By FR. JAMES ALTMAN
Dear family, we have talked about how big Galilee is, how it comprised the northern quarter of Israel, about 2,000 square miles. And we talked about how Jesus’ reputation spread throughout all of Galilee because — when He was in the synagogue in Capernaum there was a man in there possessed by a demon and Jesus drove out the demon and, quote:
“All were amazed and asked one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him.’ His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee” (Mark 1:27-28).
Now in this morning’s Gospel passage we heard how upon leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon — who is Peter — and Andrew, with James and John, and cured Peter’s mother-in-law. It is interesting that right at the beginning, Jesus cured Peter’s mother-in-law with four apostles present. And that’s not all Jesus did there. Listen closely.
When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to Him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town — so we’re talking about Capernaum — was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and He drove out many demons. Then Jesus went off by Himself to a deserted place where He prayed. Simon Peter and the other apostles tracked Him down, whereupon Jesus said to them, quote:
“Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So He went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. So the Truth is that Jesus went around everywhere, where He drove out demons.
So it is natural to ponder the question: What do people who are possessed by demons actually look like and act?
We, you and I, pretty much are conditioned by Hollywood and our culture as to exactly what a demon-kind-of-person would look like and behave. With the rise of the occult in recent times, there is more and more curiosity about this.
The first thing to remember about possession, however, is discernment.
Catholic News Agency in 2016 published the following:
“Recognizing the difference between a person who’s possessed and a person struggling with a mental illness or other infirmity is a vital part of the ministry of exorcism, according to a longtime exorcist and priest.
“Fr. Cipriano de Meo, who has been an exorcist since 1952, told CNA’s Italian agency ACI Stampa that typically, a person is not possessed but is struggling with some other illness.
“The key to telling the difference, he said, is through discernment in prayer on the part of the exorcist and the possessed – and in the potentially possessed person’s reaction to the exorcist himself and the prayers being said.
“The exorcist will typically say ‘(a) prolonged prayer to the point where if the Adversary is present, there’s a reaction,’ he said.
“ ‘A possessed person has various general attitudes towards an exorcist, who is seen by the Adversary as an enemy ready to fight him.’
“Fr. de Meo described the unsettling reaction that a possessed person usually has, detailing a common response to the exorcist’s prayer.
“ ‘There’s no lack of frightening facial expressions, threatening words or gestures and other things,’ he said, ‘but especially blasphemies against God and Our Lady.’
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between demonic activity and mental illness. From paragraph 1673: “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’.”
All that is not exactly the visual picture we get out of a scary Hollywood movie. The point isn’t so much the frothing at the mouth like a rabid dog, or spewing forth pea soup like Linda Blair, but rather the blasphemies against Our Lord and Lady, as one would expect from the evil spirits.
However, there’s an even more important point to be made: Who does most of the evil work of Satan? Those who promote an evil agenda. It is not merely in sin, for we all are sinners. Rather, in its most clear form, it is seen when people try to change the Truth about sin, when they try to take something that was wrong, and make it right. Here is the best example in our day.
Most people can spout off the case name — Roe v. Wade — as being responsible for the absolute slaughter of over 60 million not-yet-born innocent babies here in the United States. But I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people I have met who have actually read the Supreme Court’s “decision” — which we call an “an opinion.” Always remember: Truth is 9-0, mere man-made opinions are more like 7-2, with voting along political lines.
Notice again, and right away, that it is known as an “opinion.” It is not entitled “Transcendent Law of Almighty God.” It only an “opinion.”
So for the first 184 years of the existence of the United States, the eternal Truth that was followed in this country was that slaughtering innocents was evil. Suddenly, based merely on the opinion of some diabolical men on the Supreme Court, it suddenly became okay to slaughter 60 million innocent babies. It did not matter that for 4,000 years, Almighty God’s Transcendent Law was that slaughtering innocents in the womb was evil. Nor did it matter that in 1973, the belief of the vast majority of Americans was that slaughtering innocents was evil to the core. The only thing that mattered was the opinion of the majority — seven — of the nine on the Supreme Court.
Now I actually have read the Roe v. Wade opinion of the majority of those men written by one of them, Harry Blackmun. And Amen, I say to you, as I read it, it seemed like I was reading the most evil words of Satan himself, its words were soaked in evil, straight from the bowels of Hell. But then, murdering innocents is from the bowels of Hell.
You will know a person is in the service of Satan by their profoundly anti-Christ agenda, and how they try to change evil into good. They are, so to speak, “possessed” by the desire to fight God and serve the Devil. We actually do know evil when we see it, and it is long past time for us to put a name on it.
If we do not get it through our heads that Satan comes amongst us dressed like ordinary people, that the wolves actually do dress in sheep’s clothing, and that the only way we can tell who they are is by identifying their anti-Christian agenda, then we will not heed the warning of Pope St. John Paul II in 1978: “We must prepare ourselves to suffer great trials before long, such as will demand of us a disposition to give up even life, and a total dedication to Christ and for Christ.”
God bless you all and keep you safe in these dangerous days.
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