Serviam OR Non Serviam

"Quis ut Deus? Serviam!" (Who is like God? I will serve!)

When put to the test by God, Lucifer - who wanted to be above God- declared his rebellion in Heaven against Him with the cry, “Non Serviam!” (“I will not serve!”).  The Archangel Michael loyally defended God with his cry of “Serviam” (I will serve) and vanquished Lucifer to Hell with all his demons, today all Catholics pray to St Michael so that he may defend and protect us against the wickedness and snares of the devil.



'SERVIAM' is THE battle-cry which needs to be our daily cry to God, declaring that we will submit ourselves to Him in His divine plan for each of us and for all humanity.
All you need is a sincere heart and good will (Lk 2:14), to unite your will to His and start bringing His reign and heavenly peace into a world that tells us to ignore God and embrace only what feels good. Translation; only want for yourself, what He wants for you!

Embracing the war cry "Serviam" is simple. 

Avoid Cafeteria Catholicism – 

We can’t pick and choose what we believe and still be authentically Catholic.  We need only TRUST that two millennia of Church history and teaching are far superior to what we may come up with on our own.

‎”Be Catholic, really, faithfully, unapollogetically Catholic, and the future will have the kind of articulate and morally mature leaders it needs.” (Archbishop Charles Chaput)

Put your Pride Aside – 

 It takes a pretty big ego to say no to Christ and His Church! What you need is more humility, total surrender and a sincere commitment to put God's will before our own. I know I'm not the only one who can say that doing it my way has never really worked out well for me in the end.

“Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.”(St. Ignatius of Loyola) 

Practice Personal Holiness – 

I could wax lyrical about this on my own or I could just show you this...

“Since Christians are reclothed in Christ Jesus and refreshed by his Spirit, they are ‘holy’. They therefore have the ability to manifest this holiness and the responsibility to bear witness to it in all that they do."  (Blessed John Paul II,)

It say's it all!!!

Be Joyful – 

It is so easy to let all of our problems take over and cause us so much anxiety and pain which leads us to forget to be HAPPY- it happens to all of us, even the best of us.  But, try not to forget that people in our community are watching us.  They may be seeking Him and looking for someone, anyone, to show them the way to Christ.  For some it's as simple as learning from good examples, or being inspired by joy and being encouraged by other people's faith.
Remember we are called to share the Good News.

Pursue Heaven, Reject the World – 

As Catholics and children of God we should always know that Heaven is our ultimate destination and we are not of the Earth.  Will anything but the Holy Spirit help us get into Heaven?  No without the Holy Spirit we are forced into a secular way of life in a society that only wants us to have little room for God- if any- and where vanity and pride take over all of our thoughts and intentions.  Doing what is right is not always easy, but in the long run it is clearly the most beneficial. Besides...  Why would we not choose Heaven?

There is still another way to be a true Catholic in today’s world that is the way that makes all the others possible:

PRAY FAITHFULLY EVERY DAY.

No one can seriously rebel against the Church if they are faithfully committed to daily prayer. It's really not that hard!

• Start the day with a prayer of thanks to God for the blessings in our lives.  
• Pray for help and courage to face the trials the world will throw at you.  
• Make the sign of the cross and pray over every meal, public or private.  
• Pray a daily Rosary and ask for the help and intercession of our Blessed Mother and pray with our families every night. 

Look, it would be so easy to read this and decide that it doesn't work for you, I'm not judging anyone, I believe everyone is guilty of not being able to do these things constantly and I know I have taken the easy way out in practicing my faith in the past mainly because I haven't been really keen to put in any extra effort.
We all push back against doing what we know is right because it takes a lot more effort, or because we don't want to be judged by others and sometimes even because we have a lack of courage to confront really difficult situations.
But, there's an upside - it's the thing I love most about being a Catholic- No secret it's not easy to be Catholic- the road to hell is EASY, but God know's that, and He knows sometimes we will fall, so He is all merciful and compassionate and gives us ample opportunity to rectify things with Him, while we are of the living, and He never abandons us!
Take it from someone who is incredibly grateful for her faith. I have spent way too much time in a pride-fulled rebellion and it was exhausting.  Surrendering to His will and saying “yes” truly made all the difference in my life.

So, what will it be, Serviam or non serviam?