Let’s Go to War

Understanding the motif of the Church Militant

12/04/2023

Mt 8:5-11 When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven."

One of the less familiar motifs (images) for the Church in Scripture is an army. We hear about the Church as the Chosen People in the Old Testament, or she is referred to as the Bride of Christ or the Body of Christ in the New Testament. But there is also the subtle analogy of an army that can help us to understand the nature of the Church we belong to.

I sometimes use the analogy of an army to explain what religious orders are, like the Franciscans, Jesuits, or Carmelites. Just like we have a large standing army in our country that fights our wars, with ranks of private, sergeant, captain, and general, so the Church is organized as a spiritual army of battalions of dioceses with the ranks of deacon, priest, monsignor, bishop, cardinal, and pope to engage in spiritual warfare.

But in addition to the army, our military also has special forces: Marine Commandoes, Army Rangers, and Navy Seals. They are smaller units or teams that have a specific purpose and they are the best in that field. Similarly, religious orders are like our spiritual special forces, who focus on one area of ministry or mission – the poor, or education, or health care, etc. So, when we envision the Church as a military, we can make more sense out of her different religious officers and religious orders.

In the gospel today, it is a centurion, a military man, who catches the nature of the Church, and whose faith impresses Jesus deeply. He says: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, only say the word and my servant will be healed.” And how does he know that will happen? He continues: “For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes.”

And how does Jesus react? We read further: “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith’.” Wow, that’s a lot of faith since his apostles must have heard that comment and wondered how little their faith must be. In other words, this military motif of the Church is not unimportant or inconsequential; it gets to the heart of the identity and purpose of the Church.

Have you heard of the three states of the Church? That is, the whole Church is not only comprised of the roughly one billion Catholics on earth that we can see. It also includes those in Purgatory, as well as the countless multitudes in heavenly glory, all those we cannot see. Traditionally, the first state of those on earth was called the Church Militant, those in Purgatory the Church Suffering, and those in heaven, the Church Triumphant. But notice the terminology of the Church Militant, or military: that was exactly how the Centurion in the gospel understood the Church, and Jesus was impressed with his faith.

But if we are a military Church, we should have an enemy to fight, otherwise, we do not need an army. In the past some Church leaders mistakenly believed that we were at war with the Protestants, or with the Muslims, or with the Orthodox, or more recently with the atheists who deny God and religion. But our true enemies are not others, but rather the enemy within, our own weaknesses and vices. As the famous Pogo cartoon strip said, “We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us.”

That is why the Centurion’s faith in the Church Militant has to be balanced with Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading. Isaiah said: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” That is, the sword should not be raise against others, but against oneself. In other words, yes, the analogy of an army for the Church is accurate, but we have to identify the real enemy we are fighting, and he is looking back at us in the mirror. “We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us.” Let’s go to war.

Praised be Jesus Christ!