Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 482

Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the Devil.

I took a side trip one Sunday afternoon to visit a neighboring town in Ohio. It was farther than I expected and as I returned home in late afternoon, I found that I was running out of gas. And I was riding a bicycle. 

Fortunately, I had a little money on me and I stopped at a Mom and Pop grocery store, open on Sunday, and bought an orange. I guess that was as much as I could afford. To my surprise, the familiar fruit juiced me up and I steamed home with energy to spare. 

Does your faith do that for you? Do you "draw your strength from the Lord and his mighty power?" Or, to put it differently, does the Holy Spirit energize you, to give you the willingness and strength to say and do what must be said and done? 

I have to ask myself these questions and, hopefully, be surprised by the answers. But I may be disappointed too, for my faith is often weak and my confidence uncertain. 

Jesus observed of his disciples, "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." But perhaps the "spirit" in that situation was just their ordinary human spirit, which is often addled by cowardice, confusion, and uncertainty. We just don't know what to do and when to do it. 

When the Spirit of God is willing, things happen which may surprise us. And they're all the more surprising when we were the agent God used to make it happen! Sometimes we might blurt out an expression we've never used before, and perhaps never thought of, and it's absolutely the right thing to say. 

"Did I say that?" and "Where did that come from?" 

And again, sometimes I have thought that I should do or say something but found I could not do it. And when it finally happened, apparently at the last minute, I discovered that I had spoken or acted at just the right time. Perhaps the Lord was holding me back until the opportune moment came; he obviously knows more about the situation and the people involved. 

In today's reflection, Saint Paul urges us to put on the armor of Christ; and he has some fun with the metaphor as he speaks of the armor, breastplate, shield, sandals, and sword of the spiritual warrior. 

But these are more than the good intentions we might generate in our minds. In difficult circumstances when courage and action are required, along with wisdom and good timing, we may find ourselves paralyzed and helpless. That is when we "retreat" or "fall back" to prayer and wait upon the Lord to juice us up and send us back to the front. 

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood
but with the principalities, with the powers,
with the world rulers of this present darkness,
with the evil spirits in the heavens.

We're dealing with powerful forces like racism, greed, entitlement, and indolence; and simple outrage against institutions like abortion, capital punishment, and drug abuse can only fume impotently against them. 

In this passage from his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul assures us there is such a power and authority available to us if we are willing to be led and directed by the Spirit of God. Such extraordinary grace is not even unusual when it appears among the denizens of God's kingdom. We have only to ask.