Major point there. Rather than strategize a technique to capture a PsyOp, reel it into a net, and splay it on the beach to die, Dean Dwyer properly directs us to practice the revelatory power of God. Such is Jesus’ style—indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Be transformed by the Eucharist, and imitate Jesus who entered the lion’s den and masterfully controlled every consequence and outcome. Don’t invoke yourself. Take Jesus.
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Philippians 2:5-11
Psalm 22:26b-27, 28-30ab, 30e, 31-32
Luke 14:15-24
A “PsyOp” is defined as “a military operation usually aimed at influencing the enemy’s state of mind through noncombative means” (Merriam-Webster). PsyOp isn't a new psychological trick, but a thought-based approach that dates back to Genesis and is meant to ruin reality. Though posited as a military technique, PsyOp has ancient roots, coordinated by the devil himself, used to confuse and reframe the thinking of those who are innocent and ignorantly complicit.
It's a devious and deceitful, coordinated manipulation, more insidious than electrode-style brainwashing.
Jesus dealt with PsyOps regularly. It’s worth studying his reaction to and subsequent quashing of a PsyOp.
Harbinger’s Daily1 printed an article by Dean Dwyer back on January 27, 2024, titled, PsyOps: The Historical, Modern, And Spiritual Warfare Tactics Used To Manipulate The Mind, which succinctly described the intent of a PsyOp this way: “It was once said that information is power. That has proven to be very true, particularly in the hands of those who can skillfully wield that power to influence the thoughts, emotions, and actions of individuals and groups.”
He defined five strategies that seek out well-defined objectives such as:
1. Undermine the morale and ‘will to fight’ of an enemy;
2. Influence the population of another country [expand that to mean another organization, individual, or segment of the population] to support the objectives of those launching the PsyOps;
3. Discredit opposition groups or governments;
4. Shape public opinion in support of a particular cause or policy; and
5. Divert attention away from sensitive activities or operations.
Dwyer wrote, “The way we must counter [PsyOps] is to stay connected to the Word of God, speak to Him in prayer, and seek the leading of the Holy Spirit. The bad news for unbelievers is that the PsyOps used against them is about to get a whole lot worse. Although this will manifest itself in the physical world, it originates in the spiritual world.”
Major point there. Rather than strategize a technique to capture a PsyOp, reel it into a net, and splay it on the beach to die, Dwyer properly directs us to practice the revelatory power of God. I would add: Receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Such is Jesus’ request.
Remember when the Pharisees asked Jesus if they had to pay Caesar’s taxes to Caesar, hoping to trap him politically? Others questioned Jesus about the resurrection of the body. They wanted to funnel him into a single issue. Later, the trap shifted to which commandment was greatest. This is actually all one strategic PsyOp, pitting Jesus against the “frailties” of the faith of the Jews. Jesus reframed it all, securing the Jewish faith, its revelatory practices, and the ultimate rising of the Messiah from the Chosen People.
When he died and rose again, the PsyOp centered on his body being stolen by the disciples. We can blame the Pharisees, but the more probable source is Satan. The cycle of a PsyOp begins and relies upon collaboration with evil. Power, authority, and vice may be Satan’s recruitment tools; yet, refusing to practice collaborating with the revelatory power of God, we become dupes, morons, and chattel of the devil himself.
At the banquet dinner held by Pharisaical leaders, an unfortunate man is plopped in front of Jesus, suffering from an oozing illness. He is a stage show prop. The PsyOp plan is to position Jesus as a carnival magician. He’ll heal an extremely sick person, and the elite audience will hail Jesus as their celebrity, a puppet under the control of the wealthy and powerful. They assume Jesus won’t be able to resist his newfound popularity among the well-heeled, remade from a rabble-rouser among the indigent and unwashed into an upper-class hero. Their thinking expects Jesus to heal a man on the Sabbath, something he’s done before, except this time, they think they have leverage.
“In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?”
Jesus fractures the PsyOp in two steps. The healing is positioned against the very plan afoot: “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” He heals poor Mr. Dropsy, taking the wind out of that sail, first by letting the healed man leave before they can parade him as both a witness to breaking the Sabbath rule and entertainment for the elite. A side goal may have been to corrupt Jesus to do their bidding. That’s been derailed. The healed man is no longer their dupe. Second, Jesus shatters their leverage with a winning argument for healing on the Sabbath.
Few of those present likely recognized that their manipulation of the sick man, and their attempt to trap Jesus, were blatant evil calculations. That pattern holds across all of Jesus’ miracles, which cements Jesus’ unassailable comebacks. All PsyOp attempts ultimately fail under his presence.
The impact of Jesus’ response is certainly for that day, but it is also for a separate audience from his followers. This is for us. Jesus in the lion’s den masterfully controlled every consequence and outcome. He gave us the Cross, and his body and blood in the Eucharist.
Jesus response to Dwyer’s five strategies for PsyOps was to take the moral high ground, influence humankind for all time, discredit evil and its collaborators, invoke eternal truths, and focus all attention on the Father, leaving us with the protective, mentoring, & all powerful Holy Spirit. To seal the deal, Jesus is present in us, his Eucharistic carriers.
What Jesus does in this case, as in all of his public actions against a PsyOp, may seem like training for those going into the ministry, those who will lead the Church into the coming eons. That’s partly the message, but the training is different than we think. Jesus is God. We are not Jesus. We are his warriors, his transformed mystical body, because the PsyOps setting requires more than a single human against evil. The battle against Satanic PsyOps belongs to God and his angels and saints, all acting according to his will. Can’t we, too, be Jesus in these kinds of situations?
In truth, we must act in harmony with the angels and saints if and when we are called. As Dwyer correctly noted, we must “stay connected to the Word of God, speak to Him in prayer, and seek the leading of the Holy Spirit.”
This takes practice in relationship to God. We may practice whip-smart comebacks and parrying wordsmithing, but if we aren’t living in relationship to God, we're likely to end up cruel and mean-spirited. Wearing the armor of God is necessary. To watch for a PsyOp and react properly puts us in dangerous territory, where God uses us as he wills.
Oddly enough, the first reading for today applies the framework for seeing and responding to the manipulation of minds and souls:
Have among yourselves the same attitude
that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave …
Jesus didn’t just hook up to a puppet master in his Father, bouncing about like a thoughtless, powerless slave. He emptied his human nature so the Holy Spirit could fill him. This is an alignment, a cooperative partnership with God.
We can do this. We begin by surrendering, giving up our calculated plans for this life. Heck, that’s the hardest part! Because once we experience God’s love, we become God’s friend. God doesn't force a relationship on us without our permission. Do that, and God has an ally in us.
The PsyOps won’t stop, but they can run into a wall when they meet us. We must gather in God’s Church. It’s the only community with mystical power, infused with graces flowing through the saints and protected by the angels. God’s authority, order, and Word are written upon our hearts. Jesus’ Eucharist transforms our very DNA. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling secures our soul, no matter what happens to our temporary body.
PsyOps, like any temptation, must be rejected as a method and a means to spread the gospel and build the Kingdom. We mustn’t use them to manipulate low-information folks, fodder for Satan. We certainly shouldn’t join the devil’s ranks, either.
Pray. Align with God. Be his weaponry, but only use his ammunition. Live by virtue, and wield what he has given us—love.
Harbinger’s Daily, whose moniker identifies its purpose (World News Biblically Understood), “brings ministries and Christian writers from across the globe together to equip believers with a Biblically accurate understanding of world events and how they pertain to our times.”