Wear The Spiritual Weapon

A LENTEN PILGRIMAGE

Rev. Fr. K M George, ​   The Weapon -

Disarmament is a familiar word for us.

 In the present context of the powerful weapon industry, with its scandalous international arms deals and the accumulation of lethal weapons by nations as well as terrorist organizations, many good-willed leaders and movements call for disarmament. With flourishing production and trade in weapons of mass destruction (WMD) the world of ordinary human beings is scared to the core. Even poor nations spend incredible amounts to buy weapons while their people starve, and malnourished children die in thousands.

So it is a little bit disconcerting when the prayers speak of the Lent as a powerful weapon. Yes, we are asked to turn to a re-armament. It is a recurring theme in the liturgical prayers. In fact, this is borrowed from the biblical language.

 In the New Testament, the weapon is spiritualized. St. Paul tells us :

“Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

(Ephesians 6:11-12)

We are asked to wear the spiritual weapon against all forces of evil. As human beings with free will and a great number of options to choose from, we are constantly bombarded with temptations of all kinds. So we need to take a courageous stand with the help of constant inner prayer, fasting, observing of silence, renouncing of certain addictive habits and so on.

In our Orthodox tradition, we are taught to make the sign of the cross on our body as a spiritual weapon, to fight the subtle promptings of the evil one.

 The Cross of Christ brings us to the presence of the Crucified Christ, who with His death and resurrection overcame evil and death. So every time when we pray, we make the sign of the cross on our body beginning with the forehead, continuing to the chest and then the left shoulder, and ending with the right shoulder. As the cross is the sign of protection for us we are empowered in our fight against evil.

Let us teach our little children this beautiful sign of salvation early in their life. Let young fathers/mother make the sign of the cross on the forehead of their babies in the morning as they wake up and in the evening when they are put to sleep so that they will be deeply marked by the great sign of victory over the powers of evil.

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.”

(Ephesians 6:14-16)

Most peace and disarmament movements are unable to achieve much probably because they are unable to provide any alternative to human lust for arms, violence, power and profit. Putting on the full armor of God - truth, justice, peace, faith- is the only alternative means for ensuring peace and ahimsa[1] in our world.

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[1] Non-violence