As Catholics, in the sacrament of confirmation we become soldiers of Christ. Soldiers are primarily meant to give blows, but they also are trained to receive blows, in other words to suffer.
A soldier understands when they take their military oath that they must be willing to sacrifice their life for their country. How much more should we be willing to sacrifice our lives for our faith. Our country is precious to us as it should be, but nothing can be as precious as the Holy Catholic Church.
All good soldiers suffer. They are deprived of sleep, they must exercise even in great pain and discomfort, they are exposed to the elements, and that is just in peace time. In war they must suffer all of that in addition to hunger, extreme cold or heat, sickness and disease and of course injury, deformities and death. This is what a soldier lives for.
As soldiers of Christ we must be willing to endure this, and even more out of love for our faith when situations present themselves to us.
Our friend from the pilgrimage to Quito submitted these photos. They are good lessons of what as Catholics we must be willing to endure if called upon by Our Lady to do so. We like to think of life as pleasant and full with a nice tranquil ending. For some of the greatest of Catholics life ended violently. Yet compare their eternity with the eternity of someone who was always able to do what they wanted.
The first image is a painting in the Franciscan Monastery in Quito that depicts the extremely graphic and violent martyrdoms of many Franciscans by the Muslims during the middle ages in Jerusalem. Every kind of horrible death is depicted.
The second is a painting of Blessed Sancho of Aragon who was martyred in the 13th century by the Muslims. As the painting unpleasantly depicts, his martyrdom was extremely violent. As a soldier of Christ, Blessed Sancho willingly endured this martyrdom out of his extreme love for Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The sanitized yet pious depictions of martyrdoms in our country would never be depicted in such a graphic manner. We just couldn't take it.
The third painting depicts another form of militancy. These Mercedarian friars are paying the ransom for the most grateful Christians who were enslaved by the Muslims. These friars have no material weapons. Yet they have an arsenal that is much more powerful than an atomic bomb. They have Our Lady, in fact Our Lady of Mercy. She protects them as they courageously face the wicked and crafty foe.
The fourth painting is Our Lady of Mercy who reigns above the high altar in the Church of the Mercedarians. Interestingly enough, writing about being a soldier, Our Lady of Mercy is the patroness of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces. This shows that there is no contradiction between the virtue of mercy and Catholic militancy.
The final photo is a statue of Our Lord scourged, which is located in the choir of the Conceptionist Sisters. This statue of Our Lord should fill us not only with sorrow, but the desire to put into practice our role as soldiers of Christ, opposing the world, the flesh and the devil. Gazing upon this statue should cause us to reflect upon how our sins have caused this, but not only that, but how the wicked thoughts and deeds of men have also done this. We should be sorry for the part our sins played in Our Lord's Passion, we should also be more willing than ever to fight to prevent more evils in our society which greatly contributed to Our Lord's scourges.
When we reflect upon these images we can see perhaps how little we do as soldiers of Christ. Do we fight peacefully and legally to defend the honor of God and of His Church? Unless we have served as a soldier in the military or in the police force have we ever had to face death for our faith?
Even though we may not currently face the ultimate test of our loyalty as soldiers of Christ, there is so much that we can do, proportionally small though it may seem on appearances.
Organize a public square rosary. That is something that just about anyone can do. While practically speaking there is not much to do to organize a public square rosary, it does take courage. It is not uncommon to find that you only have a few to join you. Sometimes your pastor may not understand or support you. Your relatives and friends might criticize you. At the rally some may make fun of you.
When these things happen just reflect upon these images and remind yourself how little you have to suffer for such a glorious act of veneration, reparation and petition. The public square rosary is one of the great battles of today between the soldiers of Lucifer and the soldiers of Christ. Our voluntary role in this battle can help tip the scale one way or the other. Just as so many were saved because of the heroic sufferings and martyrdoms of great saints, so many can be saved by our public square rosaries.
If you would like to enlist as a soldier of Christ as a rally captain for the public square rosary campaign please call us toll free at (866) 584 - 6012.
No comments:
Post a Comment