The Wrong War

Fighting in three theaters of war as the Church Militant

10/07/2017

Luke 10:17-24 The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power 'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

            Catholics are always at war. But the hard part is figuring out who we are at war with. Catholic theology describes three states of the Church and each state has a war-time tenor to it. The Church on earth – those who are alive in space and time – are called the Church Militant (Ecclesia militans) because we’re organized as a “military” for battle against the forces of evil. The Church in purgatory – those who have died and out of space and time, but not yet in heaven – are called the Church Penitent (Ecclesia poenitans) because we’re healing and recovering from our war wounds suffered on earth. And third, the Church in heaven – those who celebrate ultimate victory over sin and death – are called the Church Triumphant (Ecclesia triumphans) because they have triumphed and the final foe has been vanquished. Let me give you three examples of the Church Militant, and we might call these three examples, “three theaters of war.”

               The first theater comes from today’s feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This feast was formerly called Our Lady of Victory. Why? In 1571, the Muslims had grown powerful in Northern Africa, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe. Pope St. Pius V organized a Christian coalition navy to combat the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto. The pope knew the Christian forces were hopelessly outnumbered, so he called for all Europe to pray the Rosary on October 7, the day of the decisive battle. Surprisingly, the Christian navy was able to repel the Ottoman attack. The pope attributed the victory to the intercession of our Blessed Mother through the recitation of the Rosary. That is one theater of the war, where the Church Militant goes into battle.

                The second theater comes from today’s gospel. Jesus sends his disciples to engage the Enemy, who is Satan, and his legions of fallen angels. The seventy-two disciples return from this spiritual warfare saying: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” And Jesus, their Captain, answers: “Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.” Did you catch that “military language” Jesus employs to remind Christians that they are at war, and also what weapons will be effective against this eternal Enemy? This is the second theater of the war for the Church Militant.

             My friends, can you guess where the third theater of war is to be found? Many people miss it. Someone who is divorced might say, “The third theater of war is with my ex-spouse, because we battle over alimony checks and visitation rights.” Business people may say: “The third theater of war is the battle with my competitors who are trying to drive me out of business!” A politician might answer: “The third theater of war is in the halls of Congress where I fight with the other party!” A priest might say, “The third theater of war is dealing with my deacons!” (Not me, of course).

But the true third theater of war is the human heart, and your final foe is the man in the mirror. And I am convinced that we ourselves will be our greatest enemy, far more menacing than the Ottomans at Lepanto, and far more frightening than Satan who fell like lightning from the sky. We always have been and always will be our own worst enemy. The third theater of battle is so close we completely miss it, because it is under our own nose, in our hearts, where we battle our pride and prejudice, our egos and envy, our apathy and ambitions, our laziness and our lusts. How sad that so much of our lives we spend fighting the wrong war.

              The Buddhists have a wonderful maxim, and it’s my favorite. They say, “My enemy, my teacher.” In each one of these theaters of war, we encounter a different enemy, and each enemy has something to teach us. Perhaps the biggest lesson they teach us is how not to fight the wrong war.

Praised be Jesus Christ!