Psalm 79: War
Saturday, December 6, 2025
A re-post from November 11, 2011.
Today is Veteran’s Day and the birthday of my littlest granddaughter who lost her sister a few short weeks ago. I read this Psalm and think of death as we understand it – the loss of one we love – and I wonder . . .
Help us, O God, our Savior . . .
Today is also the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, a soldier who converted to Christianity and gave up the world of physical violence to enter into a spiritual life that in many ways looks much like war. As St. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12-13: Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. From the MAGNIFICAT Mini-reflection: Saint Martin translated his long military career into a campaign of spiritual warfare against the paganism and the temptations to worldly wealth which threatened the people of the Church he served as monk and bishop. I think of evil spirits in the heavens, and warfare and death and St. Martin and I wonder . . .
May your mercy come quickly to meet us for we are in desperate need . . .
Paul writes to the Corinthians and to us in today’s Morning Prayer: The weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. (2 Corinthians 10:4) I think about how we may not recognize our own paganism, our own violence, our own falling away from God, and I wonder . . .
Help us, O God, our Savior . . .
Good women and men step forward when times are dark. God never leaves our side when circumstances extinguish hope. I think about warfare of all kinds and I wonder . . .
May your mercy come quickly to meet us for we are in desperate need . . .
I call upon the God who suffers with us, who abides with us, and who heals all wounds and violations shot through the faithful by the pagans who invade their inheritance, who breach the temple gates and defile holy places, and I wonder . . .
Help us, O God, our Savior . . .
Images from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima and https://demons.swallowthesky.org/post/2110117800
Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Mini-Reflection.” MAGNIFICAT. 11 November 2011: 145. Print.
The Noontimes 