Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Catholic Defender: St. Michael the Archangel

"It will come to pass in the last days, God says, 'that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days, and they shall prophecy. And I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below" (Acts 2:17-19a).

Have you ever recieved a dream that was so real that you carried it with you for a long time?

On the same night, probably 31 December B.C., the Magi recieved a dream not to return to Herod but to go another route.

St. Joseph recieved a message from an angel in dream saying, "Rise, take the child and his Mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you".

Both the Magi and the Holy Family recieved a message from the angel warning them of King Herod. There are many examples where angels acted as messengers for the Lord to give to his people.

I have certainly recieved such powerful dreams that have been important to me. One dream that was so important to me concerned my family.

Growing up as a child, my Mother would take us to the creek to go swimming with other friends and relatives.

When my oldest Son, Nathan was about 1 1/2 years old, I had the dream going back to that time of going to the creek.

In this dream, we were with friends at a creek diving off rocks having a great time.

Nathan was along the rocky shore wading around as we kept close watch on him. At one point, I was about to dive into the water when I saw a snake swimming downstream towards little Nathan.

I jumped into the water, swimming as fast as I could, my heart was pounding as I hurried to intercept this threat.

I'm getting close and I remember reaching out to grab this snake as it was about to strike Nathan.

Just as I reached out and grabbed the snake I woke up sitting in bed literally with everything around me wet from sweat.

I just sat there until I was sure this was only a dream. It was that real. I laid back down just thanking God this was only a dream.

Then it occured to me that Satan is like a roaring lion searching for souls to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Just the thought and the idea that Satan would be after my Children taught me something about spiritual warfare.

We are in it! There is no getting around it. To this day, I have not stopped interceding for my family.

Do you ever feel that your under attack? You are! Our only hope is through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Salvation.

This is why the Catholic Church is so important because Jesus established the Church promising that the gates of hell would not prevail against it, that the Lord would never forsake the Church, that the Holy Spirit was given to us to help us until Jesus does return.

If anyone comes to you with a gospel not in accordance with the Faith that was given to us through the apostolic authority, we are not to follow them (Gal 1:6-9).

That would be another rabit trail. We might not see the snake in the grass because sometimes we are caught up in the side effects.

People might go to one church because they love the music, the singing. Others might go to a church because the love the minister, the preaching.

There are other good reasons, friends and family might go to a church, the youth group might be very active and fun.

These are all good things in and of themselves but these are exteriors. The truth and foundation does not mean much as long as we are getting "fed"?

Just as it was in the time of the Magi and St. Joseph, the angel of the Lord is wanting us to follow the truth of the Catholic Faith.

It is there that Jesus offers himself in the Mass. It is there that we renew the Covenant.

The greatest Christmas gift you can give the King of Kings this Christmas and every day, is the gift of yourself.

Make the Mass the center of your life, go to Mass to offer thanks for your many blessings recieved.

Don't be like the nine lepers who did not come back to give thanks. Do you have family member who have rejected their Catholic Faith?

Invite them back! Pray for them, do not lose hope! We got to take this message back to the street. The Prayer to St. Michael is a great reminder of the need for spiritual protection:

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.


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