Father Vincent Lampert | A talk on the Ministry of Exorcism

[Music] [Music] [Music] good evening everyone [Music] anyone creeped out by the topic do I look like an exorcist so my goal this evening is to give you an insight into the Ministry of exorcism and what the Church teaches about the topic hopefully we're going to have fun here this evening and when you go away you're not going to be afraid of anything you're going to be even more committed to your face and then have a deeper insight as exactly to what the Church teaches on the topic so what I want to do this evening is I will give a presentation then after my presentation you have questions I'm happy to entertain those questions in fact I like questions because it lets me know exactly what it is that you would like to know so imagine if you will it's Sunday morning in every major city in small town across the United States and there's a sound that begins to ring throughout the air and what sound do we hear the ringing of church bells the ringing of church bells was meant to remind us of recall to wake up with God and to be about the things of God it's a sad reality that far too many people today however seem to be spiritually asleep many people who have been baptized have abandoned their faith and have lost the sense of the sacred in their lives recent studies even suggest that the majority of people between the ages of 18 and 35 now no longer practice their faith what is alarming is that the majority of these people have grown up in traditional Christian homes some say that their spiritual but they no longer need to go to church at a time when people are losing touch with their Christian heritage there's a great risk for falling for ideas that sound appealing that can actually be misleading and extremely dangerous st. Paul in second Corinthians warns us that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light and he deceives many people we must realize that the presence of the devil is sharpened as humanity and society our distancing ourselves from God and as the gap is growing between ourselves and God there has been a resurgence in the practice of magic and things that Centre on the occult these things are viewed as attractive whereas belief in God is viewed as unattractive the danger that we're facing is that when a person no longer believes in God they will believe in just about anything and as a result they're opening themselves up to the forces of evil what people need to realize is that our ultimate identity comes from a relationship with God and not apart from him let's all remember that faith in God will lead us in one direction and the lack of faith in God will lead us in another yet in spite of the growing trend for people to move away from God the good news is God never moves away from us just consider for a moment these following accounts when Adam had sinned God calls out Adam where are you in this line we learn of a God who is always looking for us when we are lost and in the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel in Genesis 33 we discover a God who is always willing to fight for us so I was appointed to be the Exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis back in 2005 at that time I became one of 12 officially appointed Exorcist in the United States today that number has grown to about 125 it was shortly after my appointment that in February of 2006 while on sabbatical in Rome I was able to participate in 40 exorcisms that a Franciscan priest had invited me to apprentice under him so that I could learn firsthand the church's ministry to those who were up against the forces of evil and her receiving the help of the church I've also attended the Vatican course on exorcism and I'm a member of the International Association of Exorcist it's a group of 750 priests and their auxiliaries from throughout the world who gather in Rome every other year as an opportunity to come together for a fraternity and also continuing formation and ongoing education I currently receive about 1800 emails and letters from people all over the country in even other parts of the world from those who are seeking help now what I hope to impart in my presentation this evening is not to create a fascination with the practice of exorcism what is needed especially for young people today is the renewed fascination with God and to see his presence around us as opposed to focusing on the reality of evil it's once again I believe a time for people of faith everywhere to focus on the positive aspects of our relationship with God as the Apostle James has said greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world so in the ministry of exorcism my focus is always on what God is doing not on the tricks of the devil many people today live with a distorted view of freedom that echoes the fall of humanity as mentioned in the book of Genesis this misguided notion of freedom has three main principles you may do whatever you wish no one has the right to command and you are the god of yourself you may do whatever you wish no one has the right to command you and you are the god of yourself anyone here ever had a conversation with someone about your belief in God and that person say to you who are you to tell me what to do that reflects that notion that people have put God outside of their lives so this view point note leaves no room for God and the result is a greater presence of evil both in the world and in the lives of individuals so why would people turn their backs on belief in God and the reason is God is seen as a threat to humans because he sets limits on our understanding of what it means to be free to be free means to live in the manner that God created us to live so from the Christian perspective to truly be free means to be obedient to God obedience and freedom go hand in hand so when we live in the manner that God created us to live that is freedom in the true sense of the word when we get a distorted view of freedom whereby we believe that it means that we can do whatever we want to do then we end up becoming slaves to our own passions and desires when the existence of God is denied Pope Benedict said freedom is not enhanced but it is deprived of its basis and becomes distorted so one cannot define freedom apart from God now 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 anybody here ever seen the movie The Exorcist it was on today someone said The Exorcism of Emily Rose the movie the right have you ever watched movies on Paranormal Activity for ghosts honey anybody ever used the Internet always likes reminding people to just because she reads something on the internet doesn't mean it's true can you believe that people actually put lies on the Internet and when it comes to the topic of exorcism much that you'll find on the Internet has to do with focusing on the devil rather than ungodly so again what does the word mean it comes from the Greek word expertise Mo's it's a term that signifies an insistent request manifested before God or directed against demons to exorcise literally means to bind with an oath at it's very core an exorcism is a prayer it's a prayer that brings healing and relief in the life of those afflicted by the evil one allowing those people to be reconciled to God it's a ministry of compassion it's a ministry of charity it's a ministry that must be done well because it's not a hobby and it's not a game when God is being requested to expel a demon we call that a minor or supplicating exorcism prayers for deliverance would fall under this category when the demon or evil spirits are being addressed it's called an imperative or a major exorcism Catholic believe holds that anyone may say a minor supplicating exorcism prayer after all it's a prayer directed to God and we know that anyone can pray for someone else however an imperative exorcism as an official right of the Catholic Church is reserved to the priest who's been authorized to do this ministry by his bishop now the Catholic Church does not have a monopoly on the practice of exorcism because Jesus Christ is the main actor Jesus is not a bystander during an exorcism again he's the main actor the priest will be an instrument that God will use to help someone who is afflicted by evil now every Catholic bishop is the Exorcist in their diocese by virtue of their Episcopal ordination and then at his discretion a dish of may appoint any priest to perform an exorcism so he could call a father Fernando and say I have someone for you I want you to see or the bishop may appoint an exorcist on a stable basis meaning they'll be a priest in his diocese who's appointed to investigate all alleged cases of demonic activity always tell people that I did not volunteer for the job I jokingly say that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time my bishop knew that I was going on sabbatical in 2006 The Exorcist of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis had passed away in July of 2005 ironically he was the parish priest where I attended grade school never one day dreamed that I would be inheriting one of his jobs so I was attending a meeting with the archbishop and when I walked into the room he I'm appointing you to be the Exorcist now at this time most of the priests were trying to avoid the archbishop stay under the radar the Archdiocese of Indianapolis historically has always had an officially appointed Exorcist so we figured the bishop was looking for a replacement so most of us were walking around like this even when the bishop looked at me and said I'm appointing you to do this I didn't look around to see if someone else had walked into the room behind me he told me he was appointing me because he wanted a priest who believed in the reality of evil but not someone who would be too quick to believe that everyone who came to me and told me they were up against evil that that was actually the case so he wanted a priest who would have a good balance in this ministry now the role the Exorcist is to investigate a 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 an exorcist should only see the people who truly need to see him he should not be the first line of defense if you get sick what's the first thing that you do if you have a sore throat do you call an oncologist and say I think I have cancer no you go see your family doctor who then will work with you and if need be your family doctor would refer you to someone maybe more specialized in a particular area so the parish priest should always be the first line of defense after all the parish priest needs to be connected with the individual because there's no way that I could take on everyone who comes to see me on a regular basis again 1,800 people a year contacting me there's no way that I could offer them ongoing pastoral care but that is certainly something that can be provided at the person's parish more than half of the people by the way that I see or non-catholic they come from other Christian faith traditions even other world religions or from no faith background whatsoever but again because this is a Ministry of charity the church will work with anyone who turns to her for help remember I said it's a Ministry of charity we tell you a job to wake you up now so there is no charge for an exorcism there's no charge but Exorcist there is a joke that we have with one another the danger is if you don't pay your Exorcist you might get repossessed remember that's a joke there is no cost but you have to admit that's pretty funny right so demonic activity is classified under two main categories demonic activity can be extraordinary where it can be ordinary ordinary activity of the devil has to do with temptation something that all of us struggle with on a daily basis but the church does recognize four different types of extraordinary demonic activity number one is demonic infestation the presence of evil in the location associated with an object or even in an animal so when people talk about a haunted house that's infestation there's a presence of evil in the location the second type is demonic vexation these are physical attacks the action by the devil and demons aimed at harassing humans physically people might get bites or bruises on their body there can be incisions of letters that appear on the person's body for a period of time and then they subside so vexation physical attacks then there is the third type demonic obsession mental attacks person has persistent thoughts that evil that fill their minds they might be fixated on whether or not they've blaspheme against the Holy Spirit the only sin that Jesus says is not forgiven people might see the number 666 and kind of freak out over that so the devil kind of gets into your head and every thought that you have is filtered through the presence of evil and then the fourth type would be demonic possession we're by the devil or some other evil spirit will take control the person's body treating that body as if it were its own using the person's mouth to speak their hands to give gestures their feet and legs to walk so demonic possession it's always important when a demon manifest to make the distinction between the person as an individual and the demon who is now using that person's body as if it were its own so why would the devil want to possess a human body we get old we have to wear glasses our hair falls out so what's so great about possessing the human body and the answer is at the very core of our Christian faith what's the greatest thing that God ever did for us the Incarnation God took on human form in the person of Jesus Christ and the devil in his own twisted sense believes that he takes on human form when he possesses a human body again the devil wants to be like God in all ways so he tries to take on human form through demonic possession now any priest should be able to deal with cases of infestation vexation and obsession by praying in the location or praying with the individual cases of demonic possession should always be referred to the bishop or to the priest authorized to perform this ministry by his bishop I do want to say something about demonic oppression demonic oppression people are tormented by evil the demonic oppression is actually viewed as a gift from God God allows someone to be tormented by the devil as an opportunity for that person to show their fidelity to God and we have some examples JoVE out of the Old Testament if you know the story of Job God permitted the devil to have his way with Joe he could do everything but take his life Joe loses everything he's covered in sores he puts on sackcloth he sits in ashes and his friends say to him curse God and die and how does Jobe respond he beats his breast and says the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord he teaches us this important lesson when things be good we glorify God when things be bad we glorify God because our personal circumstances should mean nothing when it comes to God's rightful place in our lives we can think of st. Paul who talks about the thorn in his flesh the messenger from Satan sent to torment him to keep him from becoming proud we can think of the great saints of the church Saint John Vianney who believed that the devil would harass him every night trying to prevent him from getting sleep so that he would not spend 14 hours hearing confessions Padre Pio now none of us would say the Padre Pio was possessed but because of his personal sanctity he talks about in his biography how the devil would come to him and torment him every night Padre Pio used to call the devil old Bluebeard in one of his writings he said he was sleeping and he heard all this rumbling in his room and he said he rolled over and there was the devil and he says to the devil oh it's only you old Bluebeard I thought it was somebody important and then he rolled over and went back to sleep so there are examples of people who experience demonic oppression but again that is a gift from God an opportunity for that individual to show their fidelity to God and the call to live out holiness and virtue now the tradition of the church has maintained four criteria in evaluating the validity of cases of demonic possession so if I meet with someone for the first time there are four things that I look for does this person have the ability to speak and understand languages that they shouldn't otherwise understand are they exhibiting superhuman strength beyond the normal capacity of the individual do they have elevated perception knowledge about things that they shouldn't otherwise know in number four do they have an aversion to the sacred such as reacting to being blessed with holy water being shown a Bible having a relic placed on them being shown a crucifix so again a rejection of anything of a sacred nature it's also possible to know that an evil spirit is present by observing signs of the demonic these include things like bodily contortions the change in the person's voice whereby it will become much deeper meant to instill fear you ever walk by a dog on a chain here's the dog loin art bark-bark bark-bark-bark no it's really deep and growling and what's your heart doing it's racing pretty fast isn't it so the devil will use a deeper voice as a way to instill fear there can be a change in physical appearance such as foaming at the mouth eyes Road in the back of the head there can be unpleasant odors and these are ones that are really putrid you ever seen a dead animal on the roadway by the way the raccoon they didn't make it across the road didn't make it to the Geico commercial I guess it's 90 degrees outside it's been on the road for about five days how does that smell terrible multiply that by about 10 and getting close to what the stench smells like when there is a presence of evil there can be a change in the temperature of the room whereby it will become much colder there can be uncontrollable laughter there can be hissing and the resemblance of the movement of a snake there can even be levitation so all of these things all of these manifestations again are meant to instill fear because if people give in to fear who are they not focused on God so the devil wants us to basically look at what he's doing as opposed to what God is doing through the special prayer of the church now all of these can be indications of demonic presence but before proceeding with the Rite of exorcism there is a protocol that's in place here in the United States exorcism Exorcist are trained to be skeptics I should be the last person in the room to believe that someone is possessed I need to exhaust every other possible explanation for what is going on in the life of the individual before labeling this person as dealing with the demonic I've always believed that if the church declares one to be possessed and that's not the true case then the church has done greater harm because once you give somebody the label of being possessed I can guarantee you they will not go see their doctor and they will not see a mental health professional so the number one step in the protocol is for the person to have some type of a psychological evaluation step two would be a physical examination by a medical doctor or some other specialist so the church is asking the medical doctor the psychiatrist or the psychologist is there something about this person's condition that you can't explain so the church wants experts to weigh in on a particular case it's important to note the church is not asking these experts do you think this person's possessed only the church herself will make that determination but the church wants to gather all kinds of information to get to a right diagnosis so these experts are called to weigh in their opinion step 3 of the protocol is for me to sit down with a person and to give to a life history of them identifying where the aunt repointed evil may have originated if someone is dealing with the demonic there's always some entry point the Vatican has put out a questionnaire that the Exorcist can use to try to determine what that entry point might be some of the questions on the questionnaire have you ever been diagnosed with a mental health condition have you been prescribed medication are you taking your medication if you're not taking your medication were you directed to stop by your medical doctor or the psychiatrist what type of music do you listen to do you have any addictive behavior alcohol drugs pornography who do you hang out with have you ever practiced things that have to deal with the occult have you involved involved in any satanic rituals or practices what kind of people do you hang around so again the church wants to try to determine where the entry point may have come from step number four is to help normalize the person's spiritual so oftentimes the people that turn to the church have been away from the church for some time so what's important to reintegrate them back into the life of the church stab number five would be to look for those four extraordinary signs of demonic possession that come from the write itself again speaking languages otherwise unknown superhuman strength elevated perception and an aversion to anything of a sacred nature stab number six to make sure that I'm in compliance with all diocese in legal and canonical processes we live in a very litigious society so the church does want to make sure that the process was followed according to Church law and then number seven compiled everything together presented to the bishop who then will make the determination whether or not the right should be performed most exorcist that have been appointed on a stable basis have this is true in my case the bishop has said if you come to moral certitude believing the right needs to be performed then go ahead and do it you don't need my permission Cardinal Tobin is just north of here he was the Archbishop of Indianapolis for four years so he was in Indy before coming to Newark he always told me if you decide to do an exorcism here's my cell phone number you can call me and tell me I'm gonna pray for you and I always said to him well Archbishop you didn't tell me you were going to join me in the prayer and he would laugh and goes I'll be praying for you at a distance so I was appointed by Archbishop Daniel B Klein he was a Benedictine monk the Archbishop of Indianapolis then I was reappointed under Cardinal Tobin and then reappointed under my current bishop Archbishop Charles Thompson so again the bishop is the Exorcist and he has the one who has the governing authority over this particular prayer of the church so the devil's goal is to present morally bad objects at a person's mind at an angle designed to make them appear to be a certain good so the devil wants us to believe the sins are something good he did that with Adam and Eve did God really tell you not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so there is the lie he presents a lie as a truth to try to get us to move off the path of god so by objectifying evil he wants to keep Humanity in a constant state of opposition to God the devil's cleverest ruse according to the famous remark by the 19th century French philosopher and poet Charles Pierre Bal de l'air has echoed by Pope Benedict and Pope Francis is to convince us that he does not exist how many people today don't believe in the devil the devil prefers it that way because if we don't believe in him that he can kind of work his his waves in our lives unbeknownst to us therefore delivering people from evil spirits along with forgiving sins and healing the sick he is an essential part of the gospel when we no longer accept the reality of evil we no longer acknowledge the need for a savior jesus christ is so much more than some excellent teacher of values among others who have come to through human history we have to remember that Jesus is the Son of God and we need to live out our relationship with him so the scriptural worldview is that there has been a fall and that the human race is broken and wounded Lucifer was the most brilliant and most beautiful of all created beings in heaven prior to his rebellion Lucifer is described in the following terms in the book of the prophet Ezekiel if it's a reference to the king of tyre but it's also viewed by the Fathers of the Church as referring to Lucifer Ezekiel 28 verses 12 through 17 it states you had the seal of perfection full of wisdom and full of beauty you were the anointed cherub who covers and I placed you there you were on the holy mountain of God he walked in the midst of the stones before you were created you were blameless in your ways until unrighteousness was found in you your heart was lifted up because of your beauty you corrupted true wisdom by reason of your splendor so Lucifer like all angels was created for the purpose of glorifying God however instead of serving God and praising God forever Lucifer desire to rule over heaven and over all creation in the place of God he wanted supreme authority in Chapter 14 of the book of the prophet Isaiah verses 12 13 and 14 this is what it says of Lucifer I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit upon the Mount of the congregation I will ascend the heights of the clouds I will be like the Most High the keyword in all of these phrases is the word I for Lucifer the focus was always on himself which is why we say his sin was the sin of pride the word devil comes from the Greek word Diablos which means adversary slander opposer the word Satan comes from the hebrew and means accuser another name used for the devil as we stated is Lucifer so sometime between the dawn of creation and the intrusion of Satan into the Garden of Eden Lucifer along with one third of the entire angelic choir fell from grace scriptures sometimes refers to angels as stars Isaiah 14:12 this is why prior to his fall Satan is called the star of the morning into this description John adds in the book of Revelation his tail swept one-third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth in the same chapter of the book of Revelation we read of the defeat of Satan there it states in verses 7 8 & 9 Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and the dragon fought in his angels and prevailed not neither was their place found any more in heaven and the Great Dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceives the whole world he was cast out into the earth Satan will finally be defeated we are taught in chapter 20 of the book of Revelation in verse 10 it says I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand and he laid hold on the dragon the old serpent which is the devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nation's No More so until this event occurs the Bible presents us with very specific instructions on how to gain victory over the devil Ephesians 4:27 do not give the devil a foothold first Peter 5:8 be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking Him whom he may devour in the book of James 4:7 resist the devil and he will flee from you because evil is something powerful and beyond our ability to overcome on our own we need a Savior to rescue us one of the main reasons that Jesus became human was to free all of us from demonic influence we read in the first letter of John chapter 3 verse 8 the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work in the Acts of the Apostles we are told God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power in how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him now genuine cases of demonic possession are rare they are real they do happen but perhaps only one out of every 5,000 cases is a case of demonic possession most of the cases that I deal with our infestation vexation and obsession now there is good news demonic possession is not contagious we don't have to wear a mask we don't have to use hand sanitizer people always say to me well father aren't you worried if you do an exorcism the devil is going to jump out of that person and into you or someone else that makes a great Hollywood movie but is giving more power to the devil than he really has again if we're not giving the devil a foothold if we're living out our faith we have nothing to worry about it's when we don't live out our commitment to God did we get ourselves into trouble anyone ever watched those Animal Planet shows you see the Lions stalking in the tall grass and it's looking at its prey what type of prey is a lion looking at the young or the weak or the one who moves from the safety of the herd if one moves from the safety of their herd and they're all by themselves they become more vulnerable how many people again today say I don't need the church I can pray on my own but again there is safety in numbers the word church means community Jesus teaches us the important role that other people play in our lives when it comes to living out our relationship with God when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray he gave them the Lord's Prayer the Our Father and again what's the key word our Father who art in heaven it doesn't begin my Father who art in heaven it's a communal prayer so again community is extremely important but what's the danger today isolation you know flying here today from Indiana we see this everywhere where everybody is doing walking through airports everybody is fixated on their phone they're just living in their own little isolated world and if you try to talk to them what responds to you again yeah like you've just bothered me so people are growing up today in isolation and they no longer value the communal experience I think that's one of the reasons why we see the decline in people who attend church or who even say they believe in God so how do people create a connection with the demonic you know some people do it directly because they do things they know that they shouldn't otherwise do other people create a connection with the demonic because they're doing something that they believe is fun or entertaining but they don't fully realize the forces that they're dealing with so the last thing I want to share with you before taking your questions is to share with you eight ways that I have seen in my 15 years as an exorcist how people open up an entry point to the demonic in their lives the waves are countless but again these are the eight dominant ways that I have seen number one ties to the occult so the word occult comes from the Latin word occultists and it means hidden or secret it focuses on knowledge of the paranormal it's basic root is that people want a glimpse into the future who's the only one that knows the future by the way God the devil does not know the future we should not give him credit for that the devil is pretty smart he has a high intellect he can watch us observe us he can learn human behavior he might guess how we might act or how we might respond but again that's an educated guess he doesn't know concretely so the occult is associated with things such as palm reading mediums playing with the Ouija board tarot cards going to see a psychic using a pendulum eastern practices of yoga Reiki using crystals magic horoscopes witchcraft I don't even give the example of knocking on wood anybody ever done that before I don't think you're possessed by the way but I give that as an example because often times things to deal with the occult get so subtly and introduced into our lives that we don't even realize it where does the practice of knocking on wood come from it's a druid practice it's to believe that spirits live in the trees and so when you knock on wood you're trying to gain the attention of that spirit so that it will come to your aid and grant your wish she's never knocking on wood again there's an insurance company that has that that address stop knocking on wood calm every time I see the commercial I think they got it right they got it right if you've ever knocked on wood I don't think you're possessed but again I use that as an example have how occult practices can kind of creep into our lives and we don't even realize it so all of these practices are a violation of the first commandment and what's the first commandment God says I am the Lord your God you shall have no strange gods in the book of Deuteronomy there in the Old Testament chapter 18 verses 10 through 12 it says you must never practice black magic be a fortune-teller be a witch be a sorcerer you must never cast spells as ghosts or spirits for help or consult the dead whoever does these things is disgusting to the Lord Leviticus 19 31 do not defile yourselves by turning to medians or to those who consult the spirits of the Dead people need to realize the devil cannot be used by persons for their own data the devil will always use us people they claim to be a psychic or a median the church would say they do not have the power they claim to have because it's outside of human nature either they know it's the forces of evil working through them and they are compliant with it or they've been duped by the powers of evil into thinking that the power rests with them and oftentimes people that are psychics or mediums will give their clients a false sense of hope you walk into their office and what do you see a crucifix on the wall there's a statue of the Blessed Mother a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and you think to yourself well this can't be bad and oftentimes when people go you hear something and it's like well how did they know that so you go out of a sense of curiosity and then perhaps you begin to go over and over again and you have a reliance on that practice but the connection that one is making is with the forces of evil I can't tell you how many people that I have dealt with over the years who went to a psychic or a median on a regular basis and at first everything seemed so great but then eventually their lives begin to unravel because when you're dealing with the devil ultimately the time will come when you have to pay the price and what the devil wants to do is is to destroy our lives so occult practices number two I would call the entertainment industry so movies TV shows literature games computer and IT gadgets children today are growing up in front of a screen that is leaving them again in isolation in not in community I talked about literature we need to realize that certain types of literature are cata chemical in nature when it comes to dealing with magic what's the number-one type of literature for the series of books that people think of Harry Potter so those books are categorical in nature so what are they teaching our young people they promote being a witch or a wizard as a position of power evil is not presented as something bad it's presented as something good the diabolic is presented as something good as well curses spells alchemy necromancy conversing with the dead are presented as things which are good so again what's interesting is especially in our public school system you can find Harry Potter books that what book will you not find the Bible so these things are akattak ethically in nature so if you think about it children today pick up certain types of literature when's the last time they picked up a Bible or the Catechism of the Catholic Church probably never so again what's in their hand is what they're going to believe which is why again it's important for us to know our faith can you stop children from reading these books no they've already read them but parents do have the opportunity to help children filter whether reading in certain types of literature through our Christian faith where parents could sit down and talk to their children and say these things are inconsistent with what Jesus came to teach us so if children are watching the movies and reading the books then parents I believe should take the opportunity to talk to their children about why those things are inconsistent with our Christian faith a third entry point is a curse being cursed a curse is only effective if you're weak in your faith you cannot prevent somebody from wishing you ill will you can't control what another person does but you can make sure that you're standing right in the eyes of God if you're putting on the armor of Christ you know Psalm 91 need not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day again if we remember that we're putting on the armor of Christ we don't have anything to worry about somebody can send a curse our way but it will not be effective I work with a couple in northern Indiana they own their own business they had an employee that was a bad employee they terminated the employee who then told them that she was a witch and she wasn't happy that she had lost her job so she went through the business and put satanic symbols everywhere pentagrams and whatnot under tables under chairs in files behind pictures there were animals that were sacrificed animal parts were burned in front of the front door of the building behind the back door of the building so she came in and did satanic practices as a way to put a curse on them for terminating her employment this particular couple had not really been faithful and going to church and I said to them certainly I can come and I can bless she'll come back and curse I blush she curses I bless she curses I said when does it stop it stops when you no longer believe that she has the power to impact you anyway because your faith in God is much stronger so we should always remember that the power of God is greater than the power of evil the devil and God are not on the same playing field the devil is still a creature and not equal to the Creator a fourth entry point is being dedicated to it seems strange to hear that so the church teaches that anyone under the age of reason cannot bring evil upon themselves God will protect and safeguard them what's the age of reason 7 that's why that's the age in the Catholic Church a child will make their first reconciliation and First Holy Communion the church says by the time a child is 7 they know the difference between right in Rome so someone is dealing with the demonic under the age of reason someone else bears the responsibility for bringing that about someone who has some authority over that child when I was in Rome one of the exorcisms that I participated in was a young lady who shared the story with me that her mother did not want her so her mother tried to abort her the abortion was not successful she was born her mother blamed God for giving her a child she did not want said she would get even with God by dedicating her daughter to Satan so she said for the first 12 years of her life she underwent all kinds of satanic rituals and abuses when she was 12 she ran away from home she ended up on the streets of Rome when she was 18 she found her way to father Carmen a the Franciscan priest who trained me and then he began doing the prayers of exorcism for her he worked with her for a number of months the good news about this young lady she went on to become a nun so she knew what it was like to live on the streets and to be alone so she dedicated her life to Christ as a nun to this day she ministers to street children there in the city of Rome it's a great story because it reminds us that no one is ever lost to God even when somebody is dealing with the demonic something of the person always remains free and that which remains free can ask for the help of the church and one could say that in an exorcism the devil is commanded to return that which he has stolen namely a person created in the image and likeness of God we all have free will we can use our free will to make a choice for evil but we can also use that free choice to reject evil the devil would have us believe that once we made the choice or evil there's no turning back but remember God's mercy is beyond our comprehension and as long as we express sorrow as long as we turn to God he's always there to welcome us back think of the story the prodigal son great example of that when the son returns and says to his father I sinned against heaven and against you I no longer deserve to be called your son how does the father respond he listens to his son does he throw it back in his face yeah look at what you did you wasted my money you did this no he listens he hears contrition and then he says let's have a celebration God is not concerned about the past God is concerned about the present moment where we find ourselves think of the good thief on the cross Jesus says to him this day you will be with me in paradise there's no explanation on what brought this man to be crucified it was irrelevant what was relevant was that the man made a profession of faith invited Christ into his life and then as a result he was given the promise of eternal life anybody here ever hear a blessed Bartolo long go blessed Bartolo long go he was a young man growing up in Naples at the latter part of the nineteenth century very devout Catholic we fell away from the church went off to University where he even moved away from the church even more God involved in satanic practices became a satanic high priest his family never gave up on him continue to pray for him eventually he renounced all of that returned to the church and has been dedicated his life to working with college students to make sure that on campus they would stay connected with her Christian roots so just think for a moment Blessed Bartolo Longo a former satanic high priest is on his way to be a canonized saint of the church again no one is ever lost to God who wants to be found fifth entry point abuse which creates emotional wounds they may cause a person to seek help from the wrong sources I did an exorcism last year in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis so a lady that had been away from the church for 43 years she was 50 years old she grew up in Mexico when she came to Indianapolis her neighbor began inviting her to come to Mass with her she was always resistant she agreed to have the priest from the neighboring parish come over to visit her and her neighbor the priest said when he was visiting all of a sudden she was like someone else began speaking strange she began cursing and spitting at him even got up at one point and punched him in the stomach so he contacted me I arranged to meet this particular person at the parish it was me the other priest the person that was asking for help and the neighbor lady so this lady who's 50 years old began telling me that when she was seven years old her father began raping her and she said it went on for five years until she was 12 years old and then her father turned his attention to her younger sister she said that by that time she was so emotionally broken that she began turning for help to people who practiced the occult believing that turning to wizards curanderos brujas that somehow they could fix her brokenness which he said the only result was that she found herself broken and broken even more she's telling me the story and she is this crying uncontrollably and then finally she looks at me and says can you help me and I looked at her and said Jesus is going to help you and when I said that her eyes changed her eyes turned green her pupils became slanted like a serpent and this voice came out of the mouth that said well who's he he has no power over us by this time the other priests newly ordained he fell to his knees he's Ravin off he'll Mary's like a machine gun the the lady of the friends sitting next to her literally jumped over the table to get away so I walked over immediately and I put my hand on her head and the demon looked at me and said you can't get rid of us we've been here too long and you're not strong enough and then I said a little prayer it wasn't an official exorcism I reached in my pocket took out holy water and blessed and you would have thought that I threw his scalding water and there are screams and shrieks and the person collapses to the floor and then continued to pray the manifestation stopped and then we ended that session I arranged to do an exorcism the following week so it's always important to put all the materials together there's no such thing as an emergency exorcism protocols of the church should always be followed when priests are too quick to want to perform an exorcism things don't turn out well so the following week exorcisms are always performed in a sacred space so I always jokingly say an exorcism is never performed at an abandoned house on a dead-end street at midnight during a thunderstorm that's a great movie but the devil doesn't get to decide where he will be defeated the church herself will make that determination so we're in a chapel the afflicted one is sitting in a chair there's the priest again and her friend they did come back by the way power of God and we began praying immediately what happens there's a green eyes again slanted pupils the demon begins to mock and insult me tells me that things won't be successful one of the parts of the ritual is the insolation prayer it's the breathing on of the face of the person invoking the Holy Spirit think of when Jesus breathed on his disciples and said receive the Holy Spirit so wherever the Holy Spirit is present an unclean spirit cannot remain so we had been praying for about a half an hour going through the prayers the ritual of the church I did the insufflation prayer you would have thought it was a hurricane-force wind the the chair flew back against the wall there was a shriek and a scream the lady came up out of the chair collapsed on the floor myself and the other priests picked her up and she's beaming brightly glorifying God telling me why she's loved why she's forgiven why she is a beautiful in the image of God so all the manifestations of evil ended I put her under the care of that particular priest says that she came back to Mass and coming back to Mass every week she goes to confession he offers her a spiritual direction so again the power of God always at work a six entry point is a life of habitual sin we've lost the sense of sin in our world today you may do whatever you wish no one has the right to command you you're the god of yourself and because of that we look at very addictive behavior habitual sin where does some of these strong visual sins today alcohol drugs and certainly pornography is rampant in our society numbers number seven would be broken relationships so we all deal with broken relationships but how we deal with them does seem to matter in Chapter five of Mark's Gospel there's the story the garrisoned ammoniac if you know the story there's a man possessed by Legion he's living in the tombs Jesus and His disciples come along the demons begin to shout we know who you are Jesus rebukes the spirits commands them to come out they ask to be sent into the swine Jesus agrees they go into the swine what happens to the swine they race over the hillside and what they drown in the lake how many swine are there several thousand how many demons does this man have they go and drown in the lake most people usually stop reading the story but if you continue reading something very profound happens the man who's now free wants to follow Jesus but Jesus says to him no go home to your family so a man who was living amongst the dead Jesus puts back amongst the living in the world of exorcism it's view that perhaps the broken relationships that this man experienced in his family is what brought about the demonic possession we all again experience brokenness but recall to forgive it doesn't mean it will always be an easy thing to do but when we fail to forgive someone who's the person to get hurts the most our selves so I always tell people if you can't forgive the other person for their benefit then do it free yours forgive that person for your benefit because when you forgive them you're saying I want to let go of the anger the hatred the envy the jealousy all the things that the devil would feed on in our lives we take those out of our lives the devil doesn't have anything to work with the final entry point that I would mention is inviting a demon in so I work with someone who was praying outside of an abortion clinic and believe that somebody walking into the clinic was possessed and so she said she ran up to the person and said looked him in the face and goes what's ever in you I freely invite to come in to me misguided notion of charity she said no sooner did the words come out of her mouth that she felt something come over her for 12 years she experienced demonic manifestations even her husband would say in the middle of the night she would just sit up erect in the bed sometimes she would growl and snarl start speaking languages that he couldn't understand what was going on she turned to the church began working with her there was seven demons that named themself in this person oftentimes when somebody's possessed it's not a question of one demon but multiple demons and the weakest ones are always the first to go so the one particular demon that did not want to leave told me that it's name was Leviathan siddhim n' mentioned in the bible and this demons told me that it did not have to leave because it had been invited in and since it had that invited in it was claiming the life of this person but again remember we have free will just because we invite evil in doesn't mean that we can't renounce that we can certainly do that and this lady wanted to renounce that but then there was a battle going on with a demon inside the last time I prayed with the person before the demon was cast out we were praying in an old convent Chapel in southern Indiana about three o'clock in the afternoon it's a good hour by the way a school bell rings four hundred school children are now pouring out onto the parking lot right by the convent what this is demon started doing begins to scream and laugh uncontrollably as loud as you can imagine and then the demon says to me if you stop screaming I will if you stop praying I will stop screaming but if you keep praying I'm gonna keep screaming because people will hear the screams and they're gonna come in here and see what's going on and then you're going to have to stop so commanding the demon using the ritual one of the prayers is I command you to obey me in all things although an unworthy minister of Christ and then to leave so I I told the demon to recite the verse from chapter one of Luke's Gospel the angel Gabriel the Archangel to Mary hail full of grace so I told the demon to say hail Mary full of grace and to leave immediately the demon laughed and said grace of full scramble the words didn't say the name of Mary and then began screaming and then again I commanded the demon to obey me to stay the words in the order that I told it to say it and to leave immediately and then there's a demon that had been speaking in his very deep voice in the voice of a baby a child said hail Mary full of grace and then there was a shriek and a scream and every manifestation stopped quicker than you could snap your fingers again Exorcist have no power it's what Christ is Jesus is the Exorcist if people rely on me we're all in trouble but if we're relying on the power and the authority and the name of Jesus Christ that's exactly where we need to be so if somebody is dealing with the demonic is there a way out of all of this and the answer is yes absolutely the solution rests with each and every one of us we people of faith can help people break the vicious cycle of evil in their lives by helping them to turn to Jesus Christ and this is where the Rite of exorcism comes in both supplicating and major exorcisms again remember supplicating prayers directed to God major exorcism commands to the demon so demons have power they can only be defeated by power the power that defeats them is the power of God and the prayer of exorcism is the means to call upon the power of God to come and help the person who is afflicted by evil you

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Length: 71min 55sec (4315 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 11 2020