greatest needs is defence from that evil which is called the Devil. . . . He is the enemy number one, the tempter par excellence . . . we know that this dark and disturbing Spirit really exists, and that he still acts with treacherous cunning; he is the secret enemy that sows errors and misfortunes in human history. . . . He was ‘a murder from the beginning…and the father of lies,’ as Christ defines him (John 8:44-45)….He is the treacherous and cunning enchanter, who finds his way into us” (general audience, November 15, 1972, L’Osservatore Romano [weekly English ed.], November 23, 1972, p. 3).
Yet in our battle we do not fight alone, nor without the encouragement of those who have fought before us, “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1). Thus St. Valerian of Cemelium (fifth century) reminds us that it is by setting before our eyes the examples of the saints that we will more readily move forward our “battle-line,” for “in the greatest battles, the fighter does not lack solace if he keeps the examples of the bravest men in mind” (St. Valerian, Homily 16, in G. Ganss, SJ, ed., Saint Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons, and Saint Valerian, Homilies, Fathers of the Church, Inc./Catholic University of America Press, 1953, p. 407).
And while we are heartened by the glory of the saints who have already completed their “tour of duty” on earth, they for their part take a very fervent interest in the battle that wages on, for as St. Bernard (+1153) notes, “. . . they by their loving intercession fight in us and for us” (Sermon 5 for the Feast of All Saints, in St. Bernard’s Sermons for the Seasons & Principal Festivals of the Year, Carroll Press, 1950, volume 3, p. 396).
Moreover, in commemorating the martyrs, we are spurred on by the thought, as St. Caesarius of Arles (+542) observes, that “we are fighting under the same King under whom they merited both to fight and to conquer” (Sermon 225, in M.M. Mueller, OSF, Saint Caesarius of Arles, Sermons: Volume III, Catholic University of America Press, 1973, pp. 151-152).
Of this battle the saints while on earth spoke passionately. Thus St. Therese of Lisieux (+1897) declares, “O my Jesus! For thy sake will I do battle until the very evening of my life. . . . I burn to fight for thy glory . . . arm me for the strife” (“Prayer inspired by an Image representing Saint Joan of Arc,” quoted in Carmelites of Lisieux, eds., The Spirit of Saint Therese de l’Enfant Jesus, Burns, Oates, and Washbourne, 1925, p. 15).
Speaking of the service of God and the salvation of souls in a similar vein, St. Faustina Kowalska (+1938) observes, “I want no respite in this battle, but I shall fight to the last breath for the glory of my King and Lord. I shall not lay the sword aside until he calls me before his throne” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul, Marian Press, 2006, p. 199).
The saints were likewise energetic in urging others to fight the good fight with them, as St. Bernard does in a letter to his nephew Robert: “Arise, soldier of Christ, I say arise! Shake off the dust and return to the battle!” (Letter 1, in Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Seen through His Selected Letters, trans. B. James, Henry Regnery Co., 1953, p. 18).
During the eight years of his pontificate (2005-2013) Pope Benedict XVI evoked time and again the theme of spiritual combat played out on the stage of our world, “the theatre of a battle between good and evil” (Address to the Society of Jesus, February 21, 2008).
Seeing in the outspread arms of Moses in prayer during the Israelites’ battle with Amalek a prefiguration of “the outspread, nailed arms with which the Redeemer won the crucial battle against the infernal enemy,” Pope Benedict observes that Christ invites us to join Him in the battle for the world’s salvation:
“His fight, his arms raised to the Father and wide open for the world, ask for other arms, other hearts that continue to offer themselves with his same love until the end of the world.” Pastors in particular, he adds, must be willing to lead the charge by preaching the Gospel without fail and by praying with and for their people, “so that every day they may be able to face together the good fight of the Gospel” (Homily, Naples, October 21, 2007).
Reflecting upon how the holy oils used in the administration of the sacraments “strengthen for battle,” Pope Benedict explains that Christian combat does not resort to violence but consists in being “ready to suffer for the good, for God.” It comprises both a faithful adhesion to just laws and a courageous determination “not to accept a wrong that is enshrined in law — for example the killing of innocent unborn children.” This is indeed what the martyrs fought and died for:
“The battle of the martyrs consists in their concrete ‘no’ to injustice: by taking no part in idolatry, in Emperor worship, they refused to bow down before falsehood, before the adoration of human persons and their power. With their ‘no’ to falsehood and all its consequences, they upheld the power of right and truth. Thus they served true peace” (Homily, Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday, April 1, 2010).
Against Great Odds
Essential to Christian combat is the virtue of hope. Thus in a meditation upon Psalm 110, which sings of a royal victory, Pope Benedict sees in the psalmist’s words a reassurance that in the fight for the cause of God victory is utterly certain:
“. . . Yes, there is widespread evil in the world, there is an ongoing battle between good and evil and it seems as though evil were the stronger. No, the Lord is stronger, Christ, our true King and Priest, for he fights with all God’s power and in spite of all the things that make us doubt the positive outcome of history, Christ wins and good wins, love wins rather than hatred” (general audience, November 16, 2011).
The words of Pope St. John Paul II (+2005) in this regard, referring specifically to the battle to protect unborn children, should hearten us in all our battles for truth and morality: “Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for Life is already decided, even though the struggle goes on against great odds and with much suffering” (Homily, World Youth Day, Denver, August 15, 1993, n. 5, L’Osservatore Romano [weekly English ed.], August 18, 1993, p. 10).
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