Staying Honest

For about two weeks the battery in our bathroom scale was dead.
I knew we had a replacement--but just couldn't seem to remember to put it in.

Maybe.

I kind of liked not having a scale.
It sat dead in the corner.  Yeh.

I ate more ice cream.
and cookies
and a burger here and there
and a beer
..maybe two.

Each day the scale sat there---dead.
Ha.

Then I bent over to tie my shoes and felt my gut pushing back.
Crap.

We need scales in the spiritual life.
We need to stay honest.
We can't delude ourselves into thinking everything is okay while we fill our senses and souls with crap.

I can do what I want--cause Jesus died for me and I'm already saved.
Yeh, right. Bank on your soul making it to purgatory (which is pretty good...) while your free will satiates itself.  Really?
No scale.

Last evening at a youth ministry meeting I went out on a limb and shared with the few members present--"You're not praying enough."  I continued "I'm not lining up missions and retreats and overnights if you guys don't start taking prayer more serious."
At first I had a couple looks like I was being judgmental--until someone said "How'd you know?"

Spiritual scales help keep us honest in our quest.
It is so easy to get spiritually sidetracked--in fact satan is banking on sloth and laziness and gluttony and lust and anger and greed and all those things that take our focus away.
Stay away from the spiritual scale and you can grow fat on paganized sugar.

During the month of October we have the tradition in our family of erecting and decorating The Saint Tree.  
Everyone in the family takes a day and makes an ornament depicting some aspect or picture of the Saint of the Day--using old and new calendars.
Saints are not only our intercessors but our spiritual scales--they give us their lives to measure ourselves with.  Of course I'm no saint (please don't crash the site with comments on that statement)--but I can try and try again to unite myself with Christ--after all isn't that what they did?

So don't be afraid to get spiritually weighed today--examine your conscience--be honest--ask a saint to help.

St. Michael the Archangel Feast Day (of Course Along with Gabriel and Raphael)

Revelation 12:7-12

Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.

War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.

St. Michael the Archangel outside the shrine in Italy

  Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have salvation and power come,

  and the Kingdom of our God

  and the authority of his Anointed.

  For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,

  who accuses them before our God day and night.

They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb

  and by the word of their testimony;

  love for life did not deter them from death.

Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,

  and you who dwell in them.”

It is no surprise that St. Michael the Archangel is the patron of this blog.

Years ago there was a movie entitled Michael.  It played on the story of the Archangel Michael returning to Earth and doing some good.  It was a fun movie.
There was a phrase that Michael would use over and over--"Battle"
He reduced a bank to rubble, cleared out a bar, and even took on a bull.

Praylium the blog is a play on the Latin word--praelium which means battle.

There is always a battle for your soul.  There is no other way to share this spiritual truth.
It's difficult to keep at it though isn't it?
Evil and the demonic constantly comes at us.
It somehow awakens in us our fallen tendencies of pride and anger and lust and sloth and gluttony--it builds on these.  In fact it is counting on us cooperating with it.
And then when we do--it darkens another part of our soul.

Go to Confession.
Receive Eucharist.
Fast.
Pray the Rosary today--pray it with St. Michael--
Read Scripture and know that the story is one where...in the end God wins.  The question is--are you doing the work to be on the winning side?

Click on the picture of St. Michael on the right and say the prayer--

St. Michael the Archangel...defend us...pray for us.

Here is some interesting stuff--St. Michael

Caution--Depression Ahead

Maybe.

This morning I came across a line in my son's church history book (Story of the Church, Tan Publishers) that addressed the church's need of reform during the time of St. Boniface (680-755 AD).  There existed not only corrupt pagans and political forces but bishops, priests, and religious.  It was ugly.  Of course we live in a different time today right?

Here are my mental notes from this morning...

Church is corrupted--which at first is very well disguised.
Holy person leads reform of the church or religious order or diocese.
Demonic eventually enters--which at first is very well disguised.
Holy person usually martyred.
Demonic does it's best to kill the reform and re-corrupt--which at first is very well disguised.
New holy person is born--leads new reform---demonic re-enters---
and so on and so on and so on.

The battle seems to never end--

Come to think of it--the above cycle is a little like the spiritual life and confession, no?