2nd 3rd or 4th Michaelmas
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19
What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength.
Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but
against
spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,
against
spirit beings powerful in the molding of earth substance,
against
cosmic powers whose darkness rules the present time,
against spirits who carry evil into the realms of the spiritual world.
ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest strength and victoriously withstand it.
Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified in the spiritual world, and this connection with the Spirit will protect you like a strong breastplate.
And may Peace stream through you, down to your feet, so that on your path you spread Peace, as the message that comes from the realm of the angels.
In all your deeds, have trust in God. This trust will be like a mighty shield; with it, you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take into your thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a helmet.
And the Spirit, which has become living in you, you shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the Spirit is the working of the Word of God.
May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and supplications so that in the right moment, you raise yourself in prayer to the Spirit. To this end, direct your spirit-strength in all your efforts of soul and your intercessions for all who would know Christ’s healing power.
Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the Spirit. Take me into your prayers so that when I open my mouth, the strength of the word will be given to me. Then I can courageously and openly bring the knowledge of that holy mystery that lives in the message of the Gospel, for which I am a priestly messenger enchained. Out of the Gospel itself, there streams to me the free strength to speak with the courage I need.
2nd Michaelmas
October 10, 2021
Gospel: Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6: 10 – 19
In this reading, we are presented with the image of a strong
warrior. He stands upright, stands his ground, withstands. He spreads, not
destruction, but Christ’s peace, which radiates from him down into the ground,
guiding his path.
His power comes from Christ, who is truth itself, the real,
true reality beyond illusion, beyond death.
The warrior shields himself with trust in God. His head and
thoughts are helmeted with the certainty of Christ’s healing deed on Golgatha
so that he can be sure to survive beyond death.
He grasps and takes hold of the Word of God, who is Christ
the Creator Himself.
In this posture of defense, the warrior protects himself
from fear, from doubt, and from hatred. All of these are dark spirit beings of
our time. Becoming spirit warriors, we put on the armor of God, the armor of
peace, of truth. We clothe ourselves in the certainty of Christ so that we may
withstand the attacks of these beings, who are trying to conquer our souls. We
may hear the voice of the spirit-warrior in the prayer against fear by Adam
Bittleston:
May the events that seek me
Come unto me;
May I receive them
With a quiet mind
Through the Father’s ground of
peace
On which we walk.
May the people who seek me
Come unto me;
May I receive them
With an understanding heart
Through the Christ’s stream of
love
In which we live.
May the spirits which seek me
Come unto me;
May I receive them
With a clear soul
Through the healing Spirit’s
Light
By which we see.*
* Adam Bittleston, "Against Fear," in Meditative Prayers for Today
