10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in their mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Every morning until they were liberated by the Red Army in 1945, the prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland were lined up for roll call. They were put into rows and counted twice, sometimes more, while SS guards walked between the rows, beating and humiliating them. Roll-call could last for hours, due to inaccuracies in counting, excessive beatings, or as a form of cruel punishment. Once, they were subjected to a roll-call that lasted for 20 hours straight. These roll calls were also called “stand-ups” because the prisoners were forced to stand up, often in extreme cold or pouring rain. Any prisoners who were too weak to stand or collapsed during roll call would be killed. An SS guard would approach a collapsed prisoner and command them, “Aufstehen! Stand up!” And the others would try to lift them up, knowing what fate awaited them if they could not. Even though they were starving, physically exhausted, mentally traumatized, afraid for their lives, they still had the courage to get up each morning, day after day, after day, and look into the face of pure evil, and with what little strength they had left, stand up. Despite experiencing some of the greatest human suffering imaginable, despite the enormity of the evil they were faced with, somehow, they found the strength to stand one more day, to lift each other up. Even when it seemed like evil had triumphed and God was far away, God’s people stayed standing.
Paul was himself a prisoner who would later be executed. He was tasked with spreading the gospel of the suffering Christ, who was beaten, tortured, humiliated, and killed. He knew intimately of evil. He knew that evil will spit in your face and say, “You are worthless, you are nothing. There is no hope for you.” But that isn’t true, Because evil and the truth are strangers. How easy would it have been for Paul to rot away in his prison cell and say, “Evil has triumphed, all hope is lost.”—But, he doesn’t. He says, put on the armor of God, be steadfast in faith, and stand! Truth always prevails, God always prevails.
The prisoners of Auschwitz had no armor, they had no swords or shields, or any defense against the SS to speak of. Except for the truth. Except for hope, and faith in God. Things that the enemy can never take away. To struggle against evil is a victory of its own. To stand up even when all hope is lost, to put on the armor of God, to have strength and faith in the Lord, to look death itself in the eye and say, “You will not have the final say,” that is victory. Let the powers of evil tremble in the face of God’s mighty people, who have no defense but faith.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. On days when I am so weary from fighting evil, when I am so overwhelmed by the enemy that I can no longer fight, sometimes all I can do is stand. But I’m never standing alone, because God is always standing with me. When I am defenseless, God is my courage and my strength, my sword and my shield.
Like the Red Army soldiers on that fateful day in January, 1945, Christ comes to all of us in our darkest hour and says, brothers and sisters, your suffering has ended. I am here to save you, to liberate you from the darkness. Stand up!
Our Lady of Light 