Pints With Aquinas - 226: The Sword of the Spirit

Starting point is 00:00:00 G'day, g'day. Welcome to Pints with Aquinas as I put my phone on airplane mode. I'm Matt Fradd. Hope you're doing well. Last week, we took a look at Thomas Aquinas' commentary on Ephesians. And we looked at chapter 6 of Ephesians in which St. Paul talks about putting on the armor of God. And you'll remember if you looked at last week's episode, if you haven't, please go back and watch it or listen to it. It might help you get a lot more context for today's episode. Aquinas says that armor does three things, right? It clothes us, and then it protects us, and then it defends us, right? So it clothes us.

Starting point is 00:00:36 We talked about that last week with girding our loins with the truth, all right? And then it protects us. So you think of a shield protecting us. And then thirdly, it can be used to defend ourselves, but also to be proactive and to attack. And so today we're going to conclude this section of chapter six, in which St. Paul talks about putting on the armor of God. And what I want to do towards the end of this episode is share with you on the armor of God. And what I want to do towards the end of this episode is share with you a Byzantine prayer, St. Michael the Archangel Byzantine prayer. It's really beautiful. And then I want to share with you some images of St. Michael that I love, and we'll talk a little bit about him. Fair enough? I hope so. Before we do anything else,

Starting point is 00:01:19 I want to say thank you to Halo. Halo is an app that will help you pray, say thank you to hallo hallo is an app that will help you pray and it's really well produced you can see it here on the screen um they have bible stories you can listen to to go to sleep to you can listen to a man or woman guide you in different meditations and you can listen to gregorian chant in the background as you pray it has minute meditations you can pray the rosary it's the most popular app in the united States, the most popular Catholic app, I should say. And it's really great. So if you want to take your prayer life to the next level, go to hallo.app slash Matt Fradd. dot com slash Matt Fradd and you'll get access to a 30 day free trial by signing up. Halo dot com slash Matt Fradd. I'll put a link in the description below.

Starting point is 00:02:12 But as I say, it's really great. It's nice to see good Catholic content that is well produced and is 100% Catholic. Halo dot com slash Matt Fradd. Check it out. Okay, let's take a look here. Now again, if you haven't looked at last week's episode, that's okay. I'm playing jazz on my phone. Let's jump into it here. We've looked at the first function of weapons, is to cover ourselves here's the second function of weapons namely to protect aquinas says two areas which contain the mainspring of our life must be guarded the chest in which the heart is situated and the head which contains the brain yep the chest is protected by a shield thus he, he states, in all things, taking the shield of faith, because faith is presupposed to all the other virtues, just as shield is the basic of all weapons.

Starting point is 00:03:12 Nice. For there is a difference, says Aquinas, between the armor of the moral virtues, such as temperance, which is to gird one's loins, and justice, which is to put on a breastplate. This is what we talked about last week. And this type of armament, the shield, which consists of the theological virtue of faith. Just as a shield wards off the arrows, so faith repels what is aimed against it and gains the victory. what is aimed against it and gains the victory. We read in Hebrews chapter 11, 33, that the saints by faith conquered kingdoms, whereas we conquer the powers of darkness by the moral virtues. Thus, he says, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most

Starting point is 00:04:03 wicked one. You may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. The devil whose arrows are certain interferences from evil angels. They are fiery since evil desires burn. Fire has fallen on them and they shall not see the sun. Psalm 58 9. They are extinguished through faith why because it quenches present and transitory temptations with the eternal and spiritual blessings promised in holy scripture

Starting point is 00:04:37 thus the lord brought forward authoritative texts of Holy Scripture to oppose the devil's temptations. We ought to do the same. This is great. If tempted to gluttony, counter it with, not in bread alone does man live. Or the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. If tempted to sensuality, you shall not commit adultery. If to theft, you shall not steal, and so on with many others. Any others. That's really cool. So we

Starting point is 00:05:12 use the word of God to renounce the word of Satan. Seems pretty reasonable, doesn't it? So if you're tempted to one of these things, memorize scripture. So maybe right now you're tempted to lust or tempted to overeat. Honestly, I went through this last night. I think I fell into gluttony last night. I was really just struggling. I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but sometimes you'll

Starting point is 00:05:43 eat something and it upsets you. It upsets your stomach, you know, and you don't feel very good. But often when I don't feel very good, I've learned to go and eat something so I feel good. So it's like, I don't feel good, I ate something. So I go and I try and eat something else and I just feel worse. And then I go eat something again because I don't feel good. So I think I fell into the sin of gluttony last night. God have mercy.

Starting point is 00:06:00 Feel good. So I think I fell into the sin of gluttony last night. God have mercy. But what I should have done is use one of these scriptures to rebuke it. It is not in bread alone that I live. The kingdom of God is not in meat and drink. This is really good. Aquinas says, Faith is called a shield since as a shield protects the entire chest.

Starting point is 00:06:23 So faith must be in our heart. Hope, on the other hand, is referred to as a helmet because as a helmet is on the head. So the head of the moral virtues is the end and hope is concerned with this end. Hence he states, and take unto you the helmet of salvation. Finally, the third function of weapons is for attack all right so last week we talked about weapons clothing us and we talked about girding the loins and having the breastplate now he's talked about the shield and the helmet which protect us and now we're going to talk about the final function of weapons which is namely to attack. So Aquinas says it's not enough to simply defend

Starting point is 00:07:06 oneself. It is also necessary to assault the enemy. That's great. If you're in a battle and you're like, I can defend myself. It's like when I fight against my son, like he's five. So when we wrestle on the bed, that is what I do. I defend myself against his blows. I don't actually strike out against him that way, unless I'm doing it in a light way, a fun way where I'm kind of like jabbing him and tickling him and these sorts of things. But obviously I don't punch my son in the face. That would be awful. But if I'm in a real fight and someone's attacking me, it wouldn't be enough to be like, I'm just going to defend myself. No, you would have to strike out. I would have to assault the enemy or else I will not overcome him.

Starting point is 00:07:49 And Aquinas is saying that this is what Paul's talking about. That as these infernal spirits wage war against us, it's not enough just to defend ourselves against them. We have to be on the offensive as well. So I'm looking forward here to seeing what Aquinas says. Physically, this is done with a material sword. It is done spiritually though through the word of God, which is the sword of the Holy Spirit. On this account, he affirms and takes up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. For the word of God is living and Love it. Love it. We'll go back to that.

Starting point is 00:08:44 Let me just finish this. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father that speaks in you. Golly, golly, golly, that's beautiful. I just recently, I spoke at Steubenville, Franciscan University up in Steubenville. And this is why it is so essential for me and for you, if you're in a place of public preaching,

Starting point is 00:09:01 to pray that the Holy Spirit bless your words as you proclaim the Word of God, because it's not me who's converting anybody. It's not you who's converting anybody. It's the Holy Spirit who's going to use us to do that. And as he says, preaching is called the sword of the Spirit because it will not penetrate to the Spirit unless it is disposed by the Holy Spirit. See, this is the thing. And I offer this to those of you who perhaps are in a position in which you're speaking publicly. Maybe you run a podcast.

Starting point is 00:09:31 Maybe you speak at a school or at your church or something. I know we have a lot of priest listeners. And I know you know this, so forgive me, but this is Aquinas teaching both of us. But I can be funny, right? Believe it or not. I can make people laugh, right? When I get up and give a talk, I can even be moving so that people become somewhat emotional. You know, sometimes I might share a story or something like that, that leads people to be emotional. I can even kind of

Starting point is 00:09:59 motivate people. I think I can do that. But you know what? Like so can sitcoms, so can stand-up comedians, like so can motivational speakers, right? But my job, as I see it, is not to motivate necessarily. Like this isn't the primary job. My primary job isn't to make people emotional or to make them laugh. My primary job is to be obedient to the Holy Spirit and to proclaim the word as best as I'm able and to trust that he will do the work. So man, that really struck me. That's really cool. Okay.

Starting point is 00:10:36 It is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father that speaks in you. Therefore, we possess weapons to defend ourselves against carnal adversaries, namely gluttony and sensuality, through temperance. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. By the arms of justice, which make us refrain from what is unlawful, we can conquer also earthly greed, and having on the breastplate of justice. This is aided by purity of heart or poverty, which withdraw us even from things which are lawful and your feet

Starting point is 00:11:12 shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Moreover, we have weapons by which we are guarded from error, the armor of faith in all things, taking the shield of faith and also protected from the enemies of the human race, wherewith meaning the shield of faith. You may be able to extinguish the fiery darts, the most wicked one. We likewise possess armor by which we are strengthened in spiritual blessings, the armor of hope and take unto you the helmet of salvation. Paul says a helmet rests on the head and so does hope in its end. rests on the head and so does hope in its end. Now the head of the moral virtues is the very end with which hope is concerned. Thus to take up the helmet of salvation is nothing other than to have hope in the ultimate end. Finally, we have weapons to assault the demons. That's exciting. We have

Starting point is 00:12:01 weapons to assault the demons, not just to defend ourselves against them. Namely, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This happens frequently during sermons when the Word of God, penetrating into the hearts of sinners, thrusts out the chaos of sins and demons. Love that. I love that so much. Let me read that last little paragraph again. Finally, we have weapons to assault the demons themselves. The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. This happens frequently during sermons when the word of God penetrating into the hearts of sinners thrusts out the chaos of sins and demons.

Starting point is 00:12:54 See, like this is the thing we have to like really be convinced of. If we want to be fully alive, John 10, 10, right? Our Lord says, you know, I've come that you may have life, have it to the full. If we want to be free, right? Where the spirit is, there is freedom. Then we really have to reject sin and flee from it. Because even though Satan would have us believe that sin would make our life more exciting, the opposite is true. And we all have anecdotal evidence of this. You've known people who've been really well off, you know, financially. They're not denying themselves the pleasures of the flesh. And yet within them is chaos, right?

Starting point is 00:13:35 They're not beautiful people. They're cynical people, sarcastic people. I fall into this, you know, where I realize I'm becoming cynical. I'm becoming sarcastic. I'm becoming cynical. I'm becoming sarcastic. I'm becoming negative. I'm becoming focused on myself and therefore unable to see to the needs of those around me. This is what sin does. Sin makes you boring. It is the saints who are fully alive. Sin makes you boring. If you want a boring, narrow-minded, black and white, or sepia-toned life, sin is the ticket. But if you want to live in the freedom of the sons of God, we have to renounce sin.

Starting point is 00:14:16 And one of the ways we can attack the demons is through the word of God. And Aquinas has said that this is true as we are tempted by the demons. We can state scripture. And this is true as we proclaim the word of God to other people. The word of God actually is powerful. You might not realize that. I might not realize that. We may just see scripture as kind of inspiring, maybe words on a page. This is the very word of God, right? These are the very words of God. And so to rebuke Satan in ourselves or in others, to rebuke the word of Satan, if you want, or the word of the demons in ourselves or others by the word of God, that's beautiful. That is beautiful. And I've definitely seen this happen in my own life,

Starting point is 00:15:05 right? As I try to proclaim the gospel to those around me, that I see that it thrusts out the chaos of sins and demons. I remember once, and I don't think she'll mind me telling you this, my lovely sister, Emma Fradd, super awesome girl. you'd like her a lot if you met her or if you do know her you'd like her you do like her. She came and lived with us in Ireland and she was an atheist and her and I would debate God's existence a great deal I'd try to answer her questions, she'd have more objections and things like this. And I remember

Starting point is 00:15:44 one night she came to me and said that she she wants to be open she really really wants to be open and it was a beautiful beautiful thing she said and how she said it it was very uh it was very sincere she wasn't just saying hey i'm open if god exists no like she was this was coming from a real deep place within her. And one of the things I said was, in order to love God, we have to repent. To turn to God intellectually without turning our lives towards Him may be of little avail, right? Not much might come from it.

Starting point is 00:16:20 If we just say, I'm open to God's existence, but we're still living a sinful life or have been engaged in serious sins in the past. It's like saying I want to turn to God, but I don't want to turn to God. And so I don't know if this was a bit of inspiration or something, but I said like you need and I'm saying this to an atheist to keep in mind, which is pretty crazy. Because I know that she had done things in her past that she wasn't proud of and just like I have and you have. And I looked at her and I said, you need to repent of these sins. Like you need to renounce them.

Starting point is 00:16:49 And I think I said that you can't want to turn to God while remaining in these sins. And she said, well, I don't consider them sins. And I said, okay, well, then you're wrong to. Like you're wrong to not consider them sins. And so you have to renounce them, you know. of them sins and so you have to renounce them you know and um it was shortly after that that i heard that my sister emma went to the sacrament of confession and i remember being like just blown away i i didn't believe it when somebody told me that they said yeah she just went to confession and i just you know i was like there's just no way. But it was in fact true. She went to confession.

Starting point is 00:17:28 And what the priest had to say to her, you know, like, was such a blessing to her. It was incredible because, you know, I had spent so long arguing with her, giving her books from C.S. Lewis, and not much happened. This priest, you know, no doubt speaks the word of God to her. He actually told her to pray the Our Father, right? To pray the word of God herself. And that night she came to me and she said she wants to get a rosary and a Bible. Oh my goodness. I couldn't believe it. I had to hold back my enthusiasm. I'm like, a rosary? We're going to buy you 10 rosaries and the St. Michael chaplet. And we're going to buy you all the Bibles and Bible cover, and we're going to get little tabs for them. I'd totally hold back my enthusiasm. But that just kind of, I think, kind of elucidates

Starting point is 00:18:14 what Aquinas is saying here, that when we are being targeted by the enemy, we speak the word of God, right? When others are being targeted by the enemy, we speak the word of God. And this has the power to thrust out, in Aquinas' words, to thrust out the chaos of sins and demons. Beautiful. All right, here's what I want to do as we begin to wrap up. I want to share with you three beautiful images of St. Michael the Archangel. four, we'll show you four, that I really like. St. Michael the Archangel, obviously, we read about in the 12th chapter of Revelation, and it talks about him casting out Satan and the demons. Sometimes we mistakenly think that the opposite of Satan is Jesus, as if they were equal in might. But of course, this is not true. God is omnipotent. Satan is merely a creature.

Starting point is 00:19:07 So really, an even fight is Satan and St. Michael. Let me show you a few images here. I love this one. Now, I know that some people don't like angels looking effeminate, but I kind of like this one, even though St. Michael looks effeminate. Obviously, the angels are neither male nor female. They don't have bodies. But here we have St. Michael kicking out Satan from heaven.

Starting point is 00:19:38 And what I love about it is the ease with which St. Michael is throwing out Satan. He's just gently touching him with his toe. So I like that one. All right, here's another one I really enjoy. I think I enjoy this just because, I don't know, Satan looks super creepy. You notice like the creepiest thing I think to see is somebody who looks like a human, but they look off, like slightly deformed. When you think of like monsters that you consider terrifying, if they're completely unlike human beings, they might be scary, but there's something about a human being who is slightly off.

Starting point is 00:20:22 You know, maybe they have a head that is sideways, or they have four eyes about their face, or something like that. And this is kind of what we see depicted here with the demons. They're ugly creatures, because they're deformed. And here we have St. Michael thrusting them down. Okay, this one's like a low resolution one, but let me just see if I can expand this. I really like this one too, just because I'd never seen it before. Here we have St. Michael with his sword cutting off the head of Lucifer, and Lucifer looks super creepy, if you can see that, like a beast again. Because again, this is what sin does to us, right? To go back to what we were talking about a moment ago, sin deforms us, like deforms us, right? God forms us, sin deforms us.

Starting point is 00:21:10 We become more beast-like. And this is why if you've ever encountered people who've been aggressive or godless, you say something like they acted like animals. And here we see that Satan not only acts like a beast, worse than a beast, but he looks like one as well, which is appropriate. And then finally, I just love Eastern iconography. I really love this image of St. Michael the Archangel.

Starting point is 00:21:38 Again, just there's something about St. Michael appearing gentle. St. Michael appearing gentle. And yet, one word from him, given, you know, if God told him, he could destroy the entire universe. Like the kind of power that angels are given. So that would be my final favorite image. Now what I want to do is share with you a beautiful prayer to St. Michael. And I share this because I think it's important that we pray against evil spirits. And one prayer that many of us are aware of is the St. Michael prayer. In the West, we have a beautiful prayer, sometimes translated differently, St. Michael the Archangel. Defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

Starting point is 00:22:24 May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. But here's a lovely prayer. It's more of a Byzantine prayer. Let me pull it up on the screen here. Archangel Michael, Prince of all angels, leader, defender of the heavenly hosts. You are renowned for your mighty power, ever swift to obey the Lord's commands. You cast out Satan with his evil spirits. Be our protector against his wicked ways.

Starting point is 00:23:00 Archangel Michael, glorious leader, guide us to serve the will of the Lord. So that's really beautiful. All right, I want to share with you two things before we wrap up. The first is I have a 21-day detox from porn course that I created. It's for men. So basically for 21 days, if you sign up, you'll get these really high production videos, about five minutes each. And I guide you over the course of 21 days on how to be free of porn. There are daily challenges that you have to perform. And then you are asked to engage with the brothers in the community. And right now we have over 21,100 men going through the course. So I don't mean that

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Starting point is 00:25:03 Yeah, just a whole bunch of stuff. So please consider supporting us there because that supports all the work that we are doing. And thank you so much for listening. And I hope that that was a blessing to you. God bless. Let me know in the comment section below what struck you from Thomas Aquinas' commentary.

Starting point is 00:25:18 And that would be the bee's knees. Cheers. See ya.

Pints With Aquinas - 226: The Sword of the Spirit

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