Under the banner

In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius calls his readers to imagine themselves in a battle, with two armies. One under the standard (or banner) of God, and one under the standard of Satan. We must choose which standard we will follow. St. Maximilian Kolbe imagined himself a warrior against Satan and wanted to create an army for the Immaculata to win the world for her Son. Make no mistake, that battle is still raging, perhaps more so now than ever before. The last several months of news has caused me to give up a little, between the healthcare mandate, mass shootings, the stress of work, and the suffering of those around me. It's easy to spout words of trust and then retreat into my own corner. But God has given me just a bit of a competitive streak, despite my protests. And so, the other part of my new year's resolution is to tap in again, suit up and run full on into the battle, whatever that ends up looking like. Again, still working out the details...