Every diocese needs deliverance teams. I don’t say this lightly. I say it because I am experiencing issues pertaining to the diabolical with greater and greater frequency and intensity.
I never sought any of this out. A priest friend and I constantly joke that we are magnets for the weird, and we never asked for it. The Lord sends to both of us those who are dealing with the demonic or who are engaging in occult practices. I have already shared some of what I am seeing with college students in other articles.
Over the course of the last decade, I’ve noticed an increase in spiritual warfare in my own life, which has led to the Lord sending me individuals struggling with or concerned by spiritual attacks. It started with someone who couldn’t seem to get to Mass because they became physically ill. After this, more and more people were sent to me—one due to disturbing dreams, another because of a “presence” in one of the rooms of their house (which I distinctly felt upon my visit), multiple people have been held down in the middle of the night by dark figures, another woke up with strange scratches on their arms. Furthermore, occult items are regularly brought to me, and my priest friend texts me with some regularity to request intercession while he deals with different situations pertaining to the demonic and occult.
And this isn’t even the worst of it. Recently, the Lord led me into multiple situations that are the stuff of nightmares and horror movies.
Of all people, I hate being scared. I despise horror movies. I distinctly remember running out of a haunted house screaming as a young child. I am not curious in the least about the occult or demonic. However, when someone brings me an occult item to decommission and destroy, I feel zeal for the Lord well up inside of me. Like St. Boniface who cut down the Pagan oak of Geismar, I want to see the item thoroughly destroyed.
Despite my dislike of being scared, the Lord decided that someone like me should deal with this darkness. That’s how I know the graces are His alone. I never would have asked for this task. I have been led to the very edge of what I can handle, and He has given me the fortitude and charity to go into dark tombs where He wants to rescue the lost. It’s all His doing. Love truly conquers fear.
Our response when faced with the demonic is often disbelief—claiming, “it’s all psychological”—or terror. Recently, we heard at Mass the Gospel of the Gadarene demoniacs:
When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. They cried out, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go then!” They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
(Mt. 8:28-34)
So often we are like the people of the town. We’d rather ignore the demoniacs among us, leaving souls trapped, because it’s too horrifying to confront the reality of demons. This town sends Jesus away when He delivers these two people who literally lived among the tombs at the edge of town. They were trapped in spiritual death; He sought to deliver them; The town didn’t want deliverance; They sent Jesus away. The danger for us is to do the same thing to the people who are suffering around us. Full demonic possession is rare, but it is not the only way the enemy afflicts people. There are people being sent by the Lord to us right now who are afflicted, and we are ignoring them.
The other danger is to ascribe everything to the psychological. It’s true that a lot of cases are mental illness, but there is also a disturbing uptick in the number of people who are being diabolically harassed. The people I encounter who are suffering spiritual attacks have been victims of abuse, rape, trafficking, family occult activity, addiction, generational curses, witchcraft, Free Masonry, mediums, psychics, Ouija, etc. Young people are dabbling in the occult at a higher level thanks to social media and cultural acceptance.
There is often a blending of the psychological and preternatural. Those who are battling demonic forces also have psychological issues. It’s not an either/or situation in many cases. There are people I have ministered to whose lives have been in danger due to diabolical attacks that mimicked their mental illnesses. It was clear to everyone involved that both the psychological and preternatural were at work. If we had ignored the signs, some people may well have committed suicide. It’s that serious. Monsignor Rossetti talks regularly about how demons tempt the afflicted to suicide. I’ve witnessed it firsthand.
Our response should never be one of judgment or repugnance—these lead to the extremes of indifference or flight. There should be a deep Christian desire to see these individuals freed in Christ from whatever is harassing them. We also need to spiritually fight against the growing darkness in our culture.
Someone I know in the clergy had a dream he was being cursed by a witch. That’s something to take very seriously. Why wouldn’t witches, Satanists, and others curse our priests and seminarians?! Our dioceses should be fighting back against curses and spiritual attacks; we should assume that Satan and his minions are doing everything to undermine our efforts. This is war. Our officers are our bishops, priests, and deacons—they are the enemy’s primary target, along with those men in formation and discernment to become priests. This is a good reminder that, when we are faithfully serving the Lord, the enemy will attack us in order to try to prevent our good works.
The current cultural landscape requires a more proactive spiritual approach. We need deliverance and healing teams in each diocese to help with the growing number of people who are experiencing the diabolical in their lives and homes. The occult is everywhere in our culture. There are AI Ouija boards now, and Witchtok is very popular among young people. I was standing in the store Five Below with my daughter last week, and we saw earrings that had the phrase “I have a crystal for that” written on the package. Below them were bracelets with astrological signs and evil eye earrings. The store predominately targets teens and college students.
It’s for all these reasons that dioceses need to build up deliverance teams to assist in the increase in reports of diabolical activity. Most cases are not possessions, but there are plenty of oppressions, obsessions, infestations, occult activity, and vexations to keep deliverance teams busy. Deliverance teams can also help educate everyone serving in active ministry as to what to look for in the cases that walk into our parishes and campus ministries, and to inform Catholics of what to avoid and how to fight the good spiritual fight.
We as a Church must start taking this seriously. It doesn’t matter that it makes us uncomfortable. We are in a spiritual war. There is nothing comfortable about war. While we should not over-spiritualize every problem in people’s lives, the biggest problem we have today is under-spiritualizing what is happening to people. We have forgotten the spiritual war we are actually in.
Most of the situations I have been sent were easily fixed through the Sacraments, sacramentals, a house blessing, getting rid of occult items, commissioning the firepit in my backyard to destroy said items, and telling people to pray Monsignor Rossetti’s monthly deliverance sessions and to regularly use the prayers for the laity in his Catholic Exorcism App.
I have also seen how some cases can be a matter of life and death, which is why I am raising the alarm. We need people trained in our dioceses to help educate Catholics on how to respond to the diabolical and to minister to those experiencing demonic activity.
It is our duty as Christians to go into dark tombs to bring lost souls into the brilliant light of the Risen Lord. May we not be like the people of the Gadarene region who sent the Lord away; instead, may we seek out the lost who are trapped in the snares of the enemy. To do so, we must start seeing with the eyes of supernatural faith, hope, and love, so we can discern how to help the people He sends us who have been wandering among the tombs. We also need to warn people of the serious consequences of dabbling in the occult. This is what deliverance and healing teams can offer to dioceses. There is plenty of work in every diocese to keep multiple teams extremely busy if we have the courage to see the need.
Photo by The Cleveland Museum of Art on Unsplash
