Saturday October 5, 2024

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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.” (Luke 10:18-19)

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Good News Reflection for:

Saturday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
October 5, 2024

Today’s Readings:

Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
Psalm 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130
Luke 10:17-24
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100524.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-october-5-2024

We’re defeating the full force of the enemy

Here we are in October. The month of the Holy Rosary. And it’s also the month when real satanists and witches prepare for evil ceremonies on Halloween.

October has always been the most active month for demonic attacks against ministries such as ours. But we have nothing to  fear if we have good prayer lives. How much time do you spend alone with the Lord each day? Could it improve? For most of us, the answer is a big yes. It’s too easy to get distracted and pulled away from prayer time. Do you spend at least 10 minutes with the Lord, just the two of you?

We could all improve — and we absolutely need to include certain prayers that will win our spiritual battles. This is why I produced a short (11 and 1/2 minutes) video of Powerful Catholic Prayers to enhance your day: gnm-media.org/powerful-prayers-for-daily-use. Use it daily and you’ll drive demons away.

Jesus says, “I have given you power to fight against the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.” In fact, not only can we, but we are called to do this! In today’s world, we are called back to the true nature of being a Christian on earth: militant!

“Militant” is not a commonly heard word to describe us. But the Church has always taught that there are three states of the Church: The church triumphant describes the Church in heaven; the church suffering refers to the church in purgatory, and the church militant is the Church on earth.

We know that the devil has gained a lot of territory over the past century. But now we Christians are gaining it back! Jesus said that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church (when he gave Saint Peter the authority to lead the Church; see Matthew 16:18).

The church militant has been weak. We’ve let the devil take over more and more territory and we’ve actually enjoyed some of his changes. One of the devil’s tactics has been to disempower Christians by disconnecting us from the Holy Spirit. We should have been holding Life in the Spirit Seminars and similar courses (such as The Wild Goose series) in every parish. We should have been taught how to live like the first Christians did (read the Book of Acts). But instead, we’ve accepted and spread false ideas about God (read my book The Father’s Heart (tothefathersheart.com). We’ve relegated the supernatural mostly to canonized Saints, and we’ve made up our own minds about what is sinful and what is not.

A top priority in parishes should be Adult Faith Formation about life in the Holy Spirit. It’s the  perfect follow-up to RCIA! Or it could be the topic of parish programs. Why? Because it’s the Holy Spirit who teaches Truth. It’s the Holy Spirit who empowers the followers of Christ to imitate him in every way. The Catechism tells us that “the Church invites us to call upon the Holy Spirit every day, especially at the beginning and the end of every important action” (see para. #2670 at vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_four/section_one/chapter_two/article_2.html).

St. John Vianney in the 19th Century said, “When we are led by the Holy Spirit, we cannot go astray. He is our strength and our light. He teaches us to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between good and evil.” Do you see the connection between today’s rampant immorality and insufficient faith formation about life in the Spirit and about the teachings of the Church?

So now we have to face the full force of the enemy. To push back at the devil and reclaim lost territory, we must remain completely on the side of Christ — and run to the Sacrament of Confession when we don’t. But his army of demons and human cooperators has been allowed to grow so large that defeating them while remaining safe requires more than praying the Rosary and the Saint Michael prayer. The church militant must become fully alive in the Holy Spirit. Fully committed to holiness. Fully determined to become the Church that Jesus created.

This is God’s plan.

You want to be one of God’s soldiers using his divine power to conquer evil, right? There are three stages of becoming a triumphant soldier. The first is “boot camp”. This is the training period that strengthens our faith muscles because we study the true teachings of the Church and we study the Bible. Boot camp also reshapes groups of individuals into powerful fighting teams. We can’t fight the Enemy alone. We need each other and we need the Holy Spirit.

Stage two is “pre-deployment”. This is the very necessary step of repenting of our own sins, our own contributions to how the world (and our families and our parishes) became such an unholy mess. The Sacrament of Confession breaks the holds that the devil has had on us. Remember, sin weakens us. We cannot stand strong on the battlefield with unrepented sins. If we are chained to the devil in any way, even if we convince ourselves that we are not, we are actually helping the Enemy. We should all go to Confession at least once a month.

Stage three is deployment. This is when we disempower demons. The Father calls us, Jesus leads us, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to break through the gates of hell and plant the Christian flag wherever we find victims of the devil’s snares. This is what we ask for every time we pray the Our Father: They Kingdom come!

We reject what is evil. Starting right now, we ask for a new Pentecost, a new infilling of the Holy Spirit — and we keep asking every day until it happens. Then we will purge the Church from the devil’s infiltrations. We will rescue unbelievers by bringing them to Christ through the convincing power of miracles wrought by our personal relationships with the Holy Spirit.

October this year could be a very evil month. But it doesn’t have to be. It’s the month of the Holy Rosary! Will it be the month of the Holy Spirit too? Let’s fight, my friends — fight against evil with the Holy Mother of God, Mary! Demons hate her. Demons flee from her. Get ready NOW. This very important month has begun.

Come Holy Spirit, fill me.
Come Holy Spirit, renew me.
Come Holy Spirit, You have my permission to change me.
Come Holy Spirit and work in me and through me to convert our world to Jesus Christ.
Amen.

See also the Prayer of Authority to Conquer Demons @ https://gnm.org/prayers/prayer-of-authority/

and How to Win Victories in Spiritual Warfare @ gnm.org/terry-modica-author/spiritual-warfare.

© 2024 by Terry A. Modica

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