There’s a scene in the Mel Gibson movie, We Were Soldiers, where Gibson’s character, Lt. Col. Hal Moore is leading his regiment in the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam in 1965. In this particular scene, the battle has gotten sporty, as Col. Moore puts it, and he and his men were surrounded by the enemy. Now, there were many causalities and wrongs on both sides in this conflict, war is just a bad thing period – there is no winner. I’ve talked with my wife’s Grandfather who was in Normandy in World War II, and the one thing he said was that in the thick of battle, the men have one goal – to keep themselves and their fellow soldiers, their brothers, alive. All political views about this war aside, I’m using this scene in this movie to purely illustrate a point.
So back to the scene. Moore is standing, looking around, surveying the situation – he sees they are essentially surrounded. What to do? He cares about his men. He cares about their families back home. The opposing troops are closing in. He surveys the situation again, and then he yells out the order to be transmitted to command – “Broken Arrow! Broken Arrow!” – a code phrase meaning, in this case, “a combat unit in danger of being overrun”. The result of this code is to call in all combat aircraft for support – for an all-out airstrike.
This was a last resort. A “Hail Mary” so to speak. The situation was out of their control, they were surrounded by the enemy, this was an order deep from his gut – telling him it was the only way to save he and his men from destruction.
Now – transport yourself to the Gospel reading today. Jesus tells many parables, but one in particular is the focus – the parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat. He even goes on to explain the parable in detail – God sows the good seed, the wheat – Christ’s followers. The field is the world we live in. Satan sows the weeds – those are the ones that are filled with sin, and live by the world – the enemy.
As we all see and know in the world today – there are a lot of weeds around us. We’re followers of Christ. Yes – we sin. And if we’re not careful, sin overcomes us and we become a weed ourselves. But as Christians, within us, we have that desire to be like Him, in spite of our faults, and we desire His grace, and we seek good though Him. But sometimes, the weeds encroach so much, they surround us, they choke out the light, and snuff out the air around us with all their weapons.
The weeds inch closer, and higher. Our lives, the circumstances we deal with, the evil we encounter, the challenging people that cross our path and some that persecute us, the wounds we have, the addictions and vices that enslave us, the anger we are attacked with, the sadness and tragedy and depression we face – all of these are weeds sown be the evil one. These are the weeds in our lives.
They can be suffocating, and we may not know where to turn. We finally realize we have no control. Did we ever really? The torment of these issues in our life gets too intense. We’re almost overcome – but we have our faith. We have our air support… God. We pray, but we don’t know the words, we can’t provide words – its too tough. We just don’t know what to say. It bubbles up in our heart, in our very soul. The Holy Spirit feels it. We don’t need to speak it, because as Paul tells us today in the second reading, we don’t know how to pray as we ought. but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.”
A code, you might say. A divine code.
We finally just yell out, Broken Arrow! Again… Broken Arrow! It’s a dart. A prayer dart as I’ve also heard it said. An prayer-strike with surgical precision. And it happens. I know because I’ve had it happen. In only a way that the Holy Spirit can understand. But you have to surrender at that moment, and have nothing left but complete trust in God, that he is the only way, the only One that can save you. At that time, we know that He is the only one who can save our families, our friends, those we care for, and save ourselves.
And it may not be the exact result you want or expect – but it is relief, and is always the perfect solution. You may not know it then, but those weeds are pulled out from around you, and are stopped from closing in.
Unfortunately, after time goes by, we as humans let the weeds encroach again.
How many times can we call in a broken arrow? I’ve had a few instances. I know you have too. It may not happen exactly how we want it to, and it usually does not happen in our timeframe. Believe me, I know. We don’t want to let it get to this point too many times, because you may end up getting caught up in the fire.
But I think there is another way, a subtler form of a spiritual, a sacramental Broken Arrow. And it’s really the underlying theme behind all the readings today.
Repentance.
Yes – Confession. Asking God to forgive our sins. Every time we go to confession, all the weeds around us, and intertwined within us are quickly pulled out from the root and from our midst. We can see light again. We can breathe. The enemy has been destroyed every time we confess those sins and say that Act of Contrition, and the priest, in persona Christi, absolves us of those sins.
This is the ultimate broken arrow – that which the enemy cannot withstand. It’s as simple as that. It’ll change our hearts. The Spirit knows this. He knows our hearts better than we do. If we let the grace of God surround us, and overcome us, we can never be overrun.
He is always there, always knowing what we need, waiting in the Heavens ready to swoop in. Call in a prayer-strike, and He will provide the exact support and the help that we need.
