Fear no one.
That was Christโs command to the Twelve after He told them they were going to be flogged in synagogues and dragged before governors and kings. That would be the fate of the Twelve, Christโs hand-picked confidants, His band of brothers.
Band of Brothers was a highly acclaimed miniseries released 25 years ago (2001). Based on a book of the same name, it told the true story of a U.S. Infantry regiment during World War II. It featured farm boys and city boys, green recruits at basic training in Georgia, who became seasoned veterans at the end of the war in 1945.
In one scene in a dark, bombed-out forest in France, a young private gives an unsolicited confession to a feared young captain from Boston, named Ronald Speirs. Captain Speirs has a reputation for being murderously ruthless. He is none too fond of taking German prisoners and has a very low tolerance for misbehaving American soldiers.
The private tells Captain Speirs that on D-Day, when they parachuted behind enemy lines into Normandy, he did not try to join up with his company and fight. Instead, he took a nap in a ditch. Captain Speirs stares at the private and says, โWhatโs your name soldier?โ And the private softly answers, โBlithe, Albert Blithe.โ Speirs then asks, โYou know why you hid in that ditch, Blithe?” Blithe sheepishly says, โI was scared.โ And Captain Speirs replies:
We’re all scared. You hid in that ditch because you think there’s still hope. But Blithe, the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function. Without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends on it.
Many today would argue Captain Ronald Speirsโ speech was quite morbid. But was Speirโs speech much different than what St. Paul wrote to the Romans?
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with Him through baptism into deathโฆConsequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 6:3-4, 11)
Do you think of yourselves as already dead? Listen to Christ:
โฆand whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mt. 10:38-39)
At the Offertory Rite, I remove the chalice veil, symbolizing the stripping of Christโs garments and preparation of the Lamb for sacrifice. I pour wine into the chalice, which will become His Blood. Then I pour a drop of water into the chalice. That represents you. It means youโve come here to die.
For centuries, directly before the pouring of wine and water, the priest held up the host (bread), looked up at the crucifix, and silently prayed:
Accept, O Holy Father, Almighty and Everlasting God, this unspotted Host, which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God to atone for my countless sins, offenses, and negligences: on behalf of all here present and likewise for all faithful Christians, living and dead, that it may avail both me and them as a means of salvation, unto life everlasting. Amen.
The priest prayed this prayer, essentially unchanged since the 800s. In 1970, it was changed to this:
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
Does that sound like the preparation of a sacrificial victim for death? No, it sounds like a blessing before a meal. Bless us O Lord, and these thy giftsโฆ And that is what it is. Itโs cobbled together from a 5th century A.D. Jewish โenjoymentโ blessing found in the Talmud. Did the bishops at Vatican II vote to change the centuries-old offertory prayer to a meal prayer? No. A committee of modernist-types, in non-synodal fashion, pushed that through a few years after Vatican II ended, after all the bishops had already gone home.
And in doing so, the committee helped bring on a paradigm shift at Holy Mass, in effect turning the priest into a presider, and the sacrifice into a supper. The thing about being invited to suppers is that you do not have to go. But God commanded we publicly offer Him sacrifice. Do you understand then why your friends and family arenโt going to Mass today? Weโve had three generations now conditioned to believe that Mass is nothing more than a โfraternal banquetโ and a โnice service.โ Why get out of bed for that?
I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own. (Gal. 2:19)
Note that St. Paul did not write, โI have eaten with Christ.โ And note that Christ did not say, โTake up your fork and spoon and follow me.โ Note this, and understand what you are actually supposed to be doing at Holy Mass. You are here, not as a dinner guest, but as a priest to offer yourself. You are here to die. For your life is not your own. Youโve been bought, not with silver or gold, but with Bloodโthe Blood on Calvary, which is the same Blood in the chalice.
My friends, this is why Christ commanded us to fear Him and not the world.
The psalm states:
He grants the desires of those who fear Him, He hears their cry and He saves them.
No less than the Virgin Mary herself prayed:
He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer feared God. A German Lutheran pastor and theologian, he was hanged by the Nazis at the age of thirty-nine in 1945, two weeks before American infantry liberated the area and twenty-eight days before Nazi Germany surrendered. Bonhoeffer wrote:
When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.
He also wrote:
Death is hell and night and coldโif it is not transformed by our faith. But that is just what is so marvelous, that we can transform death.
The Band of Brothers title given to the American infantry group in the miniseries comes from William Shakespeare. Itโs a speech from Englandโs King Henry V, in which he rouses his outnumbered and demoralized soldiers before the big battle with France:
If we are mark’d to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother.
My friends, we are all scared. Deep down, weโre all scared because weโve lost the culture to the enemies of the Cross. Weโre now outnumbered and demoralized. And too many of our captains have gone AWOL. They want to listen and dialogue with evil. They want to โaccompanyโ it instead of fighting it. How then do we function as soldiers of Christ? We do so by realizing there is no hope. Thatโs right. There is no hope for a passing-away world. It is doomed, not made to last.
Look then to your mighty champion, your fearless warrior (Jer. 20:11), your crucified captain on the cross. Look to the one who is murderously ruthless when it comes to sin and death. Witness Him take His vengeance on itโwithout mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war for souls depends on it.
Fear no one, my friends. Die to the world and live for Christ. Shed your blood with Him, and you shall be His brother. Do that, and you can transform death.
And that is what is just so marvelous.
Photo by Duncan Kidd on Unsplash
