Fr. Vincent Lampert - Entries & Remedies for Evil - Necessity of Exorcists #3 of 5

[Music] good afternoon everyone everybody's still awake anybody take a nap there was a few yes you thought about it that you didn't get it in all right I don't know if our microphone is on or not does it sound like it is no not oh there it is let's review sound and there was so conference three comes from Matthew 26:41 watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation so that today what I want to talk about in this presentation is how do people play the devil's game how do people play the devil's game what are the entry points for the devil into people's lives and then the second half of my presentation I want to talk about the ordinary activity of the devil so when it comes to the extraordinary activity of the devil I've identified eight main ways that I believe that a person opens the doorway to evil in their lives so these eight examples or my experience over the past 15 years in doing this ministry and these are not in any particular order but again these are the eight main ways that I see people today giving the devil a foothold in their lives so number one I would say ties to the occult so the word occult comes from the Latin word occultists it means hidden or secret it focuses on knowledge of the paranormal its basic root is that people want a glimpse into the future it's associated with such things as palm reading medians Ouija boards tarot cards psychics pendulums the practice of yoga rec Reiki crystals magic horoscopes witchcraft superstitions and I would even mention knocking on wood and you're thinking wait a minute what do you mean by that you've seen that commercial where the insurance company says stop knocking on wood every time I see the commercial I'm like they got it right does anyone know where the practice of knocking on wood comes from it's a druid practice it it's to believe that spirits live in the trees and when you knock on wood you're asking the spirit that lives within the wood to come to your aid and to grant your request if you've ever knocked on wood I don't think you're possessed but the reason I share the example is how things of the occult can become mainstream in our society and we do things that we don't really think about so again the notion of knocking on wood is calling upon the spirit to come to your aid so all of these things that I just mentioned are practices that are condemned because they're a form of idolatry that violate the first commandment we all know that nothing must ever take the place of God in our lives in the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament in chapter 18 verses 10 through 12 it states you must never practice black magic be a fortune-teller witch or 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 that the devil cannot be used by persons for our own benefit ultimately the devil is always using us if you think you have the devil in your hands and you're able to control him the only person you're fooling is your self now somebody asked me earlier today about whether or not like the lone Island median can something good come from that someone made the comment that it seems that people are benefiting from the things that are happening which then raises the ultimate question can someone do a practice that's condemned by God in order to bring about a good and the answer would be no now initially people might be intrigued by what they're hearing they're kind of drawn into that but ultimately again the bottom is going to fall out because if one is dealing with evil then ultimately the devil is going to want to be paid so anything that he does is always meant to unravel our lives questions or thoughts on ties to the occult yes that's my next test number two coming up entry point number two no one has any questions about ties to the occult first yes question about the yoga classes where I understand that there's some church history that I'm just now learning about so the question is with about yoga and if I'm praising God while I'm stretching when they might be saying to oppose hiatus then the question is if you're doing that are you really doing yoga because the challenge with yoga yoga is an Eastern spirituality practice and can one truly separate the exercises from the spirituality that's linked to it no matter spirituality linked to it like that I don't i just i go to heal my body with sir that I have this so again but ultimately [Laughter] there's just a comment on this so the challenge with with yoga I would say is that you're learning more about it but you know when people open up an entryway to evil in their lives some people do it directly and some people do it indirectly maybe just not fully understanding so the church is always cautious about these practices because people get pulled into maybe you begin with the best of intentions with exercising but then you become more intrigued about what's the spirituality so some people even tell you that the yoga poses are a form of a posture that's offering a prayer to a particular deity within Hinduism yes the work she's commenting about other Exorcist have come mended on this and the word yoga means to yoke your yoking yourself connecting yourself to something else Yoga Yoga has become very very common in across the United States he's asking about acupuncture again again things get so complicated all the time all the practices that the main thing that church teaches is that we should not be incorporating things into our life that are coming outside of our Christian heritage and understanding so adopting practices that come from other world religions is not a good thing to do so there are people that would tell you that acupuncture may fall within that even the practice of Reiki I mentioned that you know Reiki people call upon a spirit or a force or an energy and the question is what is that if you're not calling it the holy spirit what force or energy is being referenced then I don't think you're doing yoga you know that maybe becoming one of these words that people are using interchangeably it's like give me a Kleenex when it's really a name-brand you're looking for a tissue but again I think it's a term that we should try to avoid to use I've had people tell me that they do Christian yoga or they do yoga to the rosary trying to blend things together yes well the church well she's asking why doesn't the church teach this because you can go into Catholic book shops and you can buy all these things that the church says are not good so she's referencing a gift shop in southern Indiana that's very Catholic that has these items this particular gift shop that you're mentioning that was in there a couple years ago and I was surprised that they had a statue of the Archangel Uriel how many Archangels are there three Gabriel Michael and Raphael the church recognizes no others because those are the ones that are referenced in the Bible but unfortunately these things do creep within Catholic circles and I hope everybody's holding onto your seats believe it or not there are some people who don't care what the Church teaches they choose to go their own direction perhaps just for the sake of selling some trinkets but the danger is that when people get these things into circulation they make their ways out in many ways when people give me items and objects or they have things or like father what should I do with them should I give them away I'm like absolutely not you know they should be destroyed they should be buried they should be taking out a circuit so they don't end up in someone else's hands yes but not with in Catholic Scripture we don't accept them we only accept when we have the celebration the Feast of the Archangels is Michael Gabriel and Raphael the names of the other ones are coming out of other traditions but they're not a part of Catholic tradition some of the other angels are mentioned in other non biblical sources and so again we only accept the names there that come to us from Sacred Scripture she calls upon Saint Michael [Music] [Music] well she's referencing the fact that Michael is in what choir which is what number of the nine number number eight so how can an angel in the eighth choir challenge a angel in the in the top choir the first choir and again it's because became he rose up because of his virtue embracing God's plan he's still the right guy for you no worries there keep on praying yes so she's referencing the long island median that shortly after her show and all that she went through a divorce for marriage broke up so again when the devil is involved in any situation initially it may seem as something good but eventually it's not going to turn out bad things creep in I mean we all familiar with the recent conference at the Vatican and Pachamama and all of that how things just kind of creep into the church but really have no basis in what we believe and teach I was at saying I was at say minor this past Monday because I gave a presentation to the third-year students on the topic of exorcism so they do all the students I go every year that I'm invited by this seminary but I was in the gift shop and I'm just amazed now these little tokens that they seem to have that there's just a lot of things just seem like good luck charms that are becoming commonplace three years ago when I traveled to South Africa I was in the airport in Atlanta and they were selling voodoo dolls in the gift shop and someone goes well you know those are just introductory level they're not really the true powerful whoo booty dolls and I'm like well any voodoo doll in my opinion it's not good because again that's introducing people to these practices and maybe they're going to delve deeper and when they do that's when things aren't going to be good [Music] she wants to know what can you do with shops that sell voodoo and all of that well I'm reminded when I was I was a pro-life director for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for three years back in the 1990s and there was an abortion clinic on the the east side of Indianapolis on East 38th Street and these four women told me that we used to do a monthly mass and marched there we would pray as st. Andrews parish have Mass and they walk down the street these four women one evening went into this neighborhood which is a very bad neighborhood and they were living in the suburbs but they came in late at night they brought their miraculous medals with them they buried them on the four corners of the property they offered prayers and the clinic closed thirty days later so what can you do the Jericho March there are things I think you can do to to combat the forces of evil that are becoming more prevalent let's look at number two I call it the entertainment industry movies TV shows literature games computer and IT gadgets the danger we're facing today is that children are growing up in front of a screen and this is leaving them in isolation and not in community the danger with certain types of literature's somebody mentioned Harry Potter is that we need to realize that Harry Potter first of all promotes that being a witch or a wizard as a position of power evil is presented as something good the diabolic is not presented as something evil curses spells and alchemy necromancy are presented as things which are good we need to realize that certain types of literature are katha catechol in nature they're trying to teach our young people a certain lesson what's interesting about things like Harry Potter especially within public schools you can find these books in the library but where were you not what book will you not find the Bible so you can find books that are teaching things that are contrary to the faith there's a new book that's been out now a children's book of demons has anybody seen it it's now hit the market it's being carried in major box stores in the United States but it encourages children to incorporate relationships with demons to draw pictures of the demon to name it to invoke the demon asking it for help and it can kind of be their protector and safeguard whenever they find themselves in trouble so it's a it's a book that's come out just within the past few months and again major retailers in the United States are selling that book Ouija boards I would put under the form of entertainment I had a young girl from my parish tell me that her aunt who's now working in Germany for a period of time mailed her a Ouija board for Christmas as a gift the same man she told me that was so delighted to be in Europe that she traveled to Rome for midnight mass to be there with the Pope and it was one of the highlights of her life the same person who gave her niece a Ouija board as a Christmas gift children today played Pokemon does anybody know what the word Pokemon means Pocket Monsters Pocket Monsters they all have different values and degrees think of the hierarchy of the Angels the hierarchy of the demons so these cards have different values and the danger is that it's introducing children again to demonic entities a few years ago when I was in Rome at the International gathering one of the priests from Italy that spoke on this and this is what he says what's the number one card within Pokemon what's the character called Pikachu he says the name Pikachu is a name that means 100 times more powerful than God again children playing these games is that what they're thinking of no but again it becomes an introductory level into the forces of evil yes so he says if that's the case why are we not attic izing that I think the church today has lost some of its authoritative voice because of the abuse scandal that we find ourselves in the church has become silenced in speaking up the truth because of our own sinfulness so I think it's the failure to speak out because the church has lost credibility because there is the notion and I think a lot of the attacks in the church today we were having this conversation after lunch today with some folks when you look at all the problems in the church I do think it's demonic forces that are at work because the notion is that if you can destroy the messenger you can destroy the message so if the church is the messenger of the good news of Jesus Christ there are those who believe that the church can be destroyed then the message of price will become silent in the world will not hear it but we all know that even if the messenger is discredited the message can never be discredited because the message comes from God but it is hard today to try to catalyze because you'll find people even within the church who have the responsibility of catechizing who reject all of this and say that's all a bunch of bunk and so we are not even all on the same page yes the Harry Potter kinda crept in in church and also there's a book very similar to a called will Wilder it's written by somebody first there are kids basically doing exorcisms and so you said there's another series called will Wilder yes that it has children doing exorcisms and things like that so so yeah and the author that you said was Raymond Arroyo so he says then the books are keeping devils and jars to train them I'm not familiar with that series of books so the question is has this particular author come up with this series of books as a way to combat a series like Harry Potter and maybe try to give things more of a faith-based twist to them always good to get people the benefit of the doubt he wrote a Mother Angelica books I did an interview with him a few years ago he's now a a commentator - on Fox News every now and then so there's always the danger again when you're working in the church when you're trying to combat the forces of evil there is a danger that you can as a person that's in the fight that you can succumb because the devil knows who's trying to work against him and he will attack those people to try to destroy them there was a very famous Exorcist in the world in in Spain who fell from grace very knowledgeable on the topic but he reached the point where he thought that he needed to write his own ritual of exorcism because the one that the church has is deficient so he wanted to make up for the deficiencies in the church by writing his own ritual now can you fight the devil if you're being disobedient to the church and the answer would be no when you try to go off on your own even father Carmen a when I trained in Rome he told me the last thing he said he said if you're ever doing an exorcism and for even a brief moment you say to yourself Wow look at what I'm doing he said you've just walked on unholy ground he said there's no way you as a human can go up the forces of an evil spirit you always have to have the power of the church in Christ on your side if you try to act independently of that he said the demon will destroy you and there is that danger when people give in to that sense of pride that try to work in the ministry they get themselves into trouble what's the parents do with their children are reading Harry Potter it's out there already can you put it back in the lock it up no it's out there but I think parents can help their children to kind of understand Harry Potter in the context of our Catholic faith so why is what Harry Potter teaching contrary to what we believe so we can take Harry Potter and we can filter it through our Catholic faith and in doing so we can learn why it's something that is not good because if you tell children today don't do that don't read that they become even more intrigued and they're going to go and read it anyway I find it interesting today that the people who say there's nothing wrong with this certain types of literature these children are picking up these books but these are the same children that have never picked up a Bible and they've never picked up the catechism of the Catholic Church so my response would be if you're going to read Harry Potter and pick up the Bible and pick up the Catechism and then learn how to interpret what you're reading within the context of our Catholic faith a third entry point would be a curse the curse a curse is an opposite of a blessing it's doing harm to another person with the help of the devil so evil spirits can gain influence through entry points in us so the devil was always looking for a in the armor again someone talked earlier about putting on the armor of Christ but the devil is always going to look for a in the armor and see if he can break in purses are only effective if we are weak in our faith we cannot control what somebody else is doing they can wish us it will they can try to send evil forces against us but as long as we're standing firm in our faith then we have nothing to worry about but the devil will look through a curse for any type of weakness in our faith and then use that to try to destroy us but again the most important thing to remember a curse is only effective if we are weak in our commitment to Christ if we are strong in our faith somebody is sending a curse our way think of Psalm 91 I need not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day why because we are protected by God so if we are truly standing strong in our faith somebody could send a curse our way but the armor of Christ causes it to literally bounce off and not have any impact on us whatsoever you can offer a prayer he asked the question is if you know that somebody has cursed you is what would you do you can offer a prayer for them certainly she's asking the question if somebody in her distant family is known as a good witch there's no such thing as a good witch you can't put the two words together because all magic is inherently evil and I don't mean pulling a rabbit out of your hat I'm not talking about illusion but again magic where people are trying to exert some type of power or influence over another person invoking the devil or some evil spirits to bring that about but there is no such thing as good magic all magic in my opinion is inherently evil you need to pray for your relative in absolutely no one has ever lost to God again as long as we're breathing there's always a chance for conversion essential oils he's talking about very prevalent today and it is true that a lot of the essential oils are have been cursed so there are curses that are placed upon them many of the drugs to enter the United States the illegal drugs also are cursed that hit the street markets so a lot of people that have drug addictions that are buying all these drugs heroin and whatnot all of those things have gone through some type of curse or satanic ritual practice before they hit the streets again the goal is to destroy the lives of people how do you know what your crews essential oils the question we yeah where are you getting them where are you purchasing them they become very common just about everywhere today even the little sense that you can plug into your wall and whatnot so she goes can you uncurse essential oil the power of a blessing there are there are things that can be blessed absolutely because a blessing is more powerful than a curse because when something is blessed its commended to God so you can take it out of profane use and you can put a sacred character upon it there are some things if they're truly inherently evil then they should be blessed and then destroyed we bless ya we pray over our food you know even praying over our food it the prayer isn't just a prayer asking you know thanking God for the food you know the the history of blessing food was actually a form of an exorcism prayer the recognition that demons also resided in plants and animals that's a sense of demonic infestation so the prayer was to make sure that one was saying an exorcism prayer over the food that we were about to digest I don't say these things to scare everybody like what in the world are we going to do now is everywhere he's in the oil he's in the food he's in the water because our focus should always be on God on God on God okay absolutely yes absolutely that's the bottom line because again the key ingredient but person of faith is not to live in fear the devil wants us to live in fear but we should stand firm in our faith and our hope in Jesus Christ so is it to express our gratitude to God for an item is that a way to bless and consecrate it for a higher purpose and the answer would be yes the power of prayer yes again we shouldn't be looking for the footprint of the devil everywhere around us we should always be looking for the hand of God how is it touched everything and touched everyone the focus should never be on the devil it should be on good but we should be mindful of things that may be demonic in nature that they're not creeping into our lives and becoming commonplace things that are contrary to God the Shriner's those so they the church talks about people that belong to certain fraternal organizations people talk about the Masons the Freemasons and whatnot the church calls these secret societies and because of their secret societies the church warns against Catholics belonging to these organizations oftentimes people may join maybe as a sense of fraternity it's a club but then you're not really fully aware what you're getting into because like with the Masons there's different degrees and as you advance then more things are revealed to you the church would say you should have a full understanding of any organization right up front before you join it it shouldn't be a sense of things that are unfold gradually because then you just gradually get sucked into something that ultimately you may not agree with yes so his brother was in the film in the early 1990s the phone then film was called hocus pocus so blasphemous attitudes are becoming mainstream in society today so if you're bringing things into the home that are of an impure nature they will have an impact on the children over a period of time I was at a family when I was in still in the seminary one of my classmates was at a parish in Indianapolis assigned for the summer went over to visit him and he was gonna go drop something off at his family's house that he got to know and we're in there in the little boy in the background his coloring in his coloring book and he's singing a song and I'm like what is he singing and he was singing some song popular' that was the words were me so horny me so horny he was like a six-year-old kid with a coloring book he had no idea what he was saying but it was music that was constantly being played in the house by his older brothers so he just picked it up and it just became commonplace so there should be a sense of you know warning against what's being watched the language that people are using because I think children are like sponges they're gonna soak up everything and you know a sponge eventually is squeezed out and when they soak up a lot of filth that's about altima what's going to come out so his brother was in the film industry the industry tried to get his younger brother to blaspheme against God because that was a way to advance one's career within the film industry so Mach God and you'll go places an example I wanted to share with you of I did work with a lady one time who had been cursed and she came to see me by another priest he brought he actually came from New Jersey they came to see me this was when I was pastor of st. Francis and Claire on the south side of India in the Greenwood area and when they arrived this woman is explaining to me she was cursed and how that came about and then she goes I need to go to the restroom that's like well down the hallway so she goes down the hallway and then I hear this shriek this hideous scream go down there and she opens the door to come out of the bathroom and blood is gushing out of her mouth and she's growling and snarling at me and she had bit her lip and took the blood and drew a pentagram on the mirror in the restroom but again examples of when people allow themselves to be cursed it can bring about the presence of evil it doesn't exist anymore because the building area has been remodeled so she's a member of that parish she's gonna hold it from now on till she gets home but the restroom is no longer there that area was all remodeled so it's it's gone that's the good news but there was a big old pentagrams about this big from her own blood on that mirror yes so the question is another entry point so let me go to that one it's not in the order I have but I'll mention being dedicated to a demon and we could include being cursed so anyone over the age of reason cannot bring evil upon themselves God protects those under the age of reason they cannot inflict evil on themselves the age of reason is the age of seven that's why children make their first confession in First Holy Communion at that age if they are being impacted by evil or they've been cursed than someone else bears the responsibility for that so again being dedicated to a demon the example I would share with you was a young woman I met in Rome when I was in training who told me she shared the story that her mother had dedicated her to Satan when she was born because her mother did not want her didn't want to have any more children blame God for giving her a child that she did not want and said that her mother told her that she was going to get even with God by dedicating her daughter to Satan so she said for the first twelve years of her life she went through all kinds of satanic rituals and practices at the age of 12 she ran away from home she ended up on the streets of Rome and then when she was about 18 she made her way to father Carmen a who began ministering to her and doing the prayers of exorcism the good news about this young lady she's now a nun so she dedicated herself to Christ she knew what it was like to live on the streets of Rome and so she now ministers to street children in the city of Rome something of the person always remains free and that which remains free can ask for the help of the church no one can ever be lost to God who wants to be found and you can even say that one of the ways of understanding an exorcism 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 because we have free will even if one invited the evil in one can renounce that and recommit themselves to Christ the devil will might convince the person that's not possible but remember the devil is a liar and the father of lies so we can always seek Redemption you're asking a question about generational sin that's a big debate on generational sin within the church today the church doesn't really have any official teaching people will quote the book of Exodus where it says the sins of the father are passed down to the third and fourth generation it also says the blessings are passed down to the thousandth generation but people usually don't hear that part now what's interesting in the book of the prophet Ezekiel it says that it used to be the case that the sins were passed down but now each person is responsible for their own behavior and their own actions so the debate is always for generational sin if your great-grandfather was a 33rd degree Mason does that mean that you have a sin just by virtue of his membership in that organization it's been he we're all just you know victims of those who have gone before us so the challenge is there's that debate today I know it takes place at the International Association of exorcists whether or not what does the church really teach about generational sin and this is what my take on it is if baptism can cleanse us of original sin how is it possible that baptism cannot cleanse us of the sins who came before us because then to say that that sin is more powerful than the saving grace we receive in baptism there's the debate for the theologians to have now I do think that the sins of those who come before us can impact us but that's different from saying that their sins become our sins if you grow up in abusive home that's going to impact your life if somebody does belong to a fraternal organization that's contrary to the church that can impact us but again being impacted by someone else's sin in saying that their sin becomes our sin are two different things so the church is still debating this whole issue and does not have a clear teaching on generational sin so she struggled with the notion of generational sin because why would a good god you just know that it's something bad by intuition through your prayer life so you see it or experience it and your inclination because you're a person that fears the Lord and you kind of run away from that get yourself out of that situation absolutely yes because again we can we can't change what everybody else does the only person we can change in life is ourselves so if we are aware of a sin in another person and it kind of repulses us then take that and use that as an opportunity to even commit ourselves even more to Christ in our lives so yes he says the wisdom we receive from fear of the Lord will lead us in the right direction because we know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom proverbs this it not so again and what does it mean to fear the Lord God's going to get me no it means to live in all of God to say wow look at what God is doing in my life look at what God is doing in the world God is so awesome and magnificent but fear of the Lord does not mean we're we're in all of God another entry point would be abuse which creates emotional wounds that can cause a person to seek help from the wrong sources so abuse can lead to the presence of the demonic in a person's life so the most recent major exorcism that I performed was on a 50 year old woman who told me growing up in Mexico at the age of seven her father began to rape her repeatedly and she said they're raping took place over five years only when she turned 12 did her dad turn his attention away from her and on to her younger sister in the world of exorcism you can hear a lot of horrific stories about the abuse and things that people go through so she said that as a young girl the age of 12 she abandoned the church and she tried to turn to other sources that could help fix the brokenness in her life she said she went to many brujas witches curanderos witch doctors people that claim that they could help her fix her brokenness but she only found herself broken even more and more and more so she was referred to me by one of our associate pastors he had been he had gone to visit with her because this lady's neighbor was a very active Catholic and had invited this lady to come to church to come home to the church and reconnect with God and she went she said she couldn't stay for the whole mass she became very agitated so the priest went and visited her he's told me that while he was visiting her all of a sudden she was like a different person began growling and snarling at him got it at one point spit at him and then even came over and punched him in the stomach so he's like something's not right well let me finish and I'll take the question so then when I meet with them she's explaining to me this scenario and she looks at me and she's crying her makeup is running and she looks at me and says can you help me and I looked at her and said Jesus is going to help you and as soon as I said that it was no longer her this voice came out of her mouth and said well who's he he has no power over us this other priest fell to his knees started rattling off Hail Marys like a machine gun the ladies sitting next to her literally jumped over the table to get away from her so I get up and I go over and I lay my hand on her head to offer a prayer and a blessing and the eyeballs had turned green and her pupils were slanted like a serpent and the voice 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 this uncontrollable hideous laughter and then I reached into my pocket took out holy water and bless the person and then there was a shriek and a scream and they collapsed on the floor and told me that they were being tormented and whatnot and then I ended that moment that was not the place to do an exorcism because again I'll talk a little bit about here in a moment after we go through all the entry points of what an exorcism actually looks like so I planned to do an exorcism the following week and then we were in the chapel doing the exorcism and there's the green eyed serpent lady again and the demon told me again that it was not going to leave there was no way that I could defeat it and then after 45 minutes of doing the ritual the demon was gone so the very last thing one of the parts of the exorcism is the insolation prayer breathing onto the face of the person invoking the Holy Spirit because wherever the Holy Spirit is present an unclean spirit cannot remain so this demon that was manifesting I breathed on invoke the Holy Spirit the chair the person was sitting and literally flew back just from my going it like a hurricane-force wind flew back and hit the wall the woman screamed jumped up out of the chair and collapsed on the floor and then picked her up and she's beaming as bright as the Sun telling me why she is loved by God why she's loved unconditionally and every presence of the demon was gone and then put her we clapping for God not for me and then we I put her under the care of that particular priest who then was ministering to her on a regular basis she started coming back to Mass and all of that so all the presence of the demonic was gone number six an entry point would be life of habitual sin so I think that we've lost the sense of sin in the world the the life of habitual sin and before I continue you did have a comment yes so she says how does the average person on the street have the capacity to go through the seven step protocol that I mentioned yesterday and at some point the Exorcist has to use his own discretion and a lot of it has to do with the Exorcist local bishop so the Archbishop of Indianapolis all of them that I've worked under have told me I don't need their permission if I believe it needs to be done too using the wisdom I've gained over the last 15 years then I can proceed whichever way I think best but the protocol I think is really in place for guys that are new to give them some parameters to work within so the next one I'll mention is a life of habitual sin we all try to justify our actions rather than taking ownership no I would like to tell people when God said to Adam after he had sinned Adam what have you done I always like to imagine what would have happened if Adam had said to God I sinned and I'm sorry but what did Adam do the woman you put here she made me do it Eve what did you do well the serpent made me do it we're always pointing the finger at someone else rather than taking responsibility for our own actions so you think of a life of habitual sin addictive behavior I would put in this category and one of the most horrific addictions in the world today is Pernod Rafi pornography children are now exposed to it at the age of 10 the age of 10 I've worked with a family who's a ten-year-old son is addicted to gay porn it's horrific to what children are being exposed to again there's that Apple with a bite out of it we have technology at our fingertips but again we also have a lot of ugliness at our fingertips as well number seven would be inviting a demon in that someone actually is cultivating a relationship with the demon I share with you I think the example of the old man who had no faith who was nearing the end of his life and he chose when he said he died that he wanted to spend eternity with the demons that he had befriended in this life so again cultivating relationships with the demons that's why I think there's a danger with books like you know a children's book on demons it's causing children to create relationships that can be very very detrimental to them and the last entry point would be broken relationships we all deal with brokenness in our lives but how we deal with that brokenness does seem to matter so what's the key ingredient of being a Christian when somebody has hurt us we should forgive is that easy to do absolutely not rather than trying to forgive what do people do they want to seek revenge they give in to anger hostility those are the things that the devil can use as entry points into our lives the best example of how a broken relationship can bring about the demonic into one's life comes right out of chapter 5 of Mark's Gospel the story of the garrisoned demoniac Jesus is now passing through gathering territory there's a man living in the tombs he's living amongst the dead he's naked chains won't even hold him there's superhuman strength he's possessed by Legion the when Jesus begins to rebuke the demons they ask to be sent into the they race over the hillside and they drown in the lake most people usually stop reading the story at that point but the most significant thing in my opinion takes place at that moment the man who's now free wants to follow Jesus down the road but Jesus says to him no now how often does Jesus tell somebody not to follow him bail should be ringing lights should be blinking very significant moment Jesus says no go home to your family a man who was living amongst the dead Jesus wants to put back amongst the living one who's living in isolation Jesus wants to put back into community so in the world of exorcism it's a brokenness that this man experienced in his family dynamics that ultimately led to the possession again we all experience brokenness but how we handle it does matter very very seriously so is there a way out of all of this mess and that the word is absolutely the solution rests with each and every one of us we have the power because of our faith to step out of the vicious cycle of evil that people find themselves in and we can enter into a genuine relationship with Christ so this is where the Ministry of exorcism comes in both supplicating and major prayers again remember supplicating prayers that are addressed to God major exorcism prayers those directed to the demons so demons have power they can only be defeated by power exorcism is an encounter with the power greater than the demon and God is that power and exorcism is the method for calling upon God so what does an exorcism actually look like I know we're nearing the end of our time so I'm going to talk about this then I'll have to save my ordinary talk I'll add it on to the next presentation but again the rights divided into ten parts so I will prepare myself I will go to confession celebrate Mass I will determine where an exorcism where it will take place I always say it never takes place in an abandoned house on a dead-end street at midnight during an electrical storm that makes for a great movie but it's not reality because the devil does not get to choose where he will be defeated the church herself will make that determination and then I will determine who will be present myself the one who's afflicted a family member a friend and then perhaps other priests or deacons or other people who are there to pray people are not there out of a sense of curiosity they are there to simply to be a part of the church at prayer and then when the right begins it's the sprinkling of the person with holy water which is a reminder of our baptism into Christ and then asking Christ to help the troubled person to be defended against the snares of the enemy after blessing the person with holy water it's the litany of saints the church is calling upon the communion of saints to come and to be present at this very particular prayer of the church after the litany of the saints there's a recitation of one or several of the psalms that implore the protection of god and extol the victory of Christ over the evil one even in my preparation there's a prayer that I will say asking God to protect me and safeguard the afflicted one and everyone else who will be involved in the exorcism because sometimes people are saying why aren't you worried about what the devil might try to do where people will get hurt again there is a prayer asking God to protect and safeguard everyone that's present after reciting one or several of the Psalms there is now the proclamation of the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ it can be the prologue of John's gospel the word became flesh it could be one of the accounts Jesus casting out an evil spirit again invoking the scriptures as a way of saying to the demon you've been defeated before you will be defeated again so why resist the power of Jesus Christ and then there was the imposition of hands so I will lay my hands upon the afflicted person by which the power of the Holy Spirit is invoked so that the devil will depart from the one who through baptism was made a temple of God at the same time there is the insolation prayer breathing on of the face of the person the Apostles Creed can then be recited or the baptismal promises can be renewed with the renunciation of Satan being emphasized reciting the Lord's Prayer by which our God and Father is implored to set us free from the evil one step seven the afflicted one is now shown a crucifix again its reminder that Jesus was dying on the cross the devil believed that it was the moment of his victory but the moment of his perceived victory became the moment of his defeat and again by showing the crucifix to the demon the church is saying again you've been defeated once you're gonna be defeated again your attempts to not leave are going to be futile number eight I will then say supplicating exorcism prayer again asking God to bring relief into the life of the one who's afflicted by the evil spirit and then number nine there is a major exorcism so that I will give a command to the demon commanding it to depart based on the power and the authority of Christ all of these prayers can be repeated over and over again but the church teaches that the entire ritual must be prayed through once completely and then during that time I can watch and observe if certain pairs of the church are more powerful than once I pray through the entire right then I can go back and then repeat those certain sects but again the prayers can be repeated over and over and over again my experience is that when somebody has demonic possession it's not a case of one demon but of many demons they seem to act in a cluster there's no sense of fraternity amongst the demons they hate each other just as much as they hate us but there is this kind of crazy cohesion there's always one demon that's more dominant than the others and the demons that are weakest are the first to go the ones that come out of the lower choirs one that may come out of a higher choir can try to have more of a hold on the person who is possessed yes she's asking the question does a demon have to identify itself in the new right of the church that's not included in the older right of the church that is included where the demon is commanded to name itself to even give some sign of its when it plans when it's going to depart but that's not included in the new right but again any priest that's been appointed on a stable basis to be the Exorcist in his diocese by his bishop can use any of the rights that the church has in place but if a priest is appointed on an individual basis he may only use the new right he cannot use the older one you could what we could say anyone can say a supplicating prayer asking God to help the ones who's afflicted so a sample of one of those would be listen to Holy Father to the cry of the church and supplication do not allow your child to be possessed by the father of lies do not allow your servant whom Christ has redeemed by his blood to be held captive by the devil do not allow the temple of your spirit to be occupied by an unclean spirit through Christ our Lord amen you can say a prayer for someone in your daily prayers it doesn't have to be said over them because again you're invoking God you're invoking God and anyone can do that the main difference is that the church teaches that commands given to demons should only be done by the bishop or the priest authorized to do exorcism ministry that the average person should not be giving commands to demons so she's asking about laying on of hands was certainly laying on of hands again this came up yesterday I would only let somebody pray over me or lay hands on me if I knew who they were I wouldn't let any stranger do that because you don't really know who they are I've given many talks on exorcism in college campuses all over the country and I can tell you that there's people sitting out there that have not come to learn what the Church teaches but they're there because they're involved with evil I have a young man in Nebraska the University of Nebraska when I was given a presentation he came in with the pendulum around his neck and as I was speaking and I saw him aiming it towards me and then kind of mouthing some type of incantation and I was like I looked at him I was like what in the world are you doing and I didn't call him out and then there were about 400 students in this auditorium and then they all looked at him and he they kind of laughed at him and then he ran out of the room but again there are people that are there are people that come about to do ill-will that's why I say that you should only let somebody lay hands or pray over you if you know who they are because you don't know that the devil hasn't sent someone just to kind of make things even worse for you the very back yes so he says there's a prayer that says I bind and rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ that's this making a statement you're not commanding that there's a difference between a command a command given to a demon and just making a statement and that would be the difference between deliverance prayers and exorcism prayers yes I just go on I shared it yesterday was Cardinal Ross singer in 1986 that said that the faithful should not be giving commands to demons he made that very clear he got a lot of rebuff from people involved in some charismatic movements who said that they had the right to do that by virtue of their baptism but again that's what my point if you're trying to convert the devil and be disobedient to the church I just think that's a dangerous place to be so when you use the word command that's what Cardinal Ratzinger was addressing we all know that's Benedict the 16th but again he said that the faithful should not be doing that it's not a part of the Catholic tradition yes I can use the Orion because I'm stabili appointed so I can use any of the rights that are in place of the church so she's making the comment that people who have said that the new translation seems to be weak as compared to the latinum you're not the first one to say that I'm paraphrasing so that everybody hears it my response is that it's not necessarily the language but it's the verbage that's being used so that the Latin translation would appear to be richer in its content so the new translation you know one would be if you look at it let's look at one of the prayers that it says if we look at a command given to the demon it says I command you Satan Prince of this world acknowledged the power and strength of Jesus Christ who defeated you in the desert overcame you in the garden just spoiled you on the cross and rising from the tomb transfer your spoils into the kingdom of light depart from this creature whom Christ by his birth made his brother or sister and by his death purchase with his blood in the older right it would say I command you Satan although and unworthy minister of Jesus Christ to obey me on all things and to depart immediately recognized in the power and the authority of Jesus Christ so the wording is different if we had a translation in English of the older right I think it would be just as powerful so to me it isn't the language it's everything that's included in there yes he says in Scripture says that certain kinds of spirits can only be driven out by prayer and fasting and he wants to know if I do a lot of praying and a lot of fasting yes I tried to get out of there fast [Applause] that is true because remember the disciples come back and they're in Jesus expels a demon they're like why weren't we able to do it and Jesus says well certain kinds can only be cast out by fasting or by prayer or by both again that's why it's important to diagnose the person and what they're going through so then the exorcist has a good idea of what type of demon or demons are afflicting the person i would say that an exorcism never fails the prayers may have to be repeated but each time the prayers are used the presence of the demonic is weakened and again the weakest demons are the first to go but it really is coming to an understanding of just how much the demonic is intertwined into the life of this person remember my comment yesterday about the difference between exorcisms and the pagan world in the apostate world the reason that exorcisms have to be repeated here in the United States is because we live in the apostate world people who have heard the good news of Jesus Christ and then rejected it turn their back on it stop practice in their faith quit going to church the devil seems to have a greater claim on these people they knew the truth and said no thank you but in the pagan world people who hear the good news for the first time and they're possessed then the demons flee immediately it really is one and done and that's the process the last presentation tomorrow know the power of the Blessed Mother the power of the power of the Blessed Mother I will say that you use the term healing Mass the church says we should never put those two words together because every Mass by virtue of the mass is healing so there are always as a distinction between a healing service people are coming together for a healing service but a healing Mass really are is a term that shouldn't be used it should be healing service because again the nature of the in general is to bring about healing in the very back yes I've only said one thing that's been bothering her so it's so good so far absolutely correct it's very difficult yes well is in my realm right now but my point was this is the best way to look at it if priests today take their priesthood seriously so will the devil if people do not take it please do not take their priesthood seriously neither will the devil there's a danger in the church today I think where priesthood is viewed as an occupation and not as a vocation and when priests lose the sight of being a priest as a vocation meaning a calling from God and just begin to see it as a job that they do that's the danger so if every priest viewed his priesthood as a vocation as a calling from God he would realize that he already has the power by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders to combat demonic infestation demonic vexation and demonic obsession but again because most priests lack training in these areas and perhaps we doubt that we have the proper tools to deal with these cases because there really I mean there really is no reason why I should be receiving 2,000 calls a year because there are priests everywhere but a lot of times priests if they're tired or they're burned out you know don't have time for you it could be yes yeah but the average parish priest doesn't need to do an exorcism prayer for these people zag that was my point too they can use the normal tools at their hands tools use lightly here the person's confession given the anointing of the sick I personally think the sacrament only the sick is the most underutilized sacrament in the church it's almost like we have it locked up and we only bring it out if we know that somebody's ready to take their last breath but again it's not last rites when you look at it the anointing of the sick is the prayer for those who are suffering spiritually mentally physically there are certain prayers that you would add if it is last rites but again if a sacrament bestows grace we should do stow it so I offer it once I'm once a month that both of my parishes we have a time that people can be anointed but again if priests are using the normal tools at their disposal if they find they're in over their heads well that's when they can consult me and I can help them work with their parishioner to bring about the healing that they need because again just being one individual can minister to everyone but if I can help priests do their ministry better that would be Michael that's why I enjoy speaking about the topic it's a way to educate people it's a way to educate I was head of the good fortune that's the right turn blessings is a better term last February I went to Alaska and I trained an exorcist plus I gave a workshop to the three bishops of Alaska and the 50 priests that reside in the state of Alaska and because of and I went there in February and then the Archbishop of Anchorage appointed an exorcist for the diocese and then I went back in July and I trained him and did an exorcism while I was there in an Eskimo village 300 miles west of Anchorage at the request of the bishop of Fairbanks so what's interesting I'd shared this with people that the Eskimo village - what that I went to the name of it is Aniak in the yupik eskimo language Antioch is a name that means the place where it comes out now it's a reference to two rivers that join together but I didn't lose sight of the place where it comes out and I can tell you that people that were present for that exorcism who did not believe in demonic possession believe it now that was when the demon manifested in that particular case showing the crucifix the demon looked at me and goes your God is dead and some of the people that were there that were doubting I think they were clutching their rosary beads just a little tighter at the time yes so some of the prayers that she says that that have the word I command she changes the wording I've heard of those prayers I'm not that familiar with them I know that that a father Ripper is they I say ripich er but I but I have parishioners in Brookville Indiana that spelled the same way and they pronounce that ripburger so now I know I don't know how to pronounce it anymore but hehe opera he's The Exorcist for the Archdiocese of Denver so very knowledgeable on the topic I think it's always in the thing I would say is that we should never get so fixated on the devil we should never get so fixated that we see the devil everywhere I think that's an unhealthy place to be I think we should get fixated on the presence of God in the world and in our lives and to see his presence everywhere rather than always thinking that the devil is lurking behind every corner who's out to get us yes correct and and yes and in the end these are not deliverance prayers in the ritual of the church it's very popular so yeah they're one of the things I tell people is that I always have to draw the line in the sand somewhere I don't do deliverance prayers I believe in them I believe they're powerful but with all the people that call me there's no way that I can start meeting with people and doing deliverance prayers because again there are many folks that can do that you know the lay faithful can do some of those prayers with the permission of their Bishop any priest can offer up these prayers so but I recognize trying to balance 2.5 parishes and all the people who contact me for exorcism at some point I have to say I have to stay within these parameters otherwise I spread myself out and so thin she says what is a deliverance prayer she's not ignorant no what is the deliverance prayer who's going to tell me what is the deliverance prayer one who's being afflicted by evil and then a prayer asking God to help the person to be free from that I would say that a supplicating exorcism prayer and deliverance prayer are very similar and if someone made the comment yo in the back where you can say say they line again that you use it was I bind and rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ that's the deliverance prayer there could be prayers for healing people that experience some type of trauma or brokenness in their lives someone mentioned yesterday the books by Neil Lozano who does unbound ministry where people are able to identify the internal heard that they've experienced in their life to name it to take ownership of it and to push it out of their lives and that was Bishop David and I keep forgetting his last name the auxilary bishop of los angeles who's very big into that ministry he's from Ireland so he does have a at David McConnell and so device and now I remember but he he's very big in the ministry because he believes that a lot of people have been hurt and impacted at different stages of their life yes command yes because you're claiming to take the authority and that's what Cardinal Ratzinger was trying to address in his in the letter that he released and it was really a response to a lot of folks in the charismatic renewal back in the mid 1980s who at the time the Cardinal believed that maybe they were starting to go in their own direction and not stand with the church so he wanted them to know the proper parameters of the prayers that they were doing because I always focuses on yourself yeah yeah so she's asking are some art seminaries starting to catch up yes so I mentioned that every year I give a talk to the third-year students at st. mind-read they've asked me to do that there is a national school of exorcism here in the United States now there it's really up to the bishop then of the diocese that the seminarians are coming from to decide what he wants to put into place how does she asked how do we help priests to grow how do we support them and help them to grow in this ministry I think you give encouragement to them I think a lot of priests today live with a lot of doubt you know constantly Church scandals and you hear about so many things it can help demoralize the priesthood and I think when people are affirmative of their priests then I think that goes a long way because most priests today are wearing so many different hats pulled in so many different directions but I think when people just show a sense of gratitude or affirmation that goes a long way because even our younger priests this is true of me when I was newly ordained you come out of the seminary you've been ordained a priest but you you don't have a priestly identity you develop the priests of identity as you begin to live out the priesthood it's like a couple that gets married you're married but you come to understand what that vocation is all about as you begin to live it out and we all know that when we're starting we're starting to live out of vocation the encouragement and support that we receive from others is immeasurable so he's asked have I ever been physically hurt during an exorcism no it's not personal the answer is no because I like to think that I'm preparing myself properly but I do have a colleague that studied with me in Rome when he returned he was doing an exorcism he even admitted he didn't do things properly he got punched in the face when the demon manifested fists right into the face but I do think again when the focus is on the power of God that's that work in the prayer of the church there isn't anything that I need to fear if it's me going in there yeah I'm in trouble but if it's the power of Christ at work in the priest that's a good thing can a demon that's been expelled come back and the answer is yes yes people always ask when a demon is cast out where does it go sometimes people we use the phrase I command you to go to the foot of the cross and Jesus will deal with you as he will but we know that when the demons fell God permits them to roam the earth until the end of time so when a demon has cast out the connection with that person is broken but it's not like the demon is destroyed and again I referenced Luke's Gospel chapter eleven the demons been cast out it goes and wanders through the arid wasteland coming back and finding the house web clean it goes and finds seven other demons worse than itself and together they come and take up residence in the person so so it isn't a matter of just casting the demon out one has to make sure that they're inviting God in yes no I've never had a demon in using the oh right tell me that his name was Satan I didn't even tell me his name was Leviathan which is the demon mentioned the book of Revelation the sea serpent she wants to know are some demons in Hell and are some people are they in Hell with some people that are in Hell I always say that the church is in the business of declaring saints that we never declared sinners so we never definitively say so-and-so is in Hell certainly hell exists but again according to Scripture they're roaming the earth trying to get you I just again I just think that it may be strange to hear me say this as an exorcist but I just don't think we should focus so much on what the devil is doing I just I don't you know we need to have that same mindset of Padre Pio rolling over in bed it's just evil Bluebeard thought it was something important roll over and go back to sleep yes what happened to that woman in the bathroom she needed an exorcism obviously I could not give it to her at the time because she was a Catholic that belonged to another diocese who was under the jurisdiction of another bishop that bishop would have to give me permission as an exorcist I cannot freelance I really work The Exorcist of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis is Archbishop Charles Thompson I work under his jurisdiction under his authority so for me to do an exorcism on someone outside of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis if they're a Catholic requires permission of their local bishop because their local bishop has authority over them since they're a member of his diocese they were seeking help this particular priest he was a mess he's since left the priesthood in fact he married her he decided that he had to leave the priesthood and marry her so that he could commit his life to helping her deal with the demon you deal with so much dysfunction all over the place because when I didn't give him what he wanted the priest wanted to drive her up to see the colleague in Chicago it's like I'm gonna drive all over this country until I find somebody it's just going to give me what I want [Applause] well because she resides in another state it's so difficult because if it's going to take a period of time Indiana New Jersey this logistics of that I had a gentleman the other day I was talking to with Atlanta and based on everything he told me he would benefit from exorcism prayers he lives in Atlanta Georgia he goes what can I fly up the Brookville Indiana I'm like well let's see if there's somebody in your area because I said if this needs to happen over a period of time he can be flying into up to through Cincinnati and then driving the Brookville once a week for the next six months I mean that's not it's not really logistical but again I'm trying to use connections of people that I know through the International Association of exorcists so that we network together so that some extra sister publicly known some are not so I'm publicly known some choose to remain anonymous and a lot of times people just don't know where to turn to my my name is so much out there my name ended up not because I released my name in the public but I share with someone the other day that I gave a talk at the University of Illinois several years ago and nobody knows to me somebody recorded the presentation then uploaded it to the YouTube without my permission and then with that it's out there and once it's out its out you can't you can't control it anymore so then I just then made the determination that I was going to take advantage of that since my name was in the public forum then I would try to help educate people on the topic well that talk in the University of Illinois was it was the main auditorium on campus and it was Halloween night of course and the dollar tournament held 1,700 people ten minutes to 7:00 there was about 800 people in there and then the last 10 minutes 900 of these students just converged I guess they all came at the last minute so it was standing room only that was say if you're going to give a talk on the devil 1,700 people will show up and talk about Jesus 17 people might show up we're well into overtime this would be our last question yes the question is suicide yes I think you help people understand the love and mercy of God because nobody knows what's going through a person's mind that would cause them to take their life so we commend them to the power of God the last thing I'll share with you is a point to that st. John Vianney some of you might be familiar with the story so there was a wealthy Parisian woman whose husband was non Catholic who killed himself so one day he went out and jumped off of a bridge and killed himself and so she was distraught can I see her question was can I have any hope that my husband is in heaven so her friends say you need to travel to ours there's a priest down there who can help you so she travels to ours she arrives there and she's told she'll have to wait three days to see father you know yeah I'll see Saint John Vianney and she's like I don't have three days so she goes into the church right in front of the crucifix she begins to pour her heart out to God about her husband can he be saved so she's crying in front of the crucifix the confession of door opens and here comes John Vianney and he comes up to her and said God told me to tell your husband's in heaven go home and then she's like how can this be he committed suicide he was a non-believer and he looked at her and said you remember all the times that he took you to church he never complained when you went when you wanted a crucifix in your home he hung it on the wall for you when you wanted the picture of the Sacred Heart he hung it on the wall for you he looked at her and said God took these small acts of kindness and used them to bring him into Salvation again give God just a little of something and God will make great things happen and then John Vianney looked at her and said I'll go home and then he went back into the confessional again so again give God just a little something God can make good things come from it but we have to give something you know there's the loaves and the fishes it looks meager but it becomes something great when we put it into the hands of God all right the Lord be with you may Almighty God bless you the Father the Son and Holy Spirit go in one piece you [Applause] you [Music] you

Channel: franciscanfriars

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Keywords: Fr. Vincent Lampert, Blessings, Remedies, bad movies, Rite of Exorcism, Baptism, Blasphemy, conversion, Dedication to Devil, deliverance, demon, demonic possession, Devil

Id: neisyvyTkXQ

Length: 91min 19sec (5479 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 23 2020