Whose Side Are We On?

Third Sunday in Lent

St. Ignatius of Loyola

    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  I have never done the Ignition 30-day retreat, but many priests I know have, and they talk about how powerful it was for them.  In particular, there is a meditation called “The Two Standards.”  This meditation reflects on two camps (standards being an old word for flags): the camp of Satan, and the camp of Christ.  One Catholic author describes it thus:
 

Imagine the [kingdom of the evil one] to be the vast and wide plain of Babylon (hell).  Satan, in his pride, is seated on a high throne of fire and smoke to intimidate and impose his power.  […]
Imagine the evil one calling his numerous demons to this throne and sending them forth, throughout the whole world, to every person and place.  Imagine this vast army of diabolical creatures going forth on their mission of death and destruction. […]
What is their mission? […]  Saint Ignatius says that satan instructs his demons to tempt God’s people in three initial ways: To first desire riches in their heart. To seek vainglory, honors and worldly recognition. To puff up their pride.

The author, reflection on this meditation, the continues describing the camp of Christ:
 

Christ is found in a humble and low plain near Jerusalem.  He is standing there with crowds around Him.  It is a beautiful and peaceful place.  Imagine the scene of Him with a crowd of faithful followers around Him. […]
One by one, Jesus chooses person after person to share in His divine mission.  He calls them to Himself with gentleness, interior strength and authority.  And then He sends them on a mission.  […] with hearts set ablaze with love they eagerly go forth to joyfully spread His mercy and truth. […]
This is what they are to preach and to encounter. […] They are to preach about poverty.  Interior spiritual poverty and even the value of leaving all for Christ.  If they are rejected by some, then they must rejoice and not lose heart, even if people hold them and their message in contempt.  They are to be humble and receive any humiliation in love.  [from https://mycatholic.life/books/ignatius/part-two-ignatian-meditations-arranged-according-to-the-liturgical-year/meditations-for-ordinary-time/two-standards/]

At first, it may not seem like much of a choice.  The camp and standard of Christ seems so much better, and intellectually we know we should choose that one.  But how often do we go after riches, vainglory, honors, worldly recognition, and embrace the vice of pride?
    The Gospel today reminds us that our Lord is tearing down the camp of the enemy.  He casts out the fallen angels and spirits that oppress and posses God’s children.  Christ is the stronger man who conquers the enemy and regains His brothers and sisters for the kingdom of God.  And because the Savior is also the Creator of the universe, when Christ battles Satan, it’s not even really a battle; Satan has to concede.  To pretend that Satan could ever win is like pretending our legos are going to rise up and defeat us. 
    Having said that, we still have to choose a side, a standard.  For whose cause do we fight?    Do we fight for God or against Him?  How do we know which side we are choosing?  St. Paul lays out a good list today of ways that we’re on team Satan: immorality, impurity, greed, and obscene talk.  The Apostle says that these are all signs of idolatry, of making other things gods in our life.  St. Ignatius, as I mentioned above, had also mentioned making gods out of money and our ego.  We could also say that if we’re breaking one of the Ten Commandments, we are choosing something other than the rule of God.
    On the flip side, choosing the standard of Christ means doing what we can to “live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us.”  It means making the choices that Christ made to humility, obedience, and service.  It means being grateful to God for those things that we have, knowing that they are gifts from God to which we are not entitled.  Choosing the standard of Christ and living in loves means exercising patience, kindness, gentleness, not rejoicing in evil, but rejoicing in the truth, as St. Paul says in his first epistle to the Corinthians. 
    If we are to fight in Christ’s army, then not only do we follow His banner, but we also protect ourselves with His armor.  The best armor against the assaults of the enemy is prayer and service.  Do we turn to God in prayer throughout our day?  It may not mean staying in a church or chapel from 9-5, but making the sign of the cross throughout our 9-5 job, or letting quick little prayers (we used to called them pious ejaculations) like “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!” or, “Jesus, I trust in you!” Or, “Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee” come from our lips at home, in the car, or in the office or factory.  Do we guard what we watch and that to which we listen, to make sure that we’re not inviting in spies from the enemy’s camp into our mind?  Do we read the Word of God, guided by the Church’s Magisterium, so that we can truly be those blessed because we hear God’s word and observe it? 
    Lent is a wonderful time to recommit ourselves to fighting for Christ in His army.  It is the perfect time to ask Christ to set our hearts ablaze with His love, or rekindle those fires that have started to smolder out.  Christ is putting an end to the kingdom of the prince of this world.  Let’s choose the kingdom that will give us eternal happiness in heaven, where God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit reign for ever and ever.  Amen.