Doing Spiritual Battle

At seventeen, a friend of the family paid for me to spend two and a half months in Medjugorje, a small village in former Yugoslavia where six children were having apparitions of Our Lady. It was my first time away from parental supervision and I was elated. There was no curfew nor a drinking age and I felt like a kid in a candy store. Much to my sponsors dismay (if she ever found out that is) the first week was not spent in the church praying, but partying in the pubs and discoteques on the outskirts of the town.

medjugorje_church

Then I had a major conversion experience, something that shook me to the core and grabbed me up out of the slippery slope I was falling down. This blog is not about that conversion experience, but about something that happened shortly thereafter that showed clearly how each one of us is doing spiritual battle whether we realize it or not.

After my conversion experience, I spent the next several weeks hungering and thirsting for the truth about my faith. I had gone to Catholic schools my whole life, but truth be known they were Catholic only in name. They were, what I call, Kumbaya Catholic Churches, lots of entertainment and fluff, but no substance.

Fortunately, there was an amazing priest in Medjugorje who would say daily mass in English and his homilies were chock full of sound Catholic teaching.  After learning some of the truth, I remember feeling robbed. What the heck was my Mom paying for at Catholic school anyway? It was just a bunch of people jumping around with their ears shut and eyes closed saying, “Happy, happy, joy, joy!” As if to say, I see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil.” Basically, it was a school in denial of this powerful spiritual reality.

Then my friend and I got invited to go to a healing mass by a different priest who had the gift of reading souls and healing people. He lived in a nearby village and so got in a bus and headed about a half an hour away to his small church. When we arrived we were early, so we sat in the front pews and chatted a bit. Then the holy priest came and began giving his talk. He was only ten minutes into his talk when we saw a lady enter from behind the altar pushing a girl in her twenties to the priest. He was clearly surprised, then turned to the daughter who began hissing and throwing herself down on the floor, swearing at him in a loud, snarling voice. He grabbed his crucifix around his neck and a bottle of holy water and began praying over her.

crucifix

Our group leader got in front and said to us to start saying the rosary. The exorcism lasted about five minutes more as the young lady shrieked, foamed at the mouth and her body convulsed wildly on the floor. Now, I have volunteered at the Courage Center for people with disabilities and have seen epileptic seizures. This was definitely not one of those. All, I can say was it was not human.

Then all of a sudden she relaxed, laid still on the ground and became very calm. A couple minutes later and the priest and her mother helped her to her feet. Then the mother and daughter exited the Church with the help of some of the other people from the village. We sat stunned. The holy priest was sweating and exhausted but calm. He got back up to the front of the Church and finished his talk.

Only a couple people know that story.  So, why do I blog about it now? Because, I see it as a huge gift that needs to be shared. It was as if the veil that hides the angelic powers (good and bad) was lifted and I saw the spiritual battle plain as day.

Leaving that Church I remember being in shock and feeling overwhelmingly grateful that Jesus Christ gave our beloved priests that special power to cast out demons. Although, it was terrifying to witness. It made me super sensitive to spiritual realities.

But I am dismayed at how many people take the battle so lightly. In fact, back in college I visited my sister who lived in New Orleans. I was shocked at the number of palm reading shops, voodoo stores and the like. Heck, to this day I shudder at kids who are involved in role playing evil spirits and the like. Sometimes it has literally made my hair stand up on the back of my neck to be in the same room with them. They have no clue what they are meddling with even if they don’t believe it will do any harm.

As St. Alphonsus Liguori says, “A person cannot be too cautious in keeping his eyes from dwelling on dangerous objects. If one does not avoid the voluntary occasions of sin, especially those which have frequently proved fatal to his innocence, it is morally impossible to persevere in the grace of God. ‘He that loves the danger shall perish in it.’ (Ecclus. 3.27)”

But, there is hope. “However great the temptation, if we knew how to use the weapon of prayer well, we shall come off conquerors at last; for prayer is more powerful than all the devils.” St. Bernard (1090-1183)

And our beloved Pope John Paul II  said that prayer and fasting are together the most powerful forces in the universe.

With that in mind, Lent is only three days away, let us ask some tough questions, shake ourselves out of our spiritual sloth, look realistically at the battle before us. Where are we in the battle? Are we on the front lines going against the grain of our culture or are we living the big easy?

“The devil only tempts those souls that wish to abandon sin and those that are in a state of grace. The others belong to him: he has no need to tempt them.” – St. John Vianney (1786-1859)

Perhaps now is time to make a firm resolve to implement changes, even if it is but adding five minutes of prayer to our morning routine or giving up watching some television in exchange for reflecting on Sacred Scriptures. Whatever the case maybe, do something however so small for the spiritual battle within your own life! A blessed forty days of Lent to you!