A Sunday Thought About ISIS and the Church Militant
You don't hear much about the "Church Militant" these days. It's considered passe. To take it step further, "militant" strikes many as (heaven forbid) triumphalist, aggressive, a throw-back to the days when Catholics thought (heaven forbid) that their Holy Faith was the one, true religion.
Forget all that. What it really means, simply, is "us" - we who live in this world, working out our salvation in our individual lives.
Now if, for some reason, you've been bamboozled into looking askance at the idea of "Church Militant," or put another way, if you don't think you need to be militant during your days spent in this world of ours, consider recent comments by the head of the Islamist group ISIS, who declared himself "Caliph" of a revived Islamic Empire, centered now in parts of Iraq and Syria conquered by his army. The term "caliph" means "successor" to Muhammad. The first Caliph was Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, a friend and companion of Muhammad. He was considered political leader of the transnational Islamic Empire originally constructed from lands conquered by the Muslim armies that rode out from what we now call Saudi Arabia in the 7th century, which armies conquered the Middle East, North Africa, parts of Europe, even forcing their victorious military march to a chunk of India. Read your history and know that only the victory of Charles Martel stopped them from overrunning all of Europe in the 7th century. Know that they ultimately conquered the Byzantine Empire, bastion of Orthodox Christianity. Know that it took centuries - until the 17th century - to finally push them back far enough to stop their persistent attempts to spread the caliphate to all of Europe.
They weren't stopped by understanding and "dialogue." They were stopped by the Church Militant who put their lives on the line to defend their homes and their Holy Faith.
But, you may ask, what does this have to do with us here in the West today? Wasn't the Caliphate disbanded in 1924 when Ottoman Turkey, the last seat of the Muslim Caliph, was declared a secular state? Yes, it was. But now IT'S BACK. And the intention of this new "caliph" isn't simply to consolidate Muslim countries under the banner of Islam and Sharia Law. If you're tempted to think this, read this comment from the leader of ISIS, the group now conquering parts of Iraq, that same group that has recently declared an Islamic Caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq:
And now, for those of you who might need an extra boost to embrace your militancy, we have the ISIS leader overtly threatening not only to conquer their own Muslim lands, but throwing down the gauntlet to the rest of us by turning their misguided, evil intentions (and I'm being charitable here) upon Rome itself, the See of Peter, the center of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.
Wake up. We are the Church Militant. Period. There's nothing about our modern world, there's nothing perpetrated by the teachings of the documents of Vatican II that changes that. The struggle continues.
asdfaf
Forget all that. What it really means, simply, is "us" - we who live in this world, working out our salvation in our individual lives.
Now if, for some reason, you've been bamboozled into looking askance at the idea of "Church Militant," or put another way, if you don't think you need to be militant during your days spent in this world of ours, consider recent comments by the head of the Islamist group ISIS, who declared himself "Caliph" of a revived Islamic Empire, centered now in parts of Iraq and Syria conquered by his army. The term "caliph" means "successor" to Muhammad. The first Caliph was Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, a friend and companion of Muhammad. He was considered political leader of the transnational Islamic Empire originally constructed from lands conquered by the Muslim armies that rode out from what we now call Saudi Arabia in the 7th century, which armies conquered the Middle East, North Africa, parts of Europe, even forcing their victorious military march to a chunk of India. Read your history and know that only the victory of Charles Martel stopped them from overrunning all of Europe in the 7th century. Know that they ultimately conquered the Byzantine Empire, bastion of Orthodox Christianity. Know that it took centuries - until the 17th century - to finally push them back far enough to stop their persistent attempts to spread the caliphate to all of Europe.
They weren't stopped by understanding and "dialogue." They were stopped by the Church Militant who put their lives on the line to defend their homes and their Holy Faith.
But, you may ask, what does this have to do with us here in the West today? Wasn't the Caliphate disbanded in 1924 when Ottoman Turkey, the last seat of the Muslim Caliph, was declared a secular state? Yes, it was. But now IT'S BACK. And the intention of this new "caliph" isn't simply to consolidate Muslim countries under the banner of Islam and Sharia Law. If you're tempted to think this, read this comment from the leader of ISIS, the group now conquering parts of Iraq, that same group that has recently declared an Islamic Caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq:
ISIS leader Abut Bakr Al-Husayni al-Qurashi al-Baghdadi, days after announcing the formation of an Islamic caliphate in Syria-Iraq, announced that Rome must be conquered...Perhaps you might reconsider your view of "Church Militant." At the very least, consider that, even without the modern resurgence of militant Islam, the reason we were taught we were "militant" included the need for us to struggle, day in and day out, in what can be seen as a battle to overcome our imperfections and - dare we say it? - our sinfulness. With the lures of the world, the flesh and the devil tugging at us, sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly, we need to build our spiritual muscle to fight the good fight - as St Paul called it - so that we might grow in sanctity, even to the point of becoming saints while still walking among the living here on earth. If you've ever given a moments thought to what's entailed in this endeavor, you'd easily understand why Holy Mother Church describes us as "Church Militant."
“Rush O Muslims to your state. It is your state. Syria is not for Syrians and Iraq is not for Iraqis. The land is for the Muslims, all Muslims.
“This is my advice to you. If you hold to it you will conquer Rome and own the world, if Allah wills.”
And now, for those of you who might need an extra boost to embrace your militancy, we have the ISIS leader overtly threatening not only to conquer their own Muslim lands, but throwing down the gauntlet to the rest of us by turning their misguided, evil intentions (and I'm being charitable here) upon Rome itself, the See of Peter, the center of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.
Wake up. We are the Church Militant. Period. There's nothing about our modern world, there's nothing perpetrated by the teachings of the documents of Vatican II that changes that. The struggle continues.
asdfaf
Comments