In Luke 11 the chronicle of this war continues. Jesus is described as demonstrating the coming of God’s kingdom on earth by driving out demons by the finger of God. He is displaying his divine might in a cosmic battle of healing and exorcism. To explain the significance of what he is doing Jesus tells a parable. “When a strong man, fully armed guards his own house, his possessions are safe.

St. Paul describes our battlefield: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) Therefore we need spiritual weapons. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is one weapon. The other is to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests.

At times it seemed that Marxist-Leninism would win. The propaganda war was intense. The United States suffered a disastrous military defeat in Vietnam which impacted morale at the highest levels of government in Washington. When President Reagan took office we were up against the ropes, embarrassed by the Embassy takeover in Tehran and our personnel being held hostage, and facing big decisions about rearmament.

The Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066 was one of the most famous battles fought in England. Upon the death of King Edward the Confessor, the royal council, following the dying king’s request, named Harold, earl of Wessex, king. William, Duke of Normandy had been designated Edward’s successor, and had secured Harold’s agreement to his accession to the throne of England. On hearing of Harold’s action he gathered an army of 15,000 men to enforce his rival claim.