Day 1 – Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Fear
Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Fear
My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
At a word from You the devil and his minions flee in terror.
You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all strength.
By the power of your Cross and Resurrection, we beseech You, O Lord
To extend Your saving arm and to send Your holy angels
To defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic forces.
Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses Your Bride, The Church,
So that within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation
We may turn fully back to You in all fidelity and trust.
Lord, we know if You will it, it will be done.
Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray.
Amen
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception…pray for us
St. Joseph…pray for us
St. Michael the Archangel…pray for us
(the patron of your parish )… pray for us
(your confirmation saint)…pray for us
“Freedom from Fear” by Fr. Bill Peckman
In the Garden of Eden, the Devil tempts Adam and Eve. He lies to them. His lie is effective because it taps into fear. The fear is simple: God does not want what is good for you. The Devil sells a fear to Adam and Eve that God wishes them to be perpetually ignorant of good and evil (even though they already knew the good), that they are missing out without that knowledge. Fear finds its roots in a disbelief in God’s providence and care. God knows this and in the Scriptures He tells us 365 times to not be afraid. Overcoming fear is trusting in God.
Fear rules our nation now. It used to be that the American Dream was the ability to act rightly and freely and set one’s course independent of one’s socioeconomic status. In the last 100 years the American Dream transformed into accumulation of possessions and status. Now the American dream had turned into a nightmare of anarchy by which the dream is complete autonomy and self-determination independent of God, science, or reason. The fear comes from a belief that this life is all that there is and we must create a reality conducive to my personal truth. Anyone who challenges this is to be feared and despised.
Fear rules within most churches now. Fear has reduced the evangelical call of the Great Commission to a call for the comfortable and non-challenging. It has stilled our tongues on moral issues. It has gutted our catechesis. It has emptied our seminaries and decimated the priesthood. Being Catholic has always carried a stigma in this country. With the scandals in the Church, fear of being accused of things one would never do is a strong deterrent to answering God’s call. It was for me. When the purveyors of fear have raised their voices, in fear we Catholics have allowed ours to be silenced. A fearful person who will not stand up against the lies of a human being will never stand up to the lies perpetrated by the father of lies, the Devil. We would do well to heed Jesus’s rebuke of His apostles in Mathew 8:26, ”Why are you fearful, ye of little faith?” He says this as they are being tossed on the sea by a strong storm.
It might be said that courage is the virtue to cultivate to fight fear. It goes deeper. The virtue to cultivate is the theological virtue of faith. To countermand the Devil’s use of fear, in believing that God does not want what is good for us or will abandon us if we follow Him, we must cultivate faith so as to be able and willing to put our trust in His goodness and plan.
Because it is a theological virtue, the virtue only grows with the assistance of the grace of God. We will not be able to cultivate faith without the sacramental life of the Church. Even when circumstance prevents our participation in the sacramental life of the Church, the fervent desire to participate in the sacramental life of the Church allows that opening for God to flood us with the grace to grow our faith. Such desire has aided the imprisoned, the ill, and the exiled.
Faith must lead to conversion. If not, then the grace of God is squandered. We shall have to answer for this. Conversion is an outward and inward sign of the trust and faith we have in God. Conversion sets the devil on his heels. It calls out his lie. Faith will lead us to a place where we can stand out against the rising tide and fight against the diabolical. Dead men flow downstream, weak men float downstream, but live men can walk against the current and move forward. Faith is the powertrain to give us such abilities.
Prayer of Reparation
My Lord and my God,
We have allowed the temptation of the devil to move our hearts to doubt in your goodness.
We have stilled our tongues in the face of evil.
We have been too fearful to stand out in our culture, allowing the strong storms to quell our trust in you.
In our fear, we have allowed the ancient foe to advance.
We turn to you Lord, in our sorrow and guilt, and beg your forgiveness for our fear and timidity.
We beg for the grace of your goodness to build up within us what you sought to build up in your apostles in that tempest tossed boat.
We know, Lord, if you will it, it will be done.
Trusting in you, we offer our prayer to you who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer of Exorcism
Lord God of Heaven and Earth,
In Your power and goodness, You created all things.
You set a path for us to walk on and a way to an eternal relationship.
By the strength of Your arm and Word of Your mouth
Cast from Your Holy Church every fearful deceit of the Devil
Drive from us manifestations of the demonic that oppress us and beckon us to faithlessness and fear.
Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so that we may act freely and faithfully to Your will.
Send Your holy angels to cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of fear have planted in your church.
Free us, our families, our parish, our diocese, and our country from all trickery and deceit perpetrated by the Devil and his hellish legions.
Trusting in Your goodness Lord,
We know if You will it, it will be done in unity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever.
Amen.
Litany of St. Michael
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy, etc.
God the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,
Holy Mary, Queen of the Angels, pray for us, etc.
St. Michael, the Archangel,
Most glorious attendant of the Triune Divinity,
Standing at the right of the altar of Incense,
Ambassador of Paradise,
Glorious Prince of the Heavenly armies,
Leader of the Angelic hosts,
The standard-bearer of God’s armies,
Defender of Divine glory,
First defender of the Kingship of Christ,
Strength of God,
Invincible Prince and warrior,
Angel of Peace,
Guide of Christ,
Guardian of the Catholic Faith,
Champion of God’s people,
Guardian Angel of the Eucharist,
Defender of the Church,
Protector of the Sovereign Pontiff,
Angel of Catholic action,
Powerful intercessor of Christians,
Bravest defender of those who hope in God,
Guardian of our souls and bodies,
Healer of the sick,
Help of those in their agony,
Consoler of the Souls in Purgatory,
God’s messenger for the souls of the just,
Terror of the evil spirits,
Victorious in battle against evil,
Guardian and Patron of the universal Church,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Relying, O Lord, upon the intercession of Thy blessed Archangel Michael, we humbly beg of Thee, that the Sacrament of the Eucharist which we have received may make our souls holy and pleasing to Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
To see the Goals, Methods and Levels of “Let Freedom Ring,” go HERE.
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