Tradition, incense, hymns, icons, all make up a rite that was similar to the Latin Mass but done in English. However, the Byzantine celebration of the Eucharist is called a Divine Liturgy and this is what I attended with 9 young professionals from our parish this morning. I’m glad we had the opportunity to experience another form of our Catholic faith and take part in what was one of the most intimate times in receiving the Eucharist. However, call me creature of habit, but I missed what I was used to in our Roman Catholic Rite Mass.
It was nice to have this outing begin my day and give me some time to pray about where my discomfort has been stemming from in regards to preparing for this talk in North Dakota. I always know when I’m asked to speak on Spiritual Warfare that I am due for a battle and so I am not surprised to find that I am struggling with gathering my thoughts together in the order the Holy Spirit wishes me to give the message.
Last night I had a little debate with someone in regards to reading the book The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. This person had recently read the book and was a great tool that evangelized to her about the true battle that we face daily with the enemy in the choices we make and in our actions. I mentioned that I have tried to read the book twice and each time I can’t seem to get past the first four or so pages without getting upset. It’s almost like listening to someone bad mouth your family. I recognize this demonic character in the book and it’s cunning way to encourage his ‘nephew’ demon to twist our ‘normal’ lives around to go against God’s will, even in what we might think is good. At any rate, this person insisted that I needed to read the book, that maybe the enemy was keeping me from reading it in order to gain more insight into his ways. I’m not quite sure I agree with her but I will give it a try again.
But the way I felt after our ‘discussion’ left me feeling judged and ‘less than’…which I do not think was the intent of the conversation but I had to think about why I might feel this way. In the end I realize I could be ‘played’ in many ways and now more than ever I praise God for giving us the Holy Spirit to be our advocate and a guardian angel to watch over us plus legions of angels to fight for us when the battle gets too intense.
Today is 10-10-10…thank you Jesus for your Sacrifice, thank you (insert your guardian angel’s name here) for protecting me and to all the angels and saints in heaven.
Blessings
Shannon