The Army

“What did Jesus tell the people they must do in order to save their souls and get to Heaven?” He told them that they must enlist in His army, obey His orders, believe His word and be willing to fight. “And did the people enlist in His army?” Many did and others were willing to wear the uniform but were not willing to fight, and so they could not join.

“Has Jesus still got an army?” Yes, He has. “But Jesus is not living on earth now, so how can He have an army?” He has some one to take His place and give orders for Him. “Who is he and where does he live?” His name is Benedict Fifteenth and he lives in Rome, the capital of Christendom. He was once a little boy like one of you, and his name was James, and when he grew up, he became a priest and later a bishop and when the last bishop of Rome died, the officers of Jesus’ army met and voted for James to take the place, and his name was then changed to Benedict, and as there had already been fourteen bishops of Rome who had taken the name of Benedict, he is called Benedict the Fifteenth.

The priests give orders to the privates, the bishops give orders to the priests and the bishop of Rome gives orders to all the other bishops, and so he is called the Father of the whole army or the Pope, and his headquarters are always in Rome.

“Can we enlist in Christ’s army, for we want to save our souls, too?” Yes, if you get a uniform. “What is the uniform?” Sanctifying grace. “How can we get it?” By being baptized. “What is baptism?” It is something that washes all sin from our souls and clothes them in the uniform of sanctifying grace. You see, we are all born in original sin, because we are all the children of Adam and Eve. If they had not been deserters and lost their uniforms, we should not have been born deserters either. The whole fight started this way. Everything was happy and peaceful in heaven, when about one third of the angels suddenly rose up against God. And St. Michael and the other good angels, who were the very first soldiers, fought them and drove them out of Heaven. Then the devil tried to get Adam and Eve to desert God and join his army, and they did and clothed their souls in the devil’s uniform, which is sin.

And the devils are still fighting against God with all their might and main, and they cover the whole earth trying to get recruits. And they get many men and women and even little boys and girls to help them in their work, for anyone who tries to get someone else to sin is doing the devil’s work.

These are the two great armies in the world—the army of Christ and the army of the devil, and every one on earth is a soldier in one or the other. If we do not fight with Christ, we are fighting against Him; we have to be on one side or the other, there is no third army.

“How is baptism given?” Baptism is given by pouring water on the head of the person to be baptized and saying at the same time: “I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” And the person baptized must promise to have nothing to do with the devil and to fight till death for Christ.

Just as water washes our bodies, so the water of baptism cleanses our soul from sin. It makes us a child of God and gives us a right to Heaven by giving us sanctifying grace. And if a person is grown up when he is baptized, baptism takes away not only original sin but all other sins that he may have on his soul.

“Who can baptize?” Only a priest can baptize unless a person is dying and can not be taken to church and it is not possible to get a priest to come to the house. In this case, anyone can baptize. Even you could baptize by pouring a little water on the person’s head and by saying, whilst pouring the water: “I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” The person who pours the water must also say the words.

If you know that anyone is dying, find out whether he has been baptized, and if he has not, get a priest. But if there is not time to get a priest, baptize him yourself, if he is willing, no matter how little or how big he is.

Every Sunday afternoon, babies are taken to church to be baptized, but if the baby is sick, one ought not to wait for Sunday.

If you have a little baby in your house, do not let it get to be more than a week or two old before it is baptized. You do not want a deserter in your home but a soldier of Christ. Besides, if anyone dies without being baptized, he can never go to Heaven because he does not belong to the army of Christ. Little babies that die without baptism go to a place called Limbo where they are happy and have everything they want, but where they can never see God.

This is what Jesus taught the people and He told His Apostles to go into the whole world and to baptize everyone, to enlist every one in His army, so that every one may go to Heaven.

Have you been baptized? Have all your brothers and sisters been baptized? If so, you have been enlisted in Christ’s great army; you must be proud of your uniform and must fight bravely.

“How can we fight the devil?” By saying your morning and night prayers, by going to Mass on Sunday, by obeying your parents, by not telling lies, by not stealing, by keeping away from all sin. You see it is real hard fighting and you will have to ask Jesus, your Captain, to make you strong and to help you to win. And oh, how great your reward will be in Heaven!

“And what is the great army of Christ called?” It is called the Catholic Church.