Friar’s Corner: Fighting the evil spirits around us
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8; Romans 11:13-15,29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
We could call events these days at least as a double-layered early storm. We have the physical story of the Covid virus and the political movement toward our November elections. I won’t sidestep today’s gospel of a Canaanite mother whose daughter is “tormented by a demon.” There are levels of demonic activity. Oppression deals with a person experiencing normal attacks by evil spirits. Obsession deals with evil spirits to create severe disturbances and blockage in a particular area of a person. God will not let evil spirits completely take over every area of a person’s life. They may hamper certain areas. We think of temptations, harassment, obsession or possession of certain areas of a person’s life.
In the gospel today a mother was aware of one of these areas in her daughter. Jesus brushes her aside since she was not a full Jewish observer. She is persistent and Jesus finally frees her daughter. This can be a very complicated area. Jesus gave His apostles and disciples some of His power to remove the demonic forces and free persons. I don’t see where He gave us power to put the demons back into hell. Only God can do that.
If we have spiritual eyes, we can see a lot of demonic things around us and in our culture and world. When I was teaching high school in Levittown, PA, in the 1970s God gave me a book, “Pigs in the Parlor,” by Frank and Ida Hammond. They were missionaries to Africa and were in New York City visiting. Frank observed that he saw more demons there than all his work in Africa. He listed 50+ categories of demonic activity. The head of each category is a controlling demon, giving orders for lesser ones to tempt, attack and possess us in certain areas of our life, like addictions, confusion, depression, death, physical and mental illness, and satanic music among many others. I have found in dealing with some of these that it is helpful to know what the controlling demon is in a group, like drug addiction or sexual abnormalities.\
God’s protection
I pray for God’s protection of myself and all that I do as a minister and ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit for wisdom to know how to help a person. I then take authority of the controlling evil spirit and break their orders for the lesser spirits under them. In Jesus’ name, I command the evil spirits present to leave the person or place (like a bar or house inhabited by evil spirits). Those I am dealing with here, I give four commands: to leave here peacefully and quietly and go immediately and directly to the Eucharistic presence of Jesus in the closest Catholic or Byzantine church tabernacle to be disposed of by Jesus. He knows what to do with those spirits. What I am dealing with in a person or palace, may not return. Of course, there are countless other demons doing the same nasty work. I then sprinkle the person or place with special blessed holy water with exorcism power.
There are then guidelines to give the person to keep free of things or areas where he or she had picked up the evil spirit or spirits like bars selling addictive alcoholic drinks. Getting close to Jesus in daily prayer is important. There is obviously more to be said. This is why I have been encouraging you to deepen your daily prayers for yourself, your family, work, parish and country especially the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the rosary. Satan wants to destroy our country and he, his fellow demons and human disciples and trying to destroy us. We must repent, beg God’s mercy for turning away from Him, forgive us, and daily pray for His love and mercy.
Protection/healing prayer
This is some of my protection/healing prayer. “Most high and glorious God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I praise and worship You for Who You are and all You have given me. I ask forgiveness for all of my sins. Please cover me with the Protective and Healing Blood of Jesus Christ, (Colossians 1:20) and give me all the graces I need to live Your abundant life today, (John 10:10c).”
“In the Name of Jesus Christ I bind and break the commands of all ruling spirits to harm me (1 Peter 5:8-9) in all ways and for all purposes even in my mind, the fire, air, atmosphere, wind, water, ground and underground, the satanic forces of nature and all communication media. I render their orders null and void, leaving no area where any negative forces, spirits and all their emissaries can get at me. I also break all spells, curses, hexes, voodoo and witchcraft sent to me. To all of these evil elements, I command you to leave me without doing any harm and go peacefully and quietly, immediately and directly, to the Eucharistic presence of Jesus Christ in the closest Catholic or Byzantine church tabernacle (for non-Catholics, go to the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ.) To be disposed of by Jesus. These may never return to harm me. Jesus, please heal the effects of these things in and around me.”
May the Holy Spirit give us the grace to get as close to Jesus as we can and give us all the wisdom and knowledge to stay clear of all of these satanic forces in, around or thrown at us. A note of comfort in that at every Mass there are two deliverance prayers. One at the end of the Our Father, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” and the prayer immediately following it, “Deliver us from all evil and grant us peace in our day.”
Peace and all good,
+ Father Bob Hilz, the flying eagle soaring about the cultural clouds of confusion and fear
fbhilz@gmail.com
(© 2020 Father Bob Hilz, TOR)
