The political left has been shouting of late about a “War on Women.”
Well there definitely is such a war, but not in the way they are claiming. It’s a spiritual war against God’s plan for humanity, focused on women’s ability to give life, and it’s been raging since the beginning of time.
If you follow current events, you know that battle is heating up. I don’t know about you, but I’m greatly disturbed by the trends I see in our world’s “Culture of Death.” Following is a small sampling of the news, and links to the articles and videos. (For some reason, much of it seems to be coming from New York…not sure why.)
Number of babies aborted in New York City in one year would fill Super Bowl stadium
Andrew Cuomo: Pro-Life People “Have No Place in the State of New York”
Abortion Activist: “I Want to Rip the Uterus Out of Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Eat It”
Police probe whether dead baby found in bag of Victoria’s Secret ‘shoplifter’ was murdered
Pa. woman gives birth in sports bar, suffocates newborn and hides body in toilet tank: police
Violent mob of topless pro-abort feminists attacks praying men defending cathedral
I’m convinced that the veracity and pervasiveness of this news has a diabolical cause. An obscure article from an online radio site in the Philippines describes the crux of the issue well. It’s entitled “Exorcist Talks about Satan’s ‘Special Hatred’ for Women.” Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi, a Rome-based theologian and exorcist who has assisted the former chief exorcist of Rome, makes an interesting statement. “I am quite familiar with Satan’s hatred toward Mary and therefore, toward women in general on account of Mary.”
Satan hates women because he hates our Blessed Mother. Her “Yes” foiled all his plans.
Fr. Joseph said that the devil is particularly active today in the Women’s Rights movement in the fight for contraception and abortion on demand. He also points out that Satan likes to focus his attack on women who are “young” and “pleasing in appearance.” To prove this point, I only have to mention the questionable antics of popular singing artists like Beyonce at last year’s Super Bowl and recently Katy Perry. (Did you see this year’s Grammy’s?)
And though Father Joseph doesn’t say this directly, I see Satan’s attack on the very young in our Culture of Death’s subtle corruption of fairy tales. You may have noticed of late how Disney and other Hollywood producers are changing themes in such stories to become more politically correct with the women’s movement. You know what I’m talking about — how princesses no longer need princes to save them, and sometimes they even save the prince. Or maybe there isn’t even a prince around at all.
On the surface, nothing seems wrong. Maybe on some level, it’s even good. But the trend touches on a distortion of a much deeper truth — why God made us male and female in the first place. There is a great deal to understanding this sublime mystery, but to make very dense theology short and sweet, in Ephesians 5, St. Paul discusses how the marriage of man and woman is like that of Christ and His Church. In the analogy, men image Christ, and women image the Church. Christians who know their faith are well aware that Christ saves the Church, and not vice versa.
I once heard a young priest giving a Theology of the Body presentation to teenagers, discussing how he became interested in early Disney princess cartoons, traditional ones like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. In the stories about damsels in distress being saved by a prince riding a white stallion, he was mesmerized by the Truth he saw. He recognized Jesus Christ in these stories, saving his Bride from the evil one. (Interestingly, the Christ figure in the book of Revelation rides a white horse. See Revelation 6:2.)
Now let’s go back to Adam and Eve, where it all began. Through the sin of pride, the first man and woman listened to Satan’s lies and believed they could become like God — that they really didn’t need Him. And we know what happened after that. Right from the beginning, Satan targeted the woman, the one who images humanity, rather than the man, who images Christ. Eve tried to contend with Satan herself, and failed miserably. And Adam, who was right there, did nothing to stop it.
Fast forward in history to the “fullness of time.” On Calvary, the New Adam, Jesus Christ, stepped between His Bride and the serpent. He was able to do this because the New Eve, Mary, the mother of the Church, said “Yes” to God’s plan at the visit of the angel Gabriel. She would also say “Yes” at the foot of the cross, watching her Son accept the consequences of the sin that Satan talked us all into.
Just something to ponder and pray about in our distorted world.
Lord Jesus, come save your Bride! Mary Mother of Church, destined to crush the head of Satan with your “Yes” to God by bringing Life into the world, pray for us.
This is so beautifuly writen! Thank you so much for writing this story. I am not good at putting things like this in to words but this is perfect! I will be sharing this with people, thank you agian!