Two of my sisters, God willing, will have their birthdays next month and whilst (today) we were eating, Faith, the youngest one, (probably wondering what nice clothing item she would receive for the same ;-) asked a question: “Mum why is it that NONE of the real good clothing brands are Maltese?!?!” …and then she starting naming a whole lot of them (...i was surprised she knew all those names actually...) …she must have mentioned at least 12 of them!!! And that got me thinking a little about (the above) one line taken from today’s Gospel.
Whilst mum defines me as “strange” I’m glad to think I’m “lucky”! ;-) …I’m very simple when it comes to clothes and very happy with several blue jeans and blue t-shirts ;-) …yet probably not many are as “strange” or “lucky” as I am! ;-)
Like Faith, who, thank God is a lovely child, many are keen to dress nicely …and there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that! …yet perhaps we might start to think about another sort of ‘dressing up’. It is the sort which I’ve heard Jesus talk about in today’s Gospel.
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"See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit"
(Luke 12:35)
Those words sound as though God is suggesting …or even sternly advising me… that I should be “dressed” for some sort of battle!! …and so it is!!!
St.Paul says that:
"our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12)
St.Paul talks of it as a “struggle” but the maltese word for that is much stronger! It comes closer to a war-like struggle (“ġlieda”) …and indeed the struggle which st.Paul mentions IS a war!! …if it was not such then he would not have gone through comparing the clothing we are to wear with the clothing a soldier wears!
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“..be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.Put on the full armor of God so that
you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
…put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for all the saints.
(Ephesians 6:10,11,13-18)
…that SURE sounds like battle to me!!!
…that clothing SURE is battle-field clothing!!!
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Indeed we must! St.Paul, in a different letter again mentions “armor”:
"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." (Romans 13:12)
St.Paul advises us:
"Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy." (Romans 13:13)
And summarising …just to make sure we don’t miss the point! ;-)... he says:
"Clothe yourselves
with the Lord Jesus Christ,
and do not think about
how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."(Romans 13:14)
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...As a Christian …or rather a Catholic… do I have an option other than to obey?! ;-)
