Called to be Children of Light

As Christians we are called to follow Christ and the Gospel.  To put our faith, our hope and our trust in Jesus who is all powerful.  In some circles there is a strange fascination with praying against evil spirits, binding evil spirits and deliverance prayers.   But I have never read anything in the Saints writings about deliverance ministries or about binding evil spirits except of course in relation to the ministry of exorcism which is for Priests alone.  St. Jean Vianney and St. Padre Pio for instance endured many direct attacks from the evil one.  But they simply concentrated their lives on Christ, the celebration of the Holy Sacraments, and praying to Our Lady and the Saints.  The evil one hated them because they were saving many souls through their lives of prayer and sanctity.

Jesus, Mary, the Saints and the Angels will protect us and fight for us on our behalf when we turn to them in prayer.  We have the Sacraments of Confession and the Holy Eucharist, the Rosary and Sacramentals (holy water, scapulars, relics etc).  We have great treasures in our Church.  I think we have to be very careful and wary of praying directly against evil spirits and using deliverance prayers.  This should be left to a Priest who is trained in this area if someone needs help.    When we think of the Saints such as St. Jean Vianney, St. Padre Pio, St. Faustina, St. Therese, St. John of the Cross and so many more, none of them mention deliverance ministries or how to bind evil spirits.   Their lives were centred on Christ and the Gospel, and that is all they needed.  The Holy Mass, regular Confession, Eucharistic Adoration, the Rosary, devotion to Our Lady, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Prayers to St. Michael and the Angels, living a life of honesty and simplicity, doing the works of mercy, reading the Bible and the lives of the Saints and staying away from sin - these are our remedies against evil...

John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist

When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we really receive Him.  Our Lord, our Redeemer comes personally to us.  After Holy Mass, it is good to stop and stay for a while in thanksgiving to talk to Him, listen to Him and give Him our prayers and petitions at this time.  It is sad that we walk away after Mass too quickly and leave Jesus alone and I have done it myself, often taking Him very much for granted.  Lord help me to be more attentive to your presence, when I receive You in Holy Communion. 

In the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus lamented the following..

 "When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion," He said, "My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. ... They treat Me as a dead object"

(Diary of St. Faustina, 1385)

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The following are words from St. Therese of Lisieux

"Receive Communion often, very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing..."

"The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks."