218th Meditation
“The fiercer the battle, the surer the victory, with God’s help” (Pope Leo XIII).
Day by day and at different levels, the Father makes us fight this battle. For the duration of our pilgrimage towards the glorious vision of God in eternity, the battle is our constant companion. Blessed are those who engage in it and take their place in the “army of the Lamb”!
Even if this struggle is against “the principalities and the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world” (Eph 6:12b) and even if it becomes more and more fierce – as it is in these apocalyptic times – we must not be afraid. Even if we find it difficult to fight and prefer a life of peace and tranquillity, it is a special privilege of our Father when He calls us out of love to fight on His side.
Our Father delights in defeating the strong through the weak (cf. 1 Cor 1:27-28); that which thinks itself mighty by itself, revolting against God. Therefore, we Christians are called to fight, even in all our weakness and limitation, together with God’s angels and chosen ones. He may even send us where the fighting is fiercest, where the rebellion is greatest, to “pull down princes from their thrones and rais high the lowly” through us (cf. Lk 1:52).
We know that if we depended on our own strength alone in this battle, we would be lost, but the Lord Himself is our strength and invincibility! The more we live in union with God, the deeper our trust in the Father, the more He can dwell in our hearts, the more threatening we will be to the enemy.
It is said of the Virgin Mary that she is to be feared by her enemies, “formidable as an army” (Ct 6:10). Her humility overcomes Satan’s pride; her love for God makes her the gateway of grace.
When the enemy roars in anger, when he tries everything to establish his kingdom in this world and to enter even into the Church, when he is sure that victory is his and summons his army to strike the last great blow against the Kingdom of God, when he even pretends to sit in the Temple of God (cf. 2 Thess 2:4), then the “victory of the Lamb” (Rev 17:14) is at hand and we can have a part in it. What an honour!