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by Rev. Fr. V.V. Paulose, Toronto, Canada
"Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!" (Luke 10:17)
Demons are still in action! Isn't it? But their
wings are clipped at the mention of His name.
No sins can be done without Satan. He is real. They are waiting for their
eternal punishment. "Go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels" (Mathew 25:41). They are the fallen angels. The Book of Genesis relates
how Satan, taking the form of the serpent, tempted Adam and Eve to sin. In the
Bible, he is called "the ruler of this world" (John 12;13), and "the God of this
world" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Satan has no supernatural powers. God permits the devil to act in order to turn
evil to good. Devils act through temptations, infestation, oppression,
obsession, and demonic possession. The heinous, inhuman, horrendous, monstrous
massacre like holocaust by Hitler in Germany and the recent mass killing in
Ivory Coast could not have been done by human beings, who are created in God's
own image, without the possession of the demons. All sins are attributed to the
devil by the willingness and consent of human beings.
Stop sinning by not falling in lines with the devil's cunningness is the
solution for this malady. Accept Jesus as our God and Lord; wash our sins and
invite him to stay always with us. Keep His name always on our foreheads and
lips. Don't be scared of the demon, but be scared to sin.
Saint Bernardino would invite the people to contemplate the Holy Name of Jesus
to ward off all evils. He had a plaque carved with the letters 'HIS' - the Greek
abbreviation for Jesus) which he showed at the end of his sermons. Confession,
reconciliation, fasting and prayer, receiving holy communion and to live in line
with the principles of Jesus are ways to come out from the clutches of the devil
and ward off his activities.
In 2003, Beatrice, a 47 year old married woman who worked as a biologist in a
medical lab, began experiencing odd incidents - freak accidents, objects moving
around the house on their own, a mysterious force that pushed her mother to the
ground breaking her arm, etc.. A year later, burn marks began appearing on all
her clothing, always in the same place, on the thigh, and always the same size.
Thinking she was losing her mind, she eventually found her way to a priest. By
invoking the name of Jesus, she was finally freed from the demonic possession.
She said that the passage from the gospel of Luke 4:16-18 - "the spirit of the
Lord is upon me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, let the oppressed go free" was the marvelous confirmation that the Lord
had liberated her.
"This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held by Satan for 18 years.
Isn't it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath" (Luke 13 16).
Jesus, deliver the people who are suffering under the influence of Satan. We beseech you to make him powerless, banish and drive out every diabolic power, every bad influence and evil actions aimed against your servants. Where there is envy and malice, give us the abundance of goodness, endurance and victory. Help us and let the angel of peace watch over us to protect our bodies and souls. All we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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