Exorcism & The Power of God

good evening everyone thank you for coming out tonight my goal will be to give all of you a glimpse into the world of the Ministry of exorcism and hopefully when you go away this evening you won't go away with a greater fascination with evil but with a greater fascination of the power of God and the role that he is called to play in our lives so I'll give you an insight hopefully some laughter along the way laughter it's always good I want to begin by just and having everybody imagine for a moment it's Sunday morning and there's a sound that begins to echo throughout the air and what sound do we hear it's the ringing of church bells the ringing of church bells on Sunday morning was meant to remind everyone that were called to wake up with the church and to be about the things of God but it does seem today that religion and belief in God are becoming less relevant in the lives of many people at a time when people are losing touch with their Christian heritage there is a great risk for falling for ideas that sound appealing but are actually misleading and can be extremely dangerous st. Paul and second Corinthians warns us that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light and he deceives many people as people are turning a deaf ear to the things of God there has been a resurgence in the practice of magic and things that Center on the occult the danger that we are facing is when a person no longer believes in God they will believe in just about everything what people need to realize is that our ultimate destiny and identity comes from a relationship with God and not apart from him in other words when God is the concrete part of our lives we have nothing to worry about when it comes to the reality of evil it's when we move away from God and make him less relevant in our lives that we can get ourselves into trouble many people today live with a distorted view of freedom that echos the fall of humanity mentioned in the book of Genesis the guiding principles of this distorted view of freedom are you may do whatever you wish no one has the power to command you and you are the god of yourself this viewpoint leaves no room for God and the result is a greater presence of evil both in the world and in the individual person st. John Paul the second said that freedom in the true sense of the word means to live in the manner that God created us to live in other words when we are obedient to God and follow his commands that is freedom in the true sense of the word when we begin to believe that freedom means that we can do whatever we want then we end up becoming slaves to our own passions and desires it is true that many people today might laugh at the reality of a personified evil some people would say that if evil really exists it's nothing more than humanity's inhumane treatment of one another in other words evil is something of our own making people who reject the reality of evil believe that perhaps it's a throwback to the time of Christ it's a throwback to the Middle Ages or a time when mental health issues were not well understood but the church has consistently taught throughout her history that evil is personified in someone that we call the devil Pope Paul back in 1972 clearly reiterated this fact in a series of general audiences that he gave gave in the summer of 1972 the devil's purpose is to try to destroy religion and in doing so dismantle civilization one of my favorite definitions of the church is that the treat the church is the guardian to the Tree of Life because it is the vehicle that Christ gave us to allow us to once again enter into the presence of God the Father you could say that the church lays out for us the path that all of us are called to walk that will lead us to eternal life the devil believes that if he can destroy the church then humanity will be trapped permanently in sin as are the devil and the other fallen angels it is a sad reality that as people have become bored with their relationship with God there has been an increase in fascination with the devil and with the likes of divination fortune-telling witchcraft black magic spells curses Ouija boards and so on the truth is that when people get caught up in these things they may not have a full grasp of what they're getting themselves into they may think that it's all just fun and games nothing more than entertainment but in reality they are opening themselves up to the forces of evil to combat the reality of evil the church uses the sacraments of reconciliation the anointing of the sick and if need be the ministry of exorcism exorcism may be likened to a nuclear weapon it's something that's in our arsenal but it's not our first means of defense father Gabriel a more the former chief extra Exorcist in Rome who died last year believed that the place to begin with anyone who believes that they're up against the forces of evil is for that person to make a good confession he believed this to be true because when we confess our sins we placed them in the hands of God and once we place them in the hands of God the devil can no longer use them against us it's always important when discussing the topic of exorcism to define what is meant by the term many people have some notion of what the word means based on their own research or a definition that has been shaped by modern culture how many people here have ever seen the movie The Exorcist The Exorcism of Emily Rose perhaps stories about paranormal activity ghost-hunting some people when they want to learn about exorcism we even go on the internet I always like to remind everyone that's just because you read something on the internet doesn't mean that it's true believe it or not people post things out there that are not factual whatsoever in my opinion much on the Internet that has to do with the ministry of exorcism is aimed at sensationalism it presents information in a manner to create a fascination with evil or with the devil as opposed to allowing people to draw closer to God the word exorcism comes from the Greek word extra cosmos and is that insistent request manifests it before God or directed against demons literally it means to bind with an oath at its very core exorcism is a prayer is a prayer that brings healing and peace to those affected and afflicted by the evil one allowing that person to be reconciled to God it is a ministry of compassion it is a ministry of charity it is a ministry that must be done well because it's not a game and it's not a hobby when God is being requested to expel a demon we called it a supplicating or minor exorcism prayers for deliverance would fall under this category when the devil or some evil spirit is being addressed we call that a major or an imperative exorcism Catholic believe holds that anyone may say a minor or supplicating prayer of exorcism because after all it is a prayer directed to God and we know that anyone can pray however an imperative exorcism as an official right of the Catholic Church is reserved to the priest who has been authorized to do this ministry by his local bishop every Bishop is an exorcist by virtue of his Episcopal ordination and at his discretion a bishop may bestow this charism on one or more as priests he may appoint any priest to perform an exorcism on an individual basis or he may appoint a priest on a stable basis to perform this ministry so I mentioned in the introduction I was appointed to be the Exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis back in 2005 and shortly after my appointment I was able to study in Rome for three months in the early part of 2006 where the priests that I mentored under allowed me to participate in 40 exorcisms that he performed during my time there and in doing so I was able to learn firsthand the church's ministry to those who were up against the forces of evil the official right it's a book that looks just like this so this is the official ritual of exorcism it's only in Latin right now just last week the United States Capitol the Catholic Conference of Bishops approved the English translation of this right so it is expected to not be on a store or shelf near you anytime soon so it is a book that only bishops may obtain a copy and if they have appointed an exorcist in their diocese then they present that book to him this book came out in 1999 it was tweaked again in 2004 in 2005 and it was the very last liturgical right to be updated after the Second Vatican Council the new right when it came out replaced the former right that had been in place since the Year 1614 so from 1614 to 1999 the right virtually remained unchanged one of the nuances in the write is that it includes minors prayers of exorcism the new Rite was meant to place in the hands that their every parish priest a tool that they could use to help those who were being afflicted by the evil one now the role the Exorcist is to investigate cases of alleged demonic activity and to make the determination if the official right of the church needs to be called into play even with this said it needs to be stated that the Exorcist should not be the first line of defense exorcist should only see those who truly need their help many people today who believe they need to see an exorcist I believe can have the majority of their problems resolved by going to see their parish priest the parish priest should be the first contact using discernment by listening to the person assessing where they are spiritually praying with that person offering them a blessing hearing their confession and if need be to contact the exorcist exorcism should always be seen in the wider scope of overall pastoral care and we all know that the best place to receive pastoral care is at ones local parish but again the Exorcist can weigh in and if need be use the special prayers of the church demonic activity is classified under two main categories it can be ordinary or extraordinary ordinary demonic activity has to do with temptation something that all of us can struggle with on a daily basis but the church does recognize four different types of extraordinary demonic activity and I'll tell you what they are and then I'll go back and comment briefly on them so for different types of extraordinary demonic activity number one would be demonic infestation number two demonic vexation number three demonic obsession and number four demonic possession demonic infestation has to do with the presence of evil in a location or associated with an object when it comes to infestation in a location usually people will say strange occurrences are happening in a house they will hear noises footsteps lights will go on and off things will move on the walls pictures will fall off an object might disappear in one location and appear in another demonic infestation the second type of extraordinary demonic activity is vexation this are these are physical attacks whereby one believes that they are being attacked by some demon that's causing them bodily harm these include cuts or bruises scrapes bites blows incisions of letters that appear on a person's body for a period of time and then disappear demonic obsession mental attacks a person's mind literally is being flooded with all kinds of evil thoughts in fact everything that happens in the person's life seems to be filtered through this presence of evil so vexation would be physical attacks obsession would be mental attacks and then the fourth type of extraordinary demonic activity is demonic possession whereby the devil or some evil spirit will take control of a person's body treating that body as if it were its own using a person's mouth in order to speak their feet in order to walk their hands in order to strike give a blow or perhaps to give obscene gestures now any priest should be able to address cases of infestation vexation and obsession because the truth is if a priest takes his vocation seriously then so will the devil I believe that there is a danger today there are fewer priests and there was a danger for priests to begin to see their priesthood as nothing more than an occupation and again when we reduce priesthood to an occupation then we kind of weaken the authority that a priest receives through the sacrament of holy orders so again if a priest takes his vocation seriously so will the devil a priest in praying with somebody who is dealing with demonic vexation for example can say to the person afflicted as a priest of Jesus Christ I hereby cast out from you any presence of evil that is harming you and if the priest says that with deep faith and conviction than any connection with evil is immediately broken but again if a priest is questioning his priesthood then he will not be effective in combating the forces of evil cases that deal with demonic possession are those that should be referred to the local bishop or to the priest that has been authorized to do this ministry and to investigate these situations the tradition of the church has maintained four different criteria in evaluating the validity of cases of demonic possession so in meeting with somebody these are the four things that I would be looking for the ability to speak and understand languages otherwise unknown to the individual having strength beyond the normal capacity of the individual superhuman strength number three elevated perception a person has knowledge about things that they shouldn't otherwise know and number four the one that perhaps is familiar to many of us and aversion to anything of a sacred nature such as holy water being shown a Bible being in a sacred place being shown a crucifix a relic and so on it's also possible to know that a demon is present when symptoms of the demonic are observed these include bodily contortions a change in a person's voice whereby oh it will become much deeper a change in physical appearance a person's eyes will roll back in their head so nothing more than the whites of the eyes are visible a person begins to foam at the mouth unpleasant odors a change in the temperature of the room whereby it will become much colder that's terrible laughter hissing and the resemblance of the movement of a snake and even levitation all of these can be an indication that there is a demonic presence but before proceeding with the Rite of exorcisms in the United States there is a seven step protocol that needs to be called into play The Exorcist in many ways is trained to be a skeptic I should be the last one to believe that someone is truly possessed the church wants to exhaust every other possible explanation for what is going on in the life of a person before labeling that person as possessed because if the church at labels someone else possessed and that person really needs mental help or needs to see their physician the church will be doing greater harm because the label of possession would prevent that person from getting the true help that they need so the first step of the protocol is for the person to have a psychiatric evaluation the church wants to turn to experts in the mental health field in having the person evaluated the church wants to know from these experts is there anything about this person's condition that is beyond your understanding or your training the second step of the protocol is for the person to have a physical examination by a medical doctor the church wants to rule out any medical cause again for what is happening in the life of the person the third step of the protocol is for me to meet with a person and to take a life history trying to determine where the entry point of evil may have originated the Vatican in its course on exorcism actually puts out an interview questionnaire so these are the questions that you would ask the person and I'll just pull a few out there are 16 on here the last one is probably the most important because it says do you truly want to be set free from the evil that is currently in your life so if a person truly wants to be set free then they will do all that is required throughout the process of an exorcism in order to attain that freedom one of the questions would be have you had any history with chemical addiction or abuse with drugs or alcohol have you had any history with the use of pornography through the media the internet magazines TV and so on what kind of music do you listen to have you had any relationships or contact with people who are associated with the occult or satanic practices to the best of your knowledge has anyone ever tried to place a curse upon you do you have an aversion to anything of a sacred nature so these are the questions that I would use in an interviewing the person would simply jot down notes that eventually would allow me to Rive at the moral certitude that I would need before using the official right of the church the fourth step of the protocol would be to try to normalize the spiritual life of the person it's not enough for a person simply to want the evil to be cast out the person also has to want to invite Christ in either to renew their relationship with Christ or to establish that relationship for the very first time there is a danger in doing an exorcism on anyone who doesn't really want to grow in faith in chapter 11 of Luke's Gospel the story is told of a demon that is cast out and then it goes and wanders through the arid wasteland and then it comes back and finds the house web clean and then it goes and finds seven other demons worse than itself and they come back and take up residence in the person the notion of being swept clean means the evil was gone but the void has not been filled with the presence of God so again casting out evil and inviting Christ in go hand in hand the fifth step of the protocol is for me to look for those four extraordinary signs of demonic possession again speaking languages otherwise unknown to the individual superhuman strength elevated perception aversion to anything of a sacred nature number six in the protocol because we live in the United States it's the land of litigation is to make sure that all diocesan and canonical norms are being followed so the exorcist has to follow the law of the church as it's laid out when it comes to an exorcism step seven in the protocol is for the case to be compiled together being sent to the local bishop who will then give permission for a major exorcism to be formed to be performed when I was appointed in o5 my bishop at the time told me that I did not need his permission that if I believed that an exorcism needed to be performed then I could go ahead and do it on my own discretion but to keep him informed when Archbishop Joseph Tobin came in entertaining appleís to be our archbishop now the Cardinal Archbishop of Newark he reappointed me in the role as Exorcist and he told me that I also had his blanket permission he gave me his cell phone number and did tell me if you're ever going to do an exorcism please call me and I'll pray for you while the prayer is taking place I always jokingly told him that he didn't agree to come and to participate but to pray but again prayer is something very powerful according to church teaching the devil cannot act on a person's intellect or on a person's will because these are spiritual faculties there can be no actual union between an evil spirit and a human soul the soul always remains free no matter what antics an evil spirit may put a person's body through it is a part that remains free that can ask for the help of the church some people would say if a person is possessed hop in the asks for help but again just because somebody is possessed doesn't mean that their manifesting evil all the time the connection with evil can be there but the manifestations may be quiet for some time and again a person can ask for help when those manifestations are not taking place the devil however can act on a person's memory and on a person's imagination these are corporeal faculties the devil can act on a person's body on a person's appetites and passions the goal of the devil is to present morally bad objects to a person's mind at an angle designed to make them appear as a certain good by objectifying evil the devil wishes to keep Humanity in a state of opposition to God the devil's cleverest ruse according to the famous remark by the 19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire and echoed by saint john paul ii and pope francis is to convince us that he does not exist and i think all of us know that there are many people today that do not believe that the devil exists and because of that lack of belief the devil was able to work kind of behind the scenes and very quietly in our society today it needs to be stated clearly that evil spirits cannot read our thoughts and our minds evil spirits do not know what we are thinking the only person who knows the human mind and our thoughts is God himself but the devil is able to influence our thoughts by waves of the imagination which make use of sensible images evil spirits can excite feelings in us such as lust anger or despair they can also deduce what we might be thinking by watching us closely and noting the effects they're producing in us because the devil can play on our imaginations it's always important to think about what images of evil that we're putting into our minds because the devil can take those images and amplify them in such a way so as to terrify us and to increase fear within us not every evil spirit has the power to suggest every passion just as much as there is a hierarchy of angels there is a hierarchy within the demonic world so some are more powerful than others they vary in strength they vary in boldness and they vary in malice they have their specialties and they look for an opportune time when we let our guard down in order to try to convince us to give in to the temptations of evil that they are presenting their power over us why their increase or decrease according to the amount of resistance that they're meeting in us resistance that we can build up by continually striving to live according to God's plan for us I believe that anyone who is experiencing any type of evil in their life should do the following number one go to Mass and to celebrate the sacraments of the Church especially Holy Communion having a support of a praying community is important God does not intend for any of us to walk alone there is a danger today even amongst young people who will say well I'm spiritual but I don't need to go to church when people say that they fail to recognize the important role that the community plays in our lives I like to point out that when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray he told them to pray our Father who art in heaven not my Father who art in heaven it is a compute a communal prayer so we should never negate the important role that other people play in our lives I always tell people that I like to watch Animal Planet shows anybody ever see those when the lion is stalking its prey there on the African plain there are two types of prey that the lion goes after it will go after the weak and the young and it will go after the strong if the strong decides to wander away from the safety of the herd first Peter chapter 5 verse 8 your opponent the devil prowls like a roaring lion seeking Him whom he may devour resist him solid in your faith so again if we are solid in our faith in our commitment to God if we recognize the importance of going to Mass receiving Communion going to confession we can make ourselves strong other things that we can do is spend time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament I had the opportunity before this talk tonight to see the beautiful chapel here on campus all of you should take advantage of that opportunity to spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament incorporate Marian devotions into your daily routine especially the recitation of the Rosary always remember that the Blessed Mother is a powerful ally when it comes to anyone who is up against the forces of evil use scripture for prayer and reflection include other devotions like the Divine Mercy prayers lid needs the prayers st. Michael prayers - patron saints use sacramentals like holy water blessed salt blessed objects and sacred images but always remember don't allow these sacramento's to become kind of like Lucky Charms within the Catholic Church these items should always point to something greater so the use of holy water for example should remind all of us of our baptism when we died to our cell then put on Christ and if we have truly put on Christ we know that we need not fear any attacks that come from the evil one above all the person is encouraged to remain focused on Jesus Christ not on the devil or on evil despite the evil ones attempt to distract and to discourage one of the things that I've learned in the ministry of exorcism is to never focus on the antics of the devil they're all parlor tricks meant to distract the Exorcist from his ministry because the devil would believe if I can get the priest to really focus on what he's doing then he will not be focused on the power of God that is at work in him so ultimately the best defense for any of us is for us to devote ourselves to the things of God and to think about the positive aspects of life you would be amazed when somebody comes to me and says father I'm being affected by evil and I say go to Mass go to Communion go to confession and they look at me and say no what do you really want me to do but we have to remember it's the most ordinary things that we can do that will keep the evil one a day I jokingly always tell some of my priest friends when somebody comes to me and says they're up against evil if I would say to them something far-fetched like what you need to do is to go out and get a dead cat and swing it around your head at midnight on the night of a full moon they would look at me and go where do I get the cat people are always wanting to do the extraordinary but you should go away tonight remembering that it once again it's the most ordinary aspects of our Catholic faith that will keep the evil one at bay genuine cases of demonic possession are extremely rare they do happen but not very frequently usually when somebody comes to me and says that they're possessed I have my doubts they self-diagnosed it's like they're coming to me with a prescription that they want me to fulfill to fill it out but again the exorcist wants to exhaust every other possible explanation most of the cases that I deal with are related to infestation vexation and obsession I like to remind people that are interested in like ghost hunting and those types of things that you know evil spirits don't have an address they don't live at a location like you and I do usually when there is an evil presence in a location it's the very things that people are doing in that location that are causing the demons to manifest so when ghost hunters go into a building they're actually causing the demons to manifest by what they're doing it's not like the demons are living there saying hey thanks for stopping by a few years ago I was on vacation with some members of my family I have eight brothers and sisters and we were down in Savannah Georgia we were walking one evening and we're noticing all the people loading up on the buses to go on the ghost tours at night I told some of my brothers I was going to get my holy water and get on the bus and go to those places and bless every one of them and cast out all the evil that was in there and put the people out of business but again if an indication Jeff how much people are fascinated by evil as opposed to being fascinated by God I also like to tell people that another good news to hear is that demonic possession is not contagious so a demon cannot jump out of one person and into another that would be giving evil more credit than it's due that makes for a great Hollywood movie but it's not reality for evil to be present in someone they had to either invite that evil in directly or indirectly so one has to open themselves up to the forces of evil for this to take place people can do this by cultivating a relationship with evil spirits this is done when people engage in activities that perhaps they believe are fun or entertaining but in reality can create a connection with evil spirits in the 12 years that I have done this ministry I have identified seven main ways that I believe that people open themselves up to evil there's many ways that it's done but these seem to be the dominant ones that I have seen so I want to share those with you and then after a few more remarks we'll have the opportunity for people to ask questions if you would like so and they're not in any particular order ties to the occult I do think that ties to the occult are probably the number one way that people get themselves into trouble the word occult comes from the Latin word occultists and it means hidden or secret it focuses on knowledge of the paranormal it's associated with things like palm reading mediums Ouija boards tarot cards psychics and witchcraft all of these practices are condemned because they are a violation of the very first commandment where God says I am the Lord your God you shall have no other gods besides me when people turn to these called practices they're actually turning to the forces of evil even in the book of Deuteronomy it says you must never practice black magic be a fortune-teller which cast spells ask ghosts or spirits for help or consult the dead Leviticus 19 31 do not defile yourselves by turning to medians or to those who consult the spirits of the dead what people need to realize is that people who claim to have the ability to interact with the dead or with evil spirits are really being manipulated by the evil one himself because we cannot control evil spirits they will always try to control us the second way that people open themselves up to evil is through mental manipulation or brainwashing usually this found with people who fall into cults whereby they abandon their family their friends the church and the cult becomes the main point of reference a third way that people open themselves up to evil is by being cursed the curse is an opposite of a blessing when something is blessed or someone is blessed they're commended to God when someone or something is cursed its commended to the devil or to some evil spirit curses are only effective if we are weak in our faith we cannot control what another person does we all have free will someone may choose to use their free will to be involved in witchcraft we can't control that but we can make sure that we're standing right in the eyes of God Psalm 91 we tells us to put on the armor of God and in doing so we need not fear the terror of the night or the arrow that flies by day so again if we are living out our faith we are protected and safeguarded from anyone who may choose to put a curse on us a fourth way that evil can enter a person's life is by being dedicated to a demon being dedicated to a demon I worked with somebody one time who shared with me that it was her mother who told her as a young child that when she was born that she had dedicated her to Satan because her mother did not want her attempted to abort her and because she was born and wasn't wanted her mother decided to dedicate her to Satan to get even with God for giving her a child that she did not want so for the first 12 years of her life she underwent all types of satanic rituals and abuse when she was 12 she ran away from home she ended up on the streets and then when she was 18 she finally turned to the church for help this young lady was one of the persons that I met when I was training in Rome the evil was cast out of her by the priest that I was mentoring with and this young lady went on to become a religious sister so she dedicated her life to Christ to this very day she ministers to street children in the city of Rome she knew what it was like to be out there on on her own without anyone and so now she strives with her own life to make a positive difference in the lives of those who are suffering the story is a great one because it reminds us that just because someone has had an experience of the demonic that they are never ever truly lost it's never too late for someone to reach out and to ask for the help of the church in returning to God or discovering him for the very first time a fifth way that one can open up a doorway to evil is through a life of habitual sin it does seem true today that many people are losing the sense of sin people no longer believe that there are there are moral absolutes that there are things that are wrong and sinful all the time people will try to justify their actions rather than simply taking ownership of them that's why the sacrament of reconciliation is so important going to confession is not meant to embarrass someone but is a way of allowing us to put the guilt behind us because I believe that guilt is one of the ways that the devil gets a foothold in our lives because we begin to doubt our own value and Worth as someone who has been created in the image and likeness of God so in going to confession a person can rediscover their true identity and put their sins behind them a sixth way that one can open up a doorway to evil is by inviting a demon in one of the major exorcisms that I have performed over the last 12 years was on a person who was praying outside of an abortion clinic and witnessed somebody going in whom she thought was possessed so out of a sense of misguided charity she ran up to the person looked her in the eyes and said what's ever in you I freely invite to come in to me and she said no sooner did the words come out of her mouth that she felt a presence come over her and then for the next 12 years of her life she demonstrated all types of demonic manifestations the eye is rolling back in her head foaming at the mouth kind of a distorted features one of the times I met her just for example where the devil tries to instill fear you see a person's jaw drop and move off to the side the notion is try to appear as hideous as possible in order to instill fear in the Exorcist and anyone else who may be available in working with this person there were seven demons that identify themselves the weakest demons were the first to go the last demon who told me in there in the rich that his name was Leviathan a demon mentioned in the book of Revelation when the demon manifested it said to me that it did not have to leave because it had been invited in and because it had been invited in it was now claiming the life of this person as it's very own but because the person had asks for help and wanted to break that con contract if you will in the ministry of exorcism the devil is commanded to return that which he is stolen namely someone who belongs to God I remember in this particular exorcism after working with the person for about a year we would meet about once every six weeks and I should point out again that exorcisms are always performed in a sacred space so we were meeting in a former convent Chapel in southern Indiana we were in there the demon had manifested because the prayers of the church are meant to force the demon to manifest because once the demon manifests then the fight against it will begin and I commanded the demon to obey me in all things although an unworthy minister of Christ I told the demon to say hail Mary full of grace and then to depart immediately the demon looked at me and laughed and goes grace of full and then began laughing uncontrollably and screaming about this time a bell rings four hundred school children are now pouring out onto the parking lot right outside the chapel window of where we are and so that the demon says to me if you stop praying I will stop screaming but if you keep praying I'm going to scream because people will hear the screams they're gonna come in here and see what you're doing and then you're gonna have to stop anyway so stop praying now and then begin screaming again and then I commanded the demon again using the right of the church to obey me and all things to say hail Mary full of grace remember the Blessed Mother is a powerful ally anyone facing evil and then to delete and to leave immediately and then there's a demon that had been speaking in his very deep demonic voice looked at me and in a child's voice wind hail Mary full of grace and then there was a shriek every manifestation of evil stopped quicker than you could snap your fingers and this woman who had all these signs of demonic possession simply set there kind of glowing and smiling with all the manifestations completely gone it was a hot day I think I was drenched in sweat hard pounding like crazy somebody asked me what did you do afterwards did you go pray did you celebrate Mass and some of you might know the story I went to Dairy Queen and had a chocolate shake it was a two-hour ride it was a two-hour ride back to my home parish I remember walking into Dairy Queen and the place was packed and I was standing there in line thinking if these people knew where I just came from I could be like Moses party in the crowd it's good to have a sense of humor in this ministry because when you deal with people on their fringes they can really kind of suck the life out of you in fact in the 12 years that I've done this ministry I have known four colleagues who have left the priesthood so much in dealing with this it just overcame them so it is very important to have a sense of humor it's also important I believe not to do the ministry full-time so I am also a full-time pastor in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis it's good family to celebrate daily Mass Mass on Sunday baptisms weddings and funerals normal things that priests do because again if a priest did this full-time it would probably get to him eventually the seventh and final way that I will mention that one can open up a doorway to evil is through broken relationships that are not dealt with in a healthy manner we all know that there's a lot of brokenness in society today but it does seem to matter how the brokenness is dealt with often times when there's brokenness within families what happens people give in to bitterness hatred resentment and all those ugly things the very things that the devil will feed upon but if we can deal with brokenness in a healthy way learning to forgive to bring about healing then we can keep evil at bay the best example of how broken relationships can bring upon the demonic is actually found within Sacred Scripture itself in Chapter five of Mark's Gospel there's the story of the garrisoned ammoniac Jesus was passing through garrison territory there is a man possessed by Legion living in the tombs shackles won't even hold him he's naked Jesus is walking by the demons began to speak we know who you are the Holy One of God have you come before the appointed time Jesus begins to rebuke the demons he orders them to come they beg to be sent into the swine the demons are cast into the swine they race over the hillside and they drown in the lake most people usually stop reading the story after that but something very significant happens the man who's now free of Legion wants to follow Jesus but Jesus says to him no now how often does Jesus tell somebody not to follow him so it should be ringing out loud and clear that something very significant is taking place Jesus says to him no go home to your family here's the man who was living amongst the dead the Jesus now wants to put back amongst the living and in the world of exorcism it is believed that the broken family relationships that were not dealt with in a healthy manner eventually brought upon the presence of the demonic so in working with somebody if I believe that there has been an entry point and come to that moral certitude then that's where the ritual of exorcism will come into play demons have power they can only be defeated by power the power that defeats them is the power of God and the Rite of exorcism is a means for calling upon God himself again if I'm going to do an exorcism I prepare myself I celebrate Mass and go to confession spend time in prayer fasting I determine the location of where the exorcism will take place always a sacred space the devil does not get to choose where he will be defeated the church herself will make that determination it will be the person that's possessed family members will be present and anyone else that I will invite to be there as a prayer warrior no one is there out of curiosity there is no such thing exorcism tourism so nobody is there simply out of curiosity the church does not allow exorcisms to be filmed or any of that to maintain the secret identity of the person so I determine it it begins by blessing the person with holy water a reminder of our baptism into Christ the litany of the Saints calling upon the saints and our Blessed Mother to come and to be a part of this prayer of the church there is the recitation of Sacred Scripture especially the accounts of Jesus casting out demons the demons are reminded in those scripture passages that they have been defeated before they will be defeated again so they should not resist the power and the authority of Christ after the recitation of Sacred Scripture there can be either renewal of baptismal promises the laying on of hands of the person calling upon the Holy Spirit the installation prayers so breathing upon the person we know that when Jesus breathed on his disciples he gave them the Holy Spirit so in breathing on the person who's possessed is calling upon the Holy Spirit to come because wherever the Holy Spirit is truly present an evil spirit cannot remain and then there is a supplicating exorcism prayer that is said so I will ask God to bring relief into the life of the person who is suffering a sample prayer would be O God protector of those who hope and you take up buckler and shield and arise to help your servant release him or her from the snares of the enemy and with your power fight against those who fight against him or her through Christ our Lord amen and then I would go into a major exorcism prayer whereby the demon is being commanded I adjure you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out part of the ritual can call for the priests to order the demon to name it because when a demon names itself it shows weakness because when you know the name of somebody you have a certain power over them so when a demon names itself it's demonstrating that it's submitting to the power and the authority of Christ the ritual can go on as long as it takes my experiences I usually will meet with somebody about 30 minutes and then if need be to repeat the prayers again why do prayers need to be repeated because it does seem to be true that the demonic makes a greater claim on someone who has heard the good news of Jesus Christ but has now turned their back on their faith so they knew the truth that chose to walk away in the pagan world if somebody has possessed they've never been baptized never heard the good news of Christ when they hear it for the first time it's my experience that the exorcisms are immediate and effective had that experience when I was able to travel to South Africa earlier this year at the request of the South African Bishops Conference but down there in encountering and working with people who did not know Christ who were possessed it only took one exorcism for those people to be delivered and set free after the prayer of major exorcism once the demon is cast out then there is a prayer of thanksgiving giving glory to God for what he has done because ultimately God is the one who will bring freedom in the life of the person who is suffering

Channel: Seton Hall University

Views: 1,025,009

Rating: 4.752872 out of 5

Keywords: Jesus, Christ, Catholic, Christian, Pope, Rome, Devil, Demon, Exorcism, Evil

Id: 5AvSlIEHiyw

Length: 55min 11sec (3311 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 14 2017