Flybys at the hermitage – the Spirits of the Air – Mary Immaculate – Saint Michael

I did not go out to see the fireball of the jet fighter that did a flyby of the hermitage before sunrise this morning. I did not see the jet. I heard it. That was enough for my curiosity so early in the morning! Besides last year here at the hermitage, the last time I heard such a scrape the tops of the trees painstakingly slow, almost stalling out flyby was decades ago at our religious house in Kentucky, which is just over a bit from Fort Campbell. I couldn’t believe my eyes, as the fighter seemed to be no more than fifty feet off the ground. Happy to hear these flybys, if not see them. They’ve been much less frequent, I must say, in the last while. I haven’t seen another Predator B since last year, you know, the MQ-9 Hunter Reaper Killer UAV super payloaded General Atomics version of what the drone kingdom should be like. However, I think there was another AH 64 again the other week. Yikes!

Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus had any difficulty whatsoever with the fact of a military, though they did insist on justice. When there is justice, there is no threat, neither at home nor abroad. This is what the U.S. Military strives to be all about. When Cromwell threatened Thomas More with justice, the great statesman replied that, therefore, he was not threatened. Holy Souls Hermitage supports our military.

Saint Paul (see Ephesians 6,12) says that we are not fighting flesh and blood, against each other, but against the fallen spirits. Trouble is, is that some people like to go after the ways of the fallen spirits. To remain just in such a situation demands that one be non-reactionary, but instead one who simply acts to re-establish justice, serving God, who is, as the USMC says, Semper Fi, that is, semper fidelis, that is, always faithful, that is, in such a way that the Marine might participate in that faithfulness in the re-establishment of that justice which is a service to all mankind.

Trouble is, is that there are those who are unjust, as Satan is unjust, and Satan wants people to fight against him (and them) on his own terms, that is, with injustice, overreacting, being evil in a violence which could otherwise be a contribution to the virtue of justice. Saint Paul says that we fight against the fallen spirits, but, the thing is, in this fight, we fight with God and for Him; we don’t just attack Satan as if we could do something on our own, depending on our fallen selves. If we thus – actually – fight against ourselves, Satan will taunt us into getting terribly upset, losing sight of God. This is captured in a great statue of Saint Michael slaying Satan in the Saint Michael Chapel (next to the Crypt Chapel) above the grotto in Lourdes. Satan seems to be positively enjoying getting slain by Saint Michael, as if to say that Saint Michael is having no effect, that this does not hurt him, that Saint Michael is finally “playing” on Satan’s terms. You know, the old “Nyeah nyeah nyeah nyeah nyeah” type of thing:

Saint Michael, however, doesn’t fall for it. He simply does his job, with calm, serenity. After all, Michael, “Like unto God,” is acting on God’s behalf, not simply reacting to Satan. Here’s the rest of that statue…

Notice how terribly calm Saint Michael is. That’s the way he was always depicted, until more recently, when, now, people think that they have to do battle with Satan on their own, and thus get frustrated, and angry (with themselves), and then project the agonized face they make onto that of Saint Michael.  That’s just not right.

To prove the point, on this feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Extraordinary Form, or the Queenship of Mary in the Ordinary Form, lets take a look at any image whatsoever of Mary crushing Satan beneath her feet. Is she frustrated and angry with herself? Never!

Our Immaculate Queen Mother simply does what she does by the power of the Holy Spirit, looking to him. The stained glass above is found in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hendersonville, NC, way, way, way down the mountain and to the South and East.

Conclusion: Whether your job is as ferocious as the daily life of any of the USMC, or as ferocious as day to day living while being Semper Fi, always, always, always faithful, do this so as to fulfill justice (upon which virtue mercy is built). In this, you’ll have to be looking to the Holy Spirit, and by His grace, ever so simply, as a child, however ferocious.