The Battle Belongs to the Lord
 HERE
IS A FIERCE BATTLE going on in our society.
 This
battle is for souls. It is a battle which is as real as any
fought on any battleground in history, except that in this
battle there are no civilians. We are fighting either on the
side of our Lord Jesus Christ, or on the side of the enemy.
There is no neutral ground. Speaking to the church in
Laodicea, Jesus said: "I know your
deeds; I know you are neither hot nor cold. How I wish you
were one or the other--hot or cold! But because you are
lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my
mouth!" (Rev 3:15-16)
As
lay Catholics we hold a strategic position in this battle.
If we bother, we can significantly influence the way the
battle goes in the lives of our families, friends and
neighbours, in our places of employment, our parishes and
the organizations we belong to, in the places where we spend
our money, and in various levels of government.
We
influence others by our actions and by our words. Our first
action needs to be prayer; our first words, words of
surrender to God. The life of God we received in Baptism is
strengthened, renewed, refreshed, nourished and restored
through the sacraments. The sacraments must be carried into
our entire lives. Only in this way can we ever hope to fight
the Lord's battle in his way.
There
is a corner store in our neighbourhood. To generate extra
income, the proprietor began to sell pornography. Many
families in our Community stopped shopping at this store in
obedience to our Holy Father, who, in one of his homilies,
asked that we not shop in stores which sell pornography.
Gradually some former customers stopped by the store, gently
and lovingly explaining that we could not in conscience
patronize this business because of the evil of pornography.
In a very short while, the proprietor pulled all the
pornography off his shelves. A small thing, perhaps. But I
think it is pretty big. The same thing happened with
SuperStore.
We
each have a lot of options. Are we so desperate for
entertainment that we will go to a movie containing foul
language, morally evil themes and actions, or people
appearing naked? Do we really have to patronize theatres who
contribute to the kingdom of darkness by showing this type
of movie?
On
a more positive vein, do we share our faith with those
around us? This week I heard about a Catholic woman who has
never received a phone call that was a wrong number! She
believes that anyone who accidentally dials her phone number
is really being blessed by an act of Providence to be called
back to the Catholic Church. Many people have returned to
their faith because they dialed a "right" number.
God
wants to use each one of us to build his kingdom. Let us
give ourselves, heart and soul, over to him. Let us quit
worrying about what others think of us, and become concerned
that God, who knows our deeds, will find faith in us when he
returns.
- M.F.
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