2 Chronicles 11:5,11-12. "Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built a cities for defense in Judah ... He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. And he put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin." Rehoboam is fortifying cities in the land over which he still rules, anticipating that Jeroboam, the king of the northern tribes of Israel, may seek at some point to attack Judah.

Yesterday I wrote about how we often don't see attacks coming, especially when we allow ourselves to become spiritually lukewarm, as the land of Judah had in Jeremiah's time. Rehoboam is not lukewarm, so he knows to prepare Judah against possible attacks by fortifying strategic cities. Prior to fortifying these cities, Rehoboam had assembled his army to go fight Jeroboam and Israel directly, but God intervened and told him "You shall not go up or fight against your brother." (2 Chronicles 11:4). Thus we learn we are not to go on the offense against the enemy unless the Lord commands us to, as he did with Joan of Arc and others, but we are to prepare and fortify ourselves, because our enemy is always looking for a means of attack.

So we want to be like Rehoboam - awake and alert to the evil surrounding us, and preparing ourselves for the inevitable attacks. How do we do that? How do we prepare our souls against temptation and evil, especially in a nation, church, or even family that no longer seems to share our values, but against whom we should not take up arms? We start individually - cleaning out and strengthening our own souls, no matter what others are doing. Lent is the perfect time to begin this process. Sincere prayer, true fasting, and generous almsgiving are three things that will begin to strengthen our souls and hearts. Just as we can't build muscle without proper nutrition and strength training, so we can't build and strengthen our souls without opening ourselves up to God's voice, while at the same time building up resistance to our comforts and pleasures.

Sacrificing some of our comforts, giving without counting the cost, and opening ourselves to the Word will go a long way in this necessary process of preparation. Frequent participation in the sacraments will then fill our newly strengthened souls with everything necessary to fight any battles that come our way. We will have all the stores of food, oil, and wine, and all the shields and swords we need, within the fortified cities of our souls.