Ep 192 - Weapons of a Catholic Warrior: Arm Yourself or Be Eroded

James Caldwell: This is the Manly Catholic, the podcast that calls you out of the shadows and into the fight. Here we forge men into warriors for Christ, husbands, fathers and leaders who refuse to kneel to the modern world's lies. No more passivity, no more excuses, no more lukewarm faith. This is your battle cry, your call to arms. The time for weakness is over. It's time to fight. Welcome to the Manly Catholic. Let's get to work. Hello all, welcome back to another episode of the Manly Catholic. This is James, your host, and today we are continuing our seven part series on spiritual warfare. Today is episode three, and today's a doozy because we are talking about weapons. What exactly is in our arsenal as men as we enter this battle? As you remember, as it says in the scriptures, the gates of hell will never prevail against the church. What does that mean exactly? The gates of hell? Gates are defensive structures, are they not? They're meant to prevent things from getting in. That means us as men of the church are pressing in on the gates. We're actually pushing in on the gates of hell. We are men who are sieging to go back to medieval warfare. If you wanted to capture a castle, you had to siege the castle, try to get in and break in. That means we need an arsenal of weapons to break down the gate, to break down the castle walls, so to speak. But before we get into all that, we must begin with the Saint Michael prayer, course, very fitting. We will start in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou prince of the heavenly host by the power of God cast in hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. In the of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. If you guys remember last time or last week, we talked about most battles, especially the spiritual battle are long lost before anyone even realizes a battle is even happening. And why? Why is that? Because there's no, you know, oftentimes there's no explosions or, dramatic music, but it's just like a slow erosion. I use that kind of terminology in that image last week erosion. Obviously there can and will be intense moments in our lives where there's a dramatic turning away. to sin or hit rock bottom, so to speak, or you clearly violated the 10 commandments and you did it deliberately and intentionally. But for most of us, is more of a slow erosion that eats at us. A man maybe just stops going to confession regularly. He doesn't pray like he normally does. He skips mass on Sunday for not a very good reason. He gets busy, tells himself that it's not that serious, that he's still a good guy. But then it starts happening, right? The temptation becomes heavier. His patience gets a little bit shorter, a shorter fuse. His prayer becomes dry, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it becomes more and more dry. He starts snapping at his wife, his children. He hates the silence. He starts to scroll more. He prays less. And he feels vaguely distant from God, but he cannot really pinpoint why. Erosion. If you ask him if you are in a spiritual battle, he'd probably laugh at you. You're one of those weird Christians who believe in the devil who believe that we are in a spiritual battle every day. But the enemy is not laughing. He is triumphing. In the first two episodes, again, we talked about something that's uncomfortable that the war is real and the enemy is very intelligent. Again, he studies patterns. They exploit weaknesses. They're very patient and they wait. Pope Francis speaking at, I think this was 2015 or minus of this Cosmic reality where he says war broke out in heaven is the final war between the angels of God commanded by Saint Michael against Satan, the ancient serpent, the devil. However, throughout history, this war has been waged every single day in the hearts of men and women. And the devil's strategy, snares. He is a sower of snares. Let us pray to the Lord to safeguard us from this. That's why we pray the Saint Michael prayer. You should be praying it multiple times a day. I know one of the challenges I gave, I think it was the episode one where it says, say the St. Michael prayer three times a day, 6 a.m., 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. Father Chad Ripper talks about all the time the importance of instituting order in your life as men. He says, pray the angel at 6 a.m., 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. It's not, you know, when you get around to it's not like, okay, I'm going pray it at 630 and then seven and then 1 p.m. It's like, you got because you have to intentionally stop. an Institute order into your life. So now we come again to that turning point. How does the Catholic man actually stop this erosion? How does he move from being reactive to actually being armed? The answer is not creativity. It's not inventing new prayers. It's not chasing extraordinary experiences. I think a common misconception. Dr. Dan Schneider talks about this all the time. It's like, okay, if I had like this one prayer that I can do that will just like, you know, clear the fog of war, so to speak. Guys, it's simple. We know what we need to do, right? We talk about this all the time. It's using what Christ has already given us, the sacraments, sacramentals, prayer, fasting, and the authority he entrusts to us as heads of our homes, of our parishes, of our diocese, of the whole church, if Pope Leo is listening. We use order and we use our brotherhood. And let me start where most men resist, but it's the most powerful, and that's confession. A quote often contributed to the great St. John Vianney has said that, A soul that does not go to confession is like a house without windows, dark, damp, and open to infestation. Another way you can see it is as a soul being deprived of oxygen. This soul is made for grace the way lungs are made for air. When sanctifying grace is present, the soul lives in friendship with God. But when mortal sin is chosen freely and knowingly, that friendship is severed. Even if you are only committing venial sins. That erosion again creeps in. And that is a theological reality. From the Catechism and the Catholic Church, they tell us, it is called the sacrament of confession since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of the sacrament. It is called the sacrament of forgiveness since by the priest's sacramental absolution, God grants the penitent pardon and peace. And it is called the sacrament of reconciliation because it imparts the sinner the life of God. who reconciles. It literally reconciles us back to God and the church. In John 20 after the resurrection, Christ breathes on the apostles and gives them the authority to forgive and to retain sins. He did not say, tell people they are fine. He gave them judicial authority. The church has guarded this authority for 2000 years. And that is why if you are actually not showing remorse or contrition in the confessional, priest can actually choose not to absolve you. know Father Dom, he's told me. that he has actually denied absolution because he can tell that the penitent is not actually remorseful. So the catechism is again unequivocal when it comes to confession. It says individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and with the church. And why? Because Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He personally addresses every sinner. My son, your sins are forgiven. He is a physician tending each one of the sick who needs him to cure them. He raises them up and reintegrates them into fraternal. communion. When a male kneel man kneels in confession, and he hears I absolve you something invisible but decisive happens the foothold the enemy has their grave sin is now removed. The legal claim is gone. The soul is restored to grace. If you've listened to was Dr. Dan Schneider, Father Chad Ripperker, Father Dan Rehill, they talk about confession and how important it is. And oftentimes they'll say one good confession is worth 1000 exorcisms. That is how powerful the confession is. That, again, is why it is so important to stay in a state of grace because you have the graces that are coming in from God when you are attached to Him. When you're committing mortal sins, when you're committing a bunch of venial sins, you are detaching yourself from God. So you wanna know why men probably feel chronically oppressed, I should say. Often it's not because they lack devotion, it's because they lack confession. A man cannot fight effectively while spiritually bleeding. I mean, there's, I think for men too, the difference in going monthly versus every six months or not really remember where they go, when they go or going biweekly or even weekly, you can definitely see the devotion of those men. So if you're going more consistently, you see their devotion usually starts to creep up. I know father Dom as well. He has mentioned in the past, if he has young men, especially who come in, they're struggling with pornography and masturbation and things like that. He will have them come to him. every single week is like, right, we have to stop this. And like, yeah, I want you to come every week, Saturday, we're going to do this and we're going to break this down. Okay. Because it's getting, getting in that habit. Cause if you are consistently confessing the same thing over and over again, and you're showing true remorse, it shows that you're in the fight. You're in the battle because grace is not abstract. Right, man. It's fortifies. Now doesn't the minute it doesn't release the temptation. Cause we are always going to be tempted. but it gives us that grace to fight back. And then that leads us to the center of everything, the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. Now there are stories from approved exorcisms like Father Chad Ripaker, where demons under obedience are forced to speak and they're forced to tell the truth. And one thing that surfaces again and again, they hate the Eucharist. Not because of the symbolism that some of our Protestant brothers and sisters believe, but because it actually truly is the body and blood. our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There's a reason many Satanists try and steal the Eucharist so they can desecrate it at their own satanic rituals, black masses, I they're called. It is also a reason why it can be dangerous to receive in the hand, but that is a story and a tale for another day. The church does not teach that the Eucharist represents Jesus. The church teaches that it is his body, blood, soul, and divinity substantially present. Now think about that in the context of this battle that we're in, this spiritual warfare. Catechism tells us that the fruit of all the sacraments belongs to all the faithful. The name communion can be applied to all of them for they unite as to God, but this name is better suited to the Eucharist than to any other because it's primarily in the Eucharist that brings this communion about. Through the Eucharist, Christ establishes the community of believers as his own body. When you are receiving Holy Communion worthily, you are truly receiving the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Imagine a soldier who steps on the battlefield not alone, but with the commander dwelling within him. This is what happens when you receive in a state of grace. But here's the uncomfortable truth as well. If you receive casually distracted or worse in mortal sin, you're not strengthened. You're compounding the problem. The catechism urges preparation wherein it says to prepare for worthy reception of the sacrament. The faithful should observe the fast record in their church. Bodily demeanor gestures, clothing, Out to convey the respect solemnity enjoy this moment when Christ becomes our guest. Reverent frequent worthy communion changes man, stabilizes him, purifies him, and it strengthens him against temptation in ways that cannot be explained psychologically. And the enemy knows this, which is why distraction at Mass is so common, which is why Sunday compromise is so normalized. That's why we play NFL football on Sundays. Just kidding. That's not why. Maybe it is. Who knows? Because if he can keep you from the Eucharist or reduce it to routine, He weakens you at the source. The very essence that gives us power. coffee and prayer. It's the perfect blend. Mystic Monk coffee isn't just another cup of coffee. It's handcrafted by the Carmelite monks of Wyoming, roasted with care and infused with prayer. Whether you're starting your morning or fueling your day, Mystic Monk coffee has you covered. It offers rich, bold flavors that are as divine as their mission. By choosing Mystic Monk, you're not just enjoying exceptional coffee, but you're supporting a community of monks dedicated to their work, to prayer, and to the church. is coffee with a cause. So what are you waiting for? Visit mysticmonkcoffee.com and experience the brew that's fueling faith and flavor. Now shifting gears a little bit here, we talked about confession. We talked about the Eucharist. The Church and her wisdom also gives us sacramentals. The Rosary, Holy Water, Blessed Metals, Crucifixes, Relics, St. Michael's Metals. These are not good luck charms. They are extensions of the Church's Prayer. I'm going to dive in a little bit. I'm going to have a whole separate episode about sacramentals as well, but I want to dive into a few in particular. The Catechism teaches that the Holy Mother Church has moreover instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs. which bear resemblance to the sacraments by them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments. Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries, states of life. They always include a prayer often accompanied by the sign of the cross or the sprinkling of holy water, which recalls baptism. So the most powerful sacramental is by far the rosary, the greatest weapon in our spiritual battle. Just a few quotes that I think is just so pertinent and so motivational for all men and women who are listening this to really hone in on the rosary if you are not consistently praying with it. Silliman de Montfort said, when the Holy Rosary said, well, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious than any other prayer. See, Dominic says that one day through the rosary and the scapular, Our Lady will save the world. The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the heart of Jesus, our Redeemer who loves his mother. If you wish to receive these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my rosary. My dear children, let your heart hold fast to this gift of our lady. By this devotion, you shall conquer the enemies of God and draw down abundant graces with the conversion of sinners. St. Padre Pio said, the rosary is the weapon for these times. And finally, blessed Pope Pius IX said, give me an army saying the rosary and I conquer the world. And so many saints over the years have said very similar things in retrospect to the Rosary. The Catechism describes Christian meditation in general, but especially the Rosary as essential, saying meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ as in Lectio Divina or the Rosary. It deepens convictions, prompts conversion, and strengthens the will to follow Christ. Genesis 3, 3, 5, 3, 15 speaks of the woman whose offspring crushes the serpent. The church has always understood the unique role of the blessed version in the plan of salvation. Demons hate humility because pride is their core sin. And there's no creature more humble than Mary. When a man prays the rosary daily, something shifts, not necessarily emotionally, but structurally. His mind becomes more ordered, his imagination less chaotic, his temptations less persuasive. But it's not magic. It is maternal formation by our mother. At Fatima, heaven did not offer complicated strategies. Our lady commanded us to pray the rosary every day. Men often underestimate simple fidelity, but the devil does not. He fears consistency. If Our Lady commands it, men, Our Blessed Mother, what are we doing? It does not take long. 15 minutes. Each day pray different. I'm as lent right now and releasing it. I recommend praying the sorrowful mysteries. But traditionally. For Tuesdays and Friday are the sorrowful mysteries. Wednesdays and Sundays are the. Glorious mysteries. Mondays and Saturdays are the joyful mysteries and Thursday is the luminous mysteries, but they used to not be. That was introduced by Saint Pope John Paul the second So a lot of times in on Thursday people just pray during certain times of Lent Francis will play pray an extra sorrowful mystery or if it's Easter glorious, you know Thursday's kind of like up up to you. I would recommend praying All of them every single day if you're able to it's your state of life. It's very powerful There's another great book. I'll leave a couple links in the show notes called the power of the rosary By I think it's Gabriel Costello very powerful book. Dr. Dan Schneider talks all the time about the rosary and he prays three to four rosaries every single day. Guys, it's just I cannot emphasize enough. It is so powerful. Again, our late our mother ordered us basically to do it every single day. So I highly recommend it. Again, only takes 15 minutes. There's plenty of resources out there how to do it. If you guys need a rosary, I'll leave links in the show notes as well. So cannot say enough, but again, I'm going to do a whole spiel on the rosary maybe as a bonus episode as well. ⁓ so stay tuned for that, but, ⁓ moving on here past the rosary, the sacraments, Sacramento we can use, ⁓ is something that's even more uncomfortable for a lot of men, especially in that's fasting, fasting, our favorite topic. Christ himself said that certain demons are driven out only by prayer and fasting. He did not elaborate. He just simply stated it. He's expecting us to fast. Why would fasting matter? Because so much of modern weakness is rooted in unrestrained appetites. Catechism states scripture and the fathers insist above all on three forms of interior penance, fasting, prayer and almsgiving, which we are participating in with Lent, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God and to others. These are means of obtaining forgiveness of sins. alongside the sacraments. The seasons and days of penance, Lent, and each day on Friday are intense moments of the church's penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving. So again, the church is instructing. I know the church has relaxed some of the disciplines of fasting over the years, but it still recommends on every Friday we participate in self-denial. We what we want, we indulge what we want. We scroll when we want. We seek comfort almost as a reflex. And every time the body commands and the will obeys without resistance, the will weakens. We can't resist. Fasting reverses that. When you voluntarily deny yourself something lawful, you're not punishing yourself. You're training your will. And spiritual warfare is largely a war over the will. I'm going to link as well just an awesome blog post done by Devon Schatt. who does the fathers of Saint Joseph. He wrote on what Jesus actually went through in the desert before beginning his public ministry. Because Jesus, remember, he fasted for 40 days before he even he entered the desert and he before his public ministry, he fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert. And the Bible is ⁓ not very clear on everything that Jesus went to just said. And when he was done, he was hungry. But Devin does an awesome job of kind of breaking down ⁓ everything that Jesus actually went through in what he went. I did a three day water fast with some guys from the parish and it's very humbling, right? Because again, you recognize this will that we are so used to scrolling, reaching for our phone, reaching for comfort. And we take away one of our comforts, which is food for a lot of us, but it could be anything, our phone, ⁓ sports, work, anything. It can become something that we naturally go to for comfort versus turning to God. So just it's absolutely incredible and I cannot recommend fasting enough because again, the Lord commands us. We are commanded to fast. And I know growing up Protestant, I didn't really know what fasting meant. mean, obviously from the health perspective, but in terms of spiritual warfare, fasting is very powerful men don't underestimate the power of a good fast. and, obviously you have the aesthetics of health reasons. People want to lose weight. Fasting is great as well, but the spiritual benefits of it too cannot be underestimated. So going to a couple other ⁓ sacramentals that we have in our arsenal. Again, sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the church. They prepare men to receive the fruits of the sacrament and sanctify different circumstances of life. So holy water, right? Keeping holy water at the entrance of your homes, blessing themselves, blessing their families, fathers who trace the sign of the cross on their children's forehead at night. You may think it sounds small, but it actually is not. establishes order and reminds everyone in the home that this house belongs to Christ. That leads men leads to something that we also need to have in our ourselves. That is rightful authority within the church authority flows from Christ priests have authority to absolve bishops, authorize exorcisms. There's order. There's a hierarchy. But then also we have the domestic church, the father that has the real responsibility not to dominate or to control, but to lead a father in a state of grace who prays aloud in his home creates spiritual stability when he renounces sin. When he blesses his family, when he refuses to tolerate occult nonsense or moral compromise in his house, he is exercising legitimate authority. He is responsible for everything that comes into his home. Passivity invites chaos. Leadership invites order. Exorcists like Father Chad Ripker have repeatedly noted that demons exploit disorder in habitual vice. They do not fear theatrics. They fear humility, obedience, and sacramental life lived consistently. St. Michael, the prince of the heavenly host models this. He's one of the principle angels. His name was the war cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy and his followers. And there was a great battle in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with dragon humility men, humility. Pope Leo 13 composed the St. Michael prayer precisely for this battle. It has again become popular at the end of mass as one scholar notes amid cultural. Degradations. This used to be prayed every after every mass. know not every parish does it, but I know a lot of parishes that are bringing Saint Michael back. Why order? Bravery fight. This is almost disappointing to modern to modern ears, right? We dramatic prayers. Heaven offers daily fidelity simplicity. So if you're asking what your battle plan should look like. It's not complicated, men. Confession. Monthly minimum aim higher of grace calls or if you know you need it, go weekly if you have to. And it should be obvious, but Sunday mass without compromise. If you can go daily or go to a daily mass. throughout the week, receive worldly in the state of grace, say the rosary every day, meditate on the mysteries. There's 15 promises. I'm gonna dive into this in a separate episode, but I'm just gonna say the 15 promises of the rosary that Our Lady gave, right? These are the promises that Our Lady gave to St. Dominic. Number one, whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary shall receive signal graces. Number two, I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the rosary. Number three, the rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell. It will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies. Number four, it will cause virtue and good works to flourish. It will obtain for the souls the abundant mercy of God. It will withdraw the heart of men from the love of the world and its amenities and it will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Number five, the soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation, the rosary shall not perish. Number six, whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mystery shall never be conquered and never overwhelmed by misfortune. God will not chastise him in his justice. He shall perish by an unprovided death. The sinner shall convert. Number seven, whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the church. Those number eight, those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plenitude of his graces. At the moment of death, they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise. Number nine, I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary. Number 10, the faithful children rosary shall mirror a high degree of glory in heaven. Number 11, you shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary. Number 12, all those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. Number 13, I have obtained from my divine son. that all the advocates of the rosary shall have her intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. Number 14, all who recite the rosary are my sons and brothers and my only son, Jesus Christ. Number 15, devotion to my rosary is a great sign of predestination. 15 promises Our Lady gave to Saint Dominic. Besides the rosary, that should be done every day, one weekly fast, Fridays, traditional day of penance. Bread and water if you're Five, have holy water in your home. Sacramentals, rosary, holy water, blessed salt, brown scapular. There's a whole bunch. There's another great book by my good friend Sean McAfee at Tann called Sacramento. What's it called? I forget the full title. It's basically like an encyclopedia of sacramentals. Excellent resource, highly recommend it. Six, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. Prayer led by the Father. and with the St. Michael prayer every night. Not because it sounds intense, but because it builds a fortified soul. Men, you can do this. The decisive victory is one at Calvary. Christ crushed the serpent, but he commands us to participate in his victory through these weapons. The weapons are not hidden. They are on the altar and the confessional in your hands as beads and the discipline of your body and the authority exercise rightly in your home. The question is not where the weapons work. The question is whether you use them. Rice you talked about confession the Eucharist the Rosary fasting a rightful authority five main weapons prayer of course being in a state of grace tonight when you listen to this episode examine yourself are you eroding or are you arming yourself are you pushing at the gates of hell because you need to choose deliberately and then act Let us finish again with the Saint Michael prayer. In the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Saint Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And to the Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast in hell, Satan, and all evil spirits, we prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls, amen. Saint Joseph, terror of demons, pray for us. In the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Thank you all so much for listening to part three of our spiritual warfare series. Next week, tune into part four, where we'll be talking about different doors that men often lean open and you may not even realize it. So until next time, go out there and be a saint. Brothers, thank you for listening, but do not let this end here. If this episode stirred something inside of you, do not keep it to yourself. Share it with a brother who needs to hear it, a man who is tired, a man who's drifting. a man who's under attack and does not even know it. This podcast exists because the battle is real and souls are at stake. If this work has helped you, please support the channel so we can keep fighting. Your support will help ignite the mission to keep us going. We need your help, brothers. I know you will come through for us. Pray for us because we need it as well. The enemy does not rest and neither can we. Now go and live this. Be a saint, not tomorrow, but today. Choose the hard thing, reject sin, get back up. Go to confession, pray your rosary, love your family, and carry your cross without complaining.