military force without counsel would not last.
For the Catholic student of martial science, what better counsel is there than a wise teacher? I'll tell you. It's called faith. You aren’t someone who’s out to fight for a trivial, immature reason. You know full well what consequences may await you, even if your actions are justified. It’s for this reason, in your pursuit of Christ, that you need to be counseled. Don’t think for a second there are no risks associated with your pursuit. Even noble pursuits for good reasons can be full of danger. You’ll need guidance from someone equipped to teach you about this. Your parish priest should have the resources to answer questions on the spiritual war you are engaged in, and will point you in the right direction. Over generations the Catholic church has amassed knowledge and understanding which will equip you, the soldier in the army of God, to fight this war.
We will wage war when we have been counseled. We will wage war when our own “government” guides us through it. Is that referring to our conscience? Unfortunately for us, our conscience can be fickle since it’s run by a brain that is wild at the best of times. So how are we supposed to be governed? The “government” referred to verse 18 is God.
This isn’t an invitation to use God as a justification for starting a war. But I do believe it’s justification for finishing a war someone else may have started. During war there is fog, and when you’re in fog you don’t know which way you’re going. Your senses count for nothing. You need a light—the brightest light—to guide you through it. That light is God.
Unfortunately for you, the odds of your seeing victory in this war, in this lifetime, will be slim. But you don’t live for now, do you? You don’t believe this life is the be all and end all. This is just a temporary moment, a speck in eternity. Your act of war against the enemy consists in the prayers you say consistently over a lifetime, your presence in holy Mass, your participation in the Eucharist, your engaging in the sacraments of the Church and your works of mercy, love and forgiveness to the seemingly undeserving. These are all works which will be for your benefit and for the benefit of others. This, done with the mindset of a soldier of war, is what will carry you through your obligations as a soldier in this spiritual battle. It is a war because you’re fighting for a greater purpose than the fleeting things of this life. You’re fighting for your soul to be saved on the day of judgement.
The martial mindset carries a man through war. The average man stumbles, falls, and gets disengaged. Only the strongest carry on. You will stumble, fall, take a few steps back, and encounter unexpected diversions, but a counseled soldier will get back on track because his mindset tells him there is too much at stake for him not to do so. You will be continually counseled through life until you find your reason. Your martial science teacher will guide you in this mindset training. But just because you learn it in training doesn’t mean it’s not applicable in other areas as well.
I think of my own experience in training. I hated it sometimes. Being in that building with no ventilation, sweating like crazy, listening to my teacher ramble on, wasn’t always fun. But I knew why I was doing it. I have a beautiful family; I have people I carry an insurance policy for. I need to effectively dispatch danger, should the need arise to protect them. As with a gun, it’s better to have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
Be counseled. Be in the presence of wisdom. Seek to understand the experience of others. Call those whom you trust to help you during this war. You can’t do it alone and you don’t know everything, but with wise counsel you will win the war, even if it means you win it after your death.
Action plan for Catholic Conquerors: Read Luke 14:31 and...
1 Have you ever heard the saying, “to rage against the machine”? In other words, to be frustrated by something pragmatic in your life about a thing that does not respond to emotion. If you’re raging against the machine of your employment, your health, or even your car, then stop. Take a moment and draw up your battle plan. Write down in a diary what the problem is, and write it over and over, if you have to, to be clear on exactly what’s bothering you. Once you know the target, you’ll be in a position to move forward and learn how to fix the problem. It’s no good taking pot shots in the dark. Too much time and energy are wasted on fuzzy thinking. But there’s more to life than just stressing. Get advice from a relevant professional who can help you devise a plan to resolve the problem. It seems so simple, but it may be the answer.
2 Did you ever get a knock on the door from someone asking for a donation to feed the poor? Or maybe asking to save the rainforest? Before you go out to wage war against poverty in Somalia or the declining population of the spotted green tree frog, take stock. Spend time in meditation and speak to God about the areas in your life you feel are lacking. What good is a blunt knife to the world’s best heart surgeon when his patient is dying on the table? That is you, the blunt knife. Ask God for wisdom. He won’t zap you with a bolt of lightning, but he’ll send you opportunities to be sharpened. When you do become sharp, you’ll be ready to go out and wage war.
3 If you’ve ever had a physical altercation with someone, you’ll know how disgusting it feels, even if you’re the best of the best. Whether you want to train for a title fight or for an interclub tournament, you need to get your mind right first. A strong mindset is everything. Seek out a teacher who will give you this training. It’s far more important than a prescribed syllabus. Without a strong mindset, even the highest-ranking fighter will crumble under pressure.
Chapter 3: Know your cause
Christ with the Woman Taken in Adultery, by Guercino, 1621. Christ saves us, like this woman, even though we are deserving of punishment.
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. (Psalm 78:38 KJV)
Psalms is one of my favourite books of the Bible. At first glance, this particular verse seems out of place. The Old Testament is a pragmatic, blood-and-guts collection of books. That is, if someone hurts you, you hurt them back. In the mystery of the Catholic faith, however, this verse demonstrates compassion in a time of war. It talks about God being compassionate at a time when he would have been justified in destroying the wicked. He turned his anger and indignation away from those who deserved the severest punishment. This is very New-Testament-like. It’s about forgiveness; about staying execution in the hope of change rather than instantly reacting to the demands of justice. The New Testament is a collection of accounts in which the central theme is forgiveness and mercy. It is both different different from the Old Testament yet also a fulfillment of it.
We Catholics are a strange bunch. We seem to gravitate towards the "turn the other cheek" verse in times of injustice against us. I’ve seen it in front of me. I’ve read about it. I’ve even heard it being preached that at all costs, even to the point of martyrdom, the doctrine of nonviolence needs to be adhered to. So if the faithful are getting punched in the face, they shouldn’t fight back. According to that doctrine anyway. I couldn’t disagree more with this view. I think when everything else in our faith is ignored, and this particular concept is taken out of context, then it is something that’s wrong. I don’t believe that God wants us to be blind to the reality of the world. We need not give up our right to self-protection and become a target for bullets, arrows, punches or knives. Look at
Consider the definition of martyrdom. It means to die on account of one’s adherence to a cause. If you hadn’t noticed, these days we Australians are actually doing this daily. For most of us, the cause is financial. We do soul-destroying work, day in and day out, just to keep the money coming in. Some of us have mortgages.
