Fr. Campbell, "The Armor of Salvation"

The Armor of Salvation

 

At all times and in all places God has called forth saints, to be witnesses for His Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and for His Kingdom which is to come. Some of their names are known to us. Others are known only to God until Judgment Day, when they will be seen to shine like the stars of heaven for all eternity. Until then the Church celebrates the Feast of All Saints, not only to honor them, but to remind us that we are all called to be saints. Today we need saints, and we need to be saints.

 

The saints were the wisest of all people, because they understood that some things were worth striving for – the things that last forever, whereas other things were passing away with this world. The took to heart the words of St. Paul, “Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on earth” (Col.3:2), and of Jesus Himself, the firstborn of all the saints: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rust and moth consume, and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth consumes, nor thieves break in and steal. For where thy treasure is there also will be thy heart” (Mt.6:19-21).

St. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church, a disciple of St. John the Apostle. He was appointed by St. Peter as the third bishop of Antioch. In the year of Our Lord 110, he was sentenced to a martyr's death in the arena by the Emperor Trajan, for refusing to worship the gods of the Romans. On the journey to Rome in chains and under guard, he was in a state of spiritual exaltation, and wrote seven letters to the churches. 

In his letter to the Church in Rome he wrote: “No desire burns in me for material things, but only living water speaking within me, saying, ‘Come to the Father.’”  “I am writing to all the Churches,” he said, “and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg of you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.”

Perhaps you consider St. Ignatius, a Father of the Church and a great martyr, a little out of your range. After all, we are only ordinary people, and how can ordinary people be saints? Well, even the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph were among the poor and unimportant people of their time. There was St. Tarcisius, a boy of twelve, a martyr of the Eucharist, and St. Philomena, martyred at the age of thirteen. St. Dismas was a common thief, and St. Benedict Joseph Labre, a beggar. St. Frances of Rome was a wife and mother. St. Isidore was a farmer, whose wife, Maria, also became a saint. And how did the saints rate themselves? Said St. Ignatius say on his way to martyrdom in Rome, “Now I am beginning to be a disciple.”

Who can tell the marvelous deeds of the Lord? To Him every child conceived in the womb is precious, and a potential saint. To Him there is no such thing as an unwanted child, a lost cause, or a hopeless case. Just ask our patron, St. Jude.

St. Paul gives some excellent advice for those who wish to be saints:

“Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the Principalities and the Powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high. Therefore take up the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of justice, and having your feet shod with the readings of the gospel of peace, in all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, that is, the word of God” (Eph.6:11-17).

On this Feast of All Saints we are all reminded that there is only one tragedy in life – not to be a saint. You would do well to borrow your motto from St. Ignatius of Antioch: “Now I am beginning to be a disciple.”