Lent began with Ash Wednesday, February 25th.  I was writing a reflection for last Saturday’s Faith Section when, at 8:30pm on Friday the 27th, our sector of Stockton lost power.  The beginnings of my article vanished into the ethersphere.  By the time power returned at midnight, it was too late.

What made our neighborhood blackout more interesting was the fact that, at 8:30 p.m., someone was about to bring us a young adult who appeared to have demons.  As I went out to the church sacristy to light candles for the prayer group still assembled there, what felt like a high-voltage shock went through my back.  Grabbing the church door handle, I fell to one knee.

“Well, Satan,” I thought, “It’s good of you to bring me to the church and make me kneel.  I ought to do more of this.”  Of course, I normally count on the simplest natural explanation for strange phenomena.  But in this case, I couldn’t help but connect some dots and prepare for a long, long night.
 
In fact, that’s exactly what we got.  After the majority of our participants had gone home, I called in the intercessory prayer team and a few leaders.

While they offered initial praise and invoked the Holy Spirit, a woman of small stature but great pentecostal faith brought her daughter onto our property.  I went out, to find the girl flat on her face.  With mom’s help, I coached and coaxed the girl into our church.  She walked like a zombie.

That was ten o’clock.  At four the next morning, we sent the girl home.
For the record, I had told the mother beforehand that, if this were truly an exorcism, I would have had to refer her case to the appropriate authorities.

However, on Friday evening, she called me in desperation.  Her daughter was already out of control.  If we didn’t do something, someone could get hurt.  The girl had already spent a week in a psychiatric hospital, with no conclusive diagnosis. Going back would have probably made things worse.

I wish we could have claimed a definitive victory for Jesus.  But this is one of the more perplexing and complicated cases I have ever seen.  Without going into detail, I want to clarify that we don’t use the word “exorcisim” unless all the signs of true possession are present.  If I had believed the young lady needed an exorcism, I would have contacted our Bishop and provided all the data possible.  Cases of true demonic possession exist, and in fact seem to be on the increase.  However, among Catholics only a priest who has received adequate training and has been appointed by his bishop may undertake exorcisms.  Such processes can be highly risky, result in uncertain outcomes, and take not just hours, but months.  So for any priest, deacon or lay person to perform an exorcism on their own initiative can lead to dire consequences.  Movies like “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and “The Exorcist” are valuable tools in warning us not to play with fire.

At the same time, we can’t just let Satan run unfettered.  We don’t give him more attention or credit than is due, but we don’t ignore, deny or joke about evil either.  We don’t spend our lives running from the Devil, but at the same time, we don’t let him run our lives.  Much less do we run to him.

We don’t talk about Lucifer any more than necessary, but at times it’s very necessary to warn the innocent.  We don’t take it upon ourselves to cast out demons without adequate education and preparation, the Spirit’s anointing, and the assistance of those whom the Church has appointed to ministry.  At the same time, we don’t cower, powerless, in the shadow of the evil one.

“Stay sober and alert,” warns St. Peter.  “Your opponent the Devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, solid in your faith, realizing that the brotherhood of believers is undergoing the same sufferings throughout the world.”    (1 Peter 5:8, 9).

For, counsels St. Paul, “our battle is not against human forces but against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, the evil spirits in regions above.  You must put on the armor of God if you are to resist on the evil day; do all that your duty requires, and hold your ground.”  

Writing to the Ephesians (6:10-17), St. Paul details the weapons of combat – truth, justice, zeal, faith, salvation, and the “sword of the spirit,” which is the Word of God.  For Peter and Paul, as courageous apostles who would both be martyred under Nero in Rome (64AD), spiritual warfare is not just the mission of a few selected professionals, but of every Christian disciple.

But in fulfilling our mission in the war against evil, we have a great Ally:

“Greater is he who is in me (that is, Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit) than he who is in the world (that is, the Prince of this world, Satan)” (1 John 4:4).   This is a Christian’s mantra when facing the specter of evil.  Jesus himself had said, “I do not ask you (Father) to take them out of the world, but to guard them from the evil one” (John 17:15).  The Lord promised us victory in him over all evil, even as Yahweh had promised in the beginning that the Woman’s seed would crush the head of the Serpent (Genesis 3:15).

So even though we approach what appears to be demonic possession, or rather what we usually identify as oppression or obsession, with prudence (doing everything possible to explore other causes for their behavior, such as psychological illnesses, emotional traumas, drug or alcohol abuse, even deceit and theater), we still act boldly and with confidence when we must.

Regarding exorcisms, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus performed exorcisms and from him the Church has received the power and office of exorcizing. In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. The solemn exorcism, called a “major exorcism,” can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. The priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church. Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church.  Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness” (1673).

Most of us have little reason to fear ever being possessed.  The Devil does not need to go to such extremes to get his bidding done.  He simply causes us to doubt God’s goodness, love, and power against evil in the world.  He questions our identity: “If you are the son of God…” (Matthew 4:3 & 6).

Whether tempting Eve, or Jesus, or you and me, Satan resorts to the same old tactics.  Rather than running from one exorcism to another, and rather than seeing the hand of the Devil in everything that seems to go wrong, we would do far better, and save our world a lot more grief, by simply learning to identify the mechanism of temptation and sin.  For why should the Devil waste his energies trying to inhabit souls, when millions so readily give themselves over to his dominion through sin, through addictions, and by getting entangled in witchcraft, the New Age, and the occult?  If fact, these forms of bondage to Satan are so devastating, they not only jeopardize our salvation, but leave behind us a wasteland of broken families and nations.

Being attacked by Satan doesn’t deprive us of heaven: in fact, many saints suffered continual spiritual warfare.  But submitting ourselves to his control through grave sin and witchcraft puts our souls in danger of condemnation.  And that’s exactly what the Devil wants: to tear us from the Heart of God.