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Saturday, December 31, 2022

Building Upon Christmastide Joy to Counteract Satan’s Great Reset

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Building Upon Christmastide Joy to Counteract Satan’s Great Reset

Then why should men on earth be so sad,
Since our Redeemer made us glad,
When from our sin He set us free,
All for to gain our liberty?
— Sussex Carol

These lines from the Sussex Carol can stop us in our tracks and invite us to consider whether the joy of celebrating Our Savior’s birth banishes the sadness with which the world seeks to drown us. This temptation to sadness is especially powerful as we begin 2023, when even the Church’s ostensible hierarchy openly opposes virtually everything Jesus taught. In this ominous light, we might even think that a lack of sadness today might indicate a certain degree of spiritual blindness.

And yet our enemies rejoice to find so many souls succumbing to despair rather than building upon the joy of the Nativity that Our Lord offers to all souls of good will. As we know, the joy of Christmas is not contingent upon peace in the world or even in the Church. In his From Advent to Epiphany, Fr. Patrick Troadec wrote of the true source of the joy Jesus offers:

“Jesus came to earth to save us, but to save us from what? Does He come to save us from physical illness? Does He come to save us from natural disasters? Does He come to save us from storms, from cataclysms? Does He come to save us from material poverty? Not at all! Jesus comes to earth to deliver us from the supreme evil, from a mortal evil, whose name is sin. Sin makes us the prey of Satan and makes us deserving of eternal hell.” (January 3)

If we do not regard sin as the “supreme evil,” we will not rightly appreciate the true blessing and joy of Christmas. But if we see matters correctly, the birth of Our Savior resets our vantage point — as often as we need it — so that we realize that everything in the world other than following our Redeemer as faithfully as possible is of secondary importance, at most.

This source of continuous joy and peace is not incompatible with the fact that we must engage in spiritual battles throughout our lifetimes.

This source of continuous joy and peace is not incompatible with the fact that we must engage in spiritual battles throughout our lifetimes. As Fr. Raymond wrote in his Love Does Such Things, everything Jesus offers us during Christmastide and throughout our lives can withstand any and all opposition from our enemies:

“Jesus is saying: ‘My child, my loved one, you can have treasure which thieves cannot steal, rust corrode, or moth consume, without having any of the riches or wealth of this world. You can be great with a greatness that is real, without holding high social position or knowing any social prestige. You can be powerful without possessing a single implement that gives modern men and modern nations a sense of power. You can be happy with a happiness that is true joy of heart and gladness of soul without any of the tinseled pleasures of the senses. You can be safe with a security unobtainable by any material means if you will but listen to Me and learn wisdom. I your God, am wishing you, am willing you a Merry Christmas. I am showing you the way to that merriment.”

In these words, we see that Jesus offers us not only joy and security, but also the weapons to overcome His enemies and ours: “You can be powerful without possessing a single implement that gives modern men and modern nations a sense of power.” Many of us no longer believe this, but Satan never forgets it — this is why he does all he can to keep us from wielding the spiritual weapons God offers us.

Throughout the Bible, we find details on how we are to employ these spiritual weapons that God gives us:

“Put you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places. Therefore take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice.” (Ephesians 6:11-14)

“Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith, knowing that the same affliction befalls your brethren who are in the world. But the God of all grace, Who hath called us unto His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will Himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:8-10)

“And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain: Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17: 17-20)

All Christians throughout the centuries have had these spiritual weapons at their disposal, and God gives us all the grace to fight in the days in which He has determined we should live. The fact that our struggle is difficult means that we give more honor to God, and gain more merit for Heaven, when we cooperate with God’s grace to fight valiantly.

It is enough to know that Satan and his globalists have tremendous power today — once we know that we can turn our thoughts to Christmastide and take our place alongside the Shepherds, and then the Three Kings, who reset everything in their lives by paying homage to the Savior.

Every age presents its own particular evils, but we cannot doubt that we face universal wickedness that has rarely, if ever, been seen. If we focus on that evil long enough we can easily lose heart and conclude that all is lost. And perhaps with the passing of Benedict XVI some faithful Catholics will feel even more certain that, at least humanly speaking, we have no good reason to hope for matters to improve without God’s direct intervention.

But we do not need to stare into the darkness, contemplating the various ways the demonic globalists have planned to enslave us. It is enough to know that Satan and his globalists have tremendous power today — once we know that we can turn our thoughts to Christmastide and take our place alongside the Shepherds, and then the Three Kings, who reset everything in their lives by paying homage to the Savior.

If we were to kneel with the Three Kings to devoutly adore Our Savior, we would let every care in the world fade from our minds. There we would find our God and Redeemer, and declare from that moment that we would do anything He asked us to do. No matter what He were to tell us, we would go forth as joyful warriors, determined to do all in our power to cooperate with His grace.

What is He telling us today? One of the hidden blessings of an advanced state of war is that we see the attacks of the enemies and know what they seek to destroy. Today they attack truth, so we must defend truth. They attack holiness and sanctity, so we must strive to be saints. They want us to despair, so we must place all our hope and trust in Jesus.

And though we should be the ones offering Our Savior gifts, He has given us the dearest one we could ask for: He gave us His own Mother. Those who have devotion to her Rosary and her Immaculate Heart know that these seemingly meaningless practices are among the most powerful weapons we could ever want. In these difficult days, may the Blessed Virgin Mary bring us always closer to Her Son, the source of joy and strength that Satan and his globalists can never defeat. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

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Last modified on Saturday, December 31, 2022
Robert Morrison | Remnant Columnist

Robert Morrison is a Catholic, husband and father. He is the author of A Tale Told Softly: Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and Hidden Catholic England.