Army Strong.

Here we are, another beautiful week... another week to test our strength.

We are Militia. We are Army. We are Strong.

But, where does our strength lie? Really? A brief reflection, to start this week off:

At the Mass for a Cure for Cancer, in the Tidings from a "Cancer Survivor", on the lips of an associate pastor at OLPH in Santa Clarita, and sprinkled in all of my meditations for the week from the bigger than life readings of this liturgical season, there was one recurring theme:

Don't Fight it, Endure it. This, of course, doesn't mean to avoid healing. But it does mean to let God do the healing, and to resign yourself to His arms. As your loving Father - He will not care if you cry, become heavy with weariness, and express your pain. No, this brings Him consolation -in fact- for only then can He set to work easing your fears, elevating your burdens, and wiping your tears. He will hold you, remembering His own Passion. He may continue to ask that you remain with Him, but He will grant you endurance, that is Strength to turn the Fight over to His Omnipotence.

The only real battle is the battle for souls. Everything else is a way, a means, a path of sanctification. It is a path that is not meant to be fought, abandoned, improved, or improvised. When we finally begin to realize that, when we begin to walk the path with Christ and stop fighting Him and His plans, then the real battle - the battle for souls - is most skillfully and artfully fought. Because it is with our stumbling, our seeking, our walking, our enduring, our patience, and our perseverance that Christ not only draws us into Himself but draws others as well.

We are Militia. We are Army. We are Strong. And our strength lies in our consecration, because with it we give everything to Her. She guides us on the path, walks with us, picks us up, and carries us - and all the while She is using us to wage war against all that separates us and our brothers from the Love of God. She turns every laugh into a song of praise and every tear into waters of salvation. 

The Strong Cry. The Strong Laugh. The Strong Yell. The Strong Sigh. The Strong Fight. The Strong Surrender. The Strong Love. The Strong are Loved. The Strong are Human. The Strong are Carried by the Divine. Don't let the world fool you --- it doesn't know the meaning of true strength. But, we do, we know that true strength is seeking His Will and allowing ourselves to live fully the moments in which we find ourselves, all for His Glory, whether they be intense moments of sorrow or ecstatic moments of delight.

We are Militia. We are Army. We are Strong.