The Church and the Devil

During the course of Blessed Paul VI’s pontificate there was a timely question raised regarding the greatest need of the Church today. The answer he gave is not that simplistic or superstitious and unreal. The greatest need of the Church today, Blessed Paul VI said, is the defense from the evil that we call the devil. 

St. John Paul II reiterated the same sentiment during his visit to the Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel on May 24, 1987. He said, “The battle against the devil, which is the principal task of St. Michael the Archangel, is still being fought today, because the devil is still alive and active in the world.”          

Pope Benedict XVI during the Angelus address on February 17, 2013 talked about the influence of the devil on modern society and on our lives, clearly indicating that the devil is a malign influence behind the ascendancy of secularist atheism and the secularist agendas and policies being pursued. He said, “The tempter is cunning. He does not directly impel us towards evil but rather towards a false good, making us believe that the true realities are power and everything that satisfies our primary needs. In this way God becomes secondary, he is reduced to a means; in short, he becomes unreal, he no longer counts, he disappears.”     

Despite these messages of the previous pontiffs, there is an inconvenient reality happening right now. Many in the Catholic Church either deny the existence of the devil, or tend to see him as someone that cannot interact in a major way in man’s day-to-day living. Lay Catholic preacher Bo Sanchez spoke about his experiences in certain theological schools in our country regarding this unbelief of religious and Church people in the existence of the devil.      

Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia, Chief Exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila, in his book Exorcism: Encounters with the Paranormal and the Occult stresses the grand strategy of Satan in today’s modern world—to make man believe that he does not exist. That somehow explains why Christians never put up a fight or establish any form of defense against him. Many even end up, he said, blaming God for their miseries because of unawareness of the hidden enemy striking them in the many areas of their lives. “Part of the difficulty of resisting demonic attacks is that most of them are not recognized as such even by many Christians,” explained Fr. Benedict Heron, OSB in his book I Saw Satan Fall. He continued, “He [Satan] is normally happier not to be recognized but to work in a hidden and secret way—there is less danger of stirring up opposition if he is unrecognized.”

Because of the wickedness of our times, extraordinary demonic assault cases are on the rise—infestation, oppression, obsession, and possession. Fr. Carl Vogl in his documentary Be Gone Satan!, tells us that “it is precisely through the cooperation of sinners that the devil has such power on earth.” 

The challenge for us now is to wake up to the reality of the existence and malevolent action of the devil in our world and take action against him, our enemy since the time of our first parents. Let us heed Blessed Paul VI’s exhortation: “We must fight against spirits, the spirits that swarm all around us. In other words, we must fight against the demon… this dark and disturbing being truly exists and is still active with predatory cunning. He is the hidden enemy who sows error, misfortune, decadence, and degradation in human history.”   

The Second Vatican Council in the document Gaudium et Spes reminds us all that this battle against the fallen angels will last until the end of time. The Post-conciliar document Christian Faith and Demonology adds that it would indeed be a fatal mistake to act as if history is already finished and redemption had achieved all its effects, and that it would no longer be necessary to engage in the struggle of which the New Testament and the masters of the spiritual life speak.

We, as Catholics, must always be prepared to enter into the midst of this spiritual battle. As Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR and Randall J. Cirner in their book Deliverance from Evil Spirits would say, "There is no room for compromise, no basis for peaceful coexistence. There  can only struggle and opposition... God calls his people to attack the kingdom of darkness and to further the kingdom of light. Man is born into then midst of this struggle; by its very nature he must fight in it. No one can escape from it. Every man and woman must choose whom they will serve."

I would like to end this one with the words from the Evening Prayer Hymn of Friday Week III in the Liturgy of the Hours, "Choose we now in freedom where we should belong, let us turn to Jesus, let our choice be strong."

Halloween and Demonic Phenomena

"Many people are desensitized by true evil just because they are daily exposed to silly evil." Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Well, our celebrations for Halloween are upcoming, and while we're at it scaring the hell out of some folk or watching some freaky show on the movies or on TV, why not let's review some basics on demonic phenomena...
if we're not that careful enough!

 Basics of Demonic Phenomena

Satan is indeed present in our modern age. Here, the Pope exorcises a
supposedly possessed person by simply laying hands on him. Officials
from the Vatican confirm that it indeed was an exorcism.

The devil normally acts in us through temptation, he calls and seduces us to do the bad by trapping us especially that what we are about to do wrong is really good. We may welcome it, but we must fight it out through a devoted Christian life.

And now to extraordinary demonic phenomena.

First thing, a demonic infestation does not mean you will spin your head for 360 degrees and do the crazy climb down the stairs like the one possessed in "The Exorcist". It does not mean too that your mind will  suddenly go bonkers and you will act as if you were inhabited by something else. Nope, but if you are reckless enough, that will lead you towards "it".

Demonic infestation is a phenomena wherein the Devil enters your life via a "doorway" and sets part of your life kaput. That is, he will scare the hell out of you or make your life a bit "hellish" if you knowingly or unknowingly let him in. And for a formal definition: " [Infestation] is a phenomena in which the Devil affects you indirectly  via things, places or animals." (Fr. Gabriele Amorth, An exorcist tells his story).

Next, demonic obsession. It occurs when one's mind is infested by the Devil. Thoughts of murder, suicide and otherviolent things may come to you. Normally, one who is under this state is constantly depressed, agitated or suicidal.

Third, is everyone's "favorite" sort of phenomena. Seen usually in movies like the 'Exorcist", "Deliver us from Evil", "The Rite" and more, demonic possession is a state where a person's body is possessed by Satan himself. Things like hidden knowledge, aversion to sacred things and displays of violence and hate are normally seen in a possessed person.

Some of these cases are healed by deliverance prayers and conversion to an active Christian life. Others need an official rite of the Church, a sacramental called Exorcism, which is administered by an exorcist-priest.

Not really a trifle....

Fr. Gabriele Amorth, exorcist of the Diocese of Rome,
famous for effectively doing THOUSANDS of exorcisms.

"The battle against the devil, which is the principal task of Saint Michael the Archangel, is still being fought today, because the devil is still alive and active in the world. The evil that surrounds us today, the disorders that plague our society, man's inconsistency and brokenness, are not only the results of original sin, but also the result of Satan's pervasive and dark action." (St. John Paul II, Message on his visit to Santuario San Michele in Mt. Gargano, May 1987)

Well, why am I discussing these things? It is to show all of you that Satan is alive and kicking in our world, and not only in the figments of our heads only to be displayed during Halloween.

For one thing, I can tell everyone that the Devil exists, just as God plainly and simply exists in this world. And I know he hates those who are loved and those who love God. He hates those who stay away from him and "loves" those who offer themselves to his service.

Things that we usually try from the occult as a joke like Ouija boards, necromancy, divining, occult activities and paraphernalia may seem harmless like an ordinary drink, but we do not know that like a harmless cup of water, it is already poisoned by Satan a means of bringing down his evil spells around us.

Are we temples of the Holy Spirit? Or are we just potent devils
fooling around a world that belongs to God's children? Hmmm...

Going on, we notice that all of the things we usually do at Halloween like dressing up as ghouls, monsters and foul creatures, do not serve as a means of achieving our true purpose: that is glorifying God by our bodies. We instead praise the side which we must avoid and prevent: the forces of Evil that lurk in our society and is the cause of our own downfall.

Thus, we must be wary of opening up avenues for the Devil to enter into our lives. Fr. Francis Lucas of the CBCP reminds the faithful; "Do not tempt the Devil, especially now that there are many cases of demonic possession." Numerous saints, blessed and exorcist-priests can tell us that Satan exists in the world, and we are fighting against him tooth-and-nail in the name of God.

And so...

Arm yourself up with these!

Instead of thinking about horrifying your Halloween, why not be sane enough to live out the real meaning of its name 'Hallow-eve" or "blessed night"... You can maybe read up on a life of a saint you like, or watch a movie about them. You can dress up yourself or your children as their favorite saints at a party. You can begin preparing yourself for a trip to the cemetery or pray for your dear departed. As long as you do not make yourself a target by the Devil and his many schemes of entering you.

This is fun and informative. Dress your kids up as a saint/blessed and let the example
of the Saint they represent inspire them to push for greater holiness!

(For these days, I instead plan to visit cemeteries and pray for the dead, venerate some relics I cherish in my possession (to solve my "freaky" side), and to double up my reading of some saint's lives.)

Finally, "It is also clear that the believer must be faithful to God and must fear sin. This is the basis of our strength, as Saint John tells us:"We know that any one born of God does not sin, but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him"(I Jn 5:18). If sometimes our weakness leads us to fall, we must immediately pick ourselves up with that great gift of God's mercy: repentance and confession." (Fr. Gabriel Amorth, An exorcist tells his story).

The Symbolism of the Sacramental Signs

A Homily of Pope Benedict XVI during the Chrism Mass

Holy Thursday, April 1, 2010

At the centre of the Church’s worship is the notion of “sacrament”. This means that it is not primarily we who act, but God comes first to meet us through his action, he looks upon us and he leads us to himself. Another striking feature is this: God touches us through material things, through gifts of creation that he takes up into his service, making them instruments of the encounter between us and himself. There are four elements in creation on which the world of sacraments is built: water, bread, wine and olive oil. Water, as the basic element and fundamental condition of all life, is the essential sign of the act in which, through baptism, we become Christians and are born to new life. While water is the vital element everywhere, and thus represents the shared access of all people to rebirth as Christians, the other three elements belong to the culture of the Mediterranean region. In other words, they point towards the concrete historical environment in which Christianity emerged. God acted in a clearly defined place on the earth, he truly made history with men. On the one hand, these three elements are gifts of creation, and on the other, they also indicate the locality of the history of God with us. They are a synthesis between creation and history: gifts of God that always connect us to those parts of the world where God chose to act with us in historical time, where he chose to become one of us.

Within these three elements there is a further gradation. Bread has to do with everyday life. It is the fundamental gift of life day by day. Wine has to do with feasting, with the fine things of creation, in which, at the same time, the joy of the redeemed finds particular expression. Olive oil has a wide range of meaning. It is nourishment, it is medicine, it gives beauty, it prepares us for battle and it gives strength. Kings and priests are anointed with oil, which is thus a sign of dignity and responsibility, and likewise of the strength that comes from God. Even the name that we bear as “Christians” contains the mystery of the oil. The word “Christians”, in fact, by which Christ’s disciples were known in the earliest days of Gentile Christianity, is derived from the word “Christ” (Acts 11:20-21) – the Greek translation of the word “Messiah”, which means “anointed one”. To be a Christian is to come from Christ, to belong to Christ, to the anointed one of God, to whom God granted kingship and priesthood. It means belonging to him whom God himself anointed – not with material oil, but with the One whom the oil represents: with his Holy Spirit. Olive oil is thus in a very particular way a symbol of the total compenetration of the man Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

In the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, the holy oils are at the centre of the liturgical action. They are consecrated in the bishop’s cathedral for the whole year. They thus serve also as an expression of the Church’s unity, guaranteed by the episcopate, and they point to Christ, the true “shepherd and guardian” of our souls, as Saint Peter calls him (1 Pet 2:25). At the same time, they hold together the entire liturgical year, anchored in the mystery of Holy Thursday. Finally, they point to the Garden of Olives, the scene of Jesus’ inner acceptance of his Passion. Yet the Garden of Olives is also the place from which he ascended to the Father, and is therefore the place of redemption: God did not leave Jesus in death. Jesus lives for ever with the Father, and is therefore omnipresent, with us always. This double mystery of the Mount of Olives is also always “at work” within the Church’s sacramental oil. In four sacraments, oil is the sign of God’s goodness reaching out to touch us: in baptism, in confirmation as the sacrament of the Holy Spirit, in the different grades of the sacrament of holy orders and finally in the anointing of the sick, in which oil is offered to us, so to speak, as God’s medicine – as the medicine which now assures us of his goodness, offering us strength and consolation, yet at the same time points beyond the moment of the illness towards the definitive healing, the resurrection (cf. Jas 5:14). Thus oil, in its different forms, accompanies us throughout our lives: beginning with the catechumenate and baptism, and continuing right up to the moment when we prepare to meet God, our Judge and Saviour. Moreover, the Chrism Mass, in which the sacramental sign of oil is presented to us as part of the language of God’s creation, speaks in particular to us who are priests: it speaks of Christ, whom God anointed King and Priest – of him who makes us sharers in his priesthood, in his “anointing”, through our own priestly ordination.

I should like, then, to attempt a brief interpretation of the mystery of this holy sign in its essential reference to the priestly vocation. In popular etymologies a connection was made, even in ancient times, between the Greek word “elaion” – oil – and the word “eleos” – mercy. In fact, in the various sacraments, consecrated oil is always a sign of God’s mercy. So the meaning of priestly anointing always includes the mission to bring God’s mercy to those we serve. In the lamp of our lives, the oil of mercy should never run dry. Let us always obtain it from the Lord in good time – in our encounter with his word, in our reception of the sacraments, in the time we spend with him in prayer.

As a consequence of the story of the dove bearing an olive branch to signal the end of the flood – and thus God’s new peace with the world of men – not only the dove but also the olive branch and oil itself have become symbols of peace. The Christians of antiquity loved to decorate the tombs of their dead with the crown of victory and the olive branch, symbol of peace. They knew that Christ conquered death and that their dead were resting in the peace of Christ. They knew that they themselves were awaited by Christ, that he had promised them the peace which the world cannot give. They remembered that the first words of the Risen Lord to his disciples were: “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19). He himself, so to speak, bears the olive branch, he introduces his peace into the world. He announces God’s saving goodness. He is our peace. Christians should therefore be people of peace, people who recognize and live the mystery of the Cross as a mystery of reconciliation. Christ does not conquer through the sword, but through the Cross. He wins by conquering hatred. He wins through the force of his greater love. The Cross of Christ expresses his “no” to violence. And in this way, it is God’s victory sign, which announces Jesus’ new way. The one who suffered was stronger than the ones who exercised power. In his self-giving on the Cross, Christ conquered violence. As priests we are called, in fellowship with Jesus Christ, to be men of peace, we are called to oppose violence and to trust in the greater power of love.

A further aspect of the symbolism of oil is that it strengthens for battle. This does not contradict the theme of peace, but forms part of it. The battle of Christians consisted – and still consists – not in the use of violence, but in the fact that they were – and are – ready to suffer for the good, for God. It consists in the fact that Christians, as good citizens, keep the law and do what is just and good. It consists in the fact that they do not do whatever within the legal system in force is not just but unjust. The battle of the martyrs consists in their concrete “no” to injustice: by taking no part in idolatry, in Emperor worship, they refused to bow down before falsehood, before the adoration of human persons and their power. With their “no” to falsehood and all its consequences, they upheld the power of right and truth. Thus they served true peace. Today too it is important for Christians to follow what is right, which is the foundation of peace. Today too it is important for Christians not to accept a wrong that is enshrined in law – for example the killing of innocent unborn children. In this way we serve peace, in this way we find ourselves following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, of whom Saint Peter says: “When he was reviled he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet 2:23f.).

October 29: St. Gaetano Errico

"Let us kindle the love of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the hearts of all people." (St. Gaetano Errico, 1791- 1860)

Well, I do not post much now about Saints and Holy Relics (which is my specialty, but I do not post much about it because of other concerns that needs posting), but because it is my birthday, I could not help but post about a Saint whom I admire much and whose presence in his relics bring me great joy.

St. Gaetano Errico is a priest-founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, whose main charisma and apostolate was to promote devotion to the Sacred Hearts. Born in Naples, Gaetano Errico entered the local diocesan seminary at age sixteen. In 1815, he was ordained a priest and spent the next twenty years teaching. He had a vision in which St. Alphonsus Liguori instructed him to found a new religious order. He had a great devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1836 he founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The community is dedicated to serving the needs of God’s family while witnessing the great love present in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. By the time of his death at 10 am of October 29th,  the community had ten houses in southern Italy. He was beatified in 2002 by St. John Paul II and canonized in 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Why I like him so much, let our blog's favorite theologian, Benedict XVI say it for us:

"The ministry of reconciliation, therefore, is a ministry that is relevant. The priest Gaetano Errico, founder of the Congregazione dei Missionari dei Sacri Cuori di Gesù e di Maria, dedicated himself to this sacrament with diligence, assiduity and patience, never refusing it nor counting the cost. He thus entered among the group of other extraordinary priests who tirelessly made the confessional a place to dispense God's mercy, helping men to rediscover themselves, to fight against sin and make progress in the spiritual life. The street and the confessional were the two particular places of Gaetano Errico's pastoral work. The street was the place that permitted him to offer his customary invitation: "God loves you, when shall we meet?" and in the confession he made their encounter with the mercy of the heavenly Father possible. How many wounded souls did he heal in this way! How many people did he help to be reconciled with God through the sacrament of forgiveness! In this way St. Gaetano Errico became an expert in the "science" of forgiveness, and concerned himself with teaching it to his missionaries: "God, who does not wish the death of the sinner, is always more merciful than his ministers; so be as merciful as you can and you will find mercy with God!" (Benedict XVI, Homily at Canonization Mass, October 2008).

Personally, I got to know this Saint when I was still a sophomore student in High School. I was looking for a birthday Saint to celebrate with, and through God's providence I was introduced to him. I researched and saw that some of my friends had relics of him. Fast forward to 2011, I was introduced by a friend to Fathers Luigi Toscano, postulator of the Cause, and Fr. Salvatore Izzo, who worked in the MSsCc General Curia. (Fr. Salvatore died recently, may his memory be eternal!) I asked Fr. Izzo if he had any relics of St. Gaetano, to which he replied via FB that he can ask Fr. Toscano about it. Soon enough, a package arrived at home with his relics. That made me so happy. I was now close to a special protector and friend.

A relic of St. Gaetano which I have in my custody.
The image is not mine, but is taken somewhere from the Internet.

Having a birthday saint is cool. You get to know that on your day, countless Saints are cheering you up to become holier and better each day. They challenge you to become holy like them: "If its possible for them, its possible for me too!" So, this birthday of mine is not merely a day to celebrate a gift called "myself" but also of the gifts of the Saints whose constant presence and intercession we never fail to invoke.

The Two Dimensions of Love

An excerpt from the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est.

Can we love God without seeing him? And can love be commanded? Against the double commandment of love these questions raise a double objection. No one has ever seen God, so how could we love him? Moreover, love cannot be commanded; it is ultimately a feeling that is either there or not, nor can it be produced by the will. Scripture seems to reinforce the first objection when it states: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20). But this text hardly excludes the love of God as something impossible. On the contrary, the whole context of the passage quoted from the First Letter of John shows that such love is explicitly demanded. The unbreakable bond between love of God and love of neighbour is emphasized. One is so closely connected to the other that to say that we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbour or hate him altogether. Saint John's words should rather be interpreted to mean that love of neighbour is a path that leads to the encounter with God, and that closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God.

True, no one has ever seen God as he is. And yet God is not totally invisible to us; he does not remain completely inaccessible. God loved us first, says the Letter of John quoted above (cf. 4:10), and this love of God has appeared in our midst. He has become visible in as much as he “has sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 Jn4:9). God has made himself visible: in Jesus we are able to see the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Indeed, God is visible in a number of ways. In the love-story recounted by the Bible, he comes towards us, he seeks to win our hearts, all the way to the Last Supper, to the piercing of his heart on the Cross, to his appearances after the Resurrection and to the great deeds by which, through the activity of the Apostles, he guided the nascent Church along its path. Nor has the Lord been absent from subsequent Church history: he encounters us ever anew, in the men and women who reflect his presence, in his word, in the sacraments, and especially in the Eucharist. In the Church's Liturgy, in her prayer, in the living community of believers, we experience the love of God, we perceive his presence and we thus learn to recognize that presence in our daily lives. He has loved us first and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love. God does not demand of us a feeling which we ourselves are incapable of producing. He loves us, he makes us see and experience his love, and since he has “loved us first”, love can also blossom as a response within us.

In the gradual unfolding of this encounter, it is clearly revealed that love is not merely a sentiment. Sentiments come and go. A sentiment can be a marvellous first spark, but it is not the fullness of love. Earlier we spoke of the process of purification and maturation by whicheros comes fully into its own, becomes love in the full meaning of the word. It is characteristic of mature love that it calls into play all man's potentialities; it engages the whole man, so to speak. Contact with the visible manifestations of God's love can awaken within us a feeling of joy born of the experience of being loved. But this encounter also engages our will and our intellect. Acknowledgment of the living God is one path towards love, and the “yes” of our will to his will unites our intellect, will and sentiments in the all- embracing act of love. But this process is always open-ended; love is never “finished” and complete; throughout life, it changes and matures, and thus remains faithful to itself. Idem velle atque idem nolle—to want the same thing, and to reject the same thing—was recognized by antiquity as the authentic content of love: the one becomes similar to the other, and this leads to a community of will and thought. The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God's will increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self- abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy (cf. Ps 73 [72]:23-28).

Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in others an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern. This I can offer them not only through the organizations intended for such purposes, accepting it perhaps as a political necessity. Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave. Here we see the necessary interplay between love of God and love of neighbour which the First Letter of John speaks of with such insistence. If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God. But if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be “devout” and to perform my “religious duties”, then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely “proper”, but loveless. Only my readiness to encounter my neighbour and to show him love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me. The saints—consider the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta—constantly renewed their capacity for love of neighbour from their encounter with the Eucharistic Lord, and conversely this encounter acquired its real- ism and depth in their service to others. Love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love. Love is “divine” because it comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a “we” which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).

Spirit Quest

What is this so-called Spirit Quest? What is the stand of the Church regarding this? Msgr. Sabino Vengco, a faculty member in Loyola School of Theology, would say that it is as an activity of a group of people interested in communicating with spirits. This kind of activity is not malignant in nature. If this interest in spiritist phenomena would be just a form of objective research in matters of parapsychology and has not degenerated into a form of a spiritualistic religiosity or occultism, then it would be an example of a necessary investigation and study of the paranormal. But when its purpose is to establish some contact with the dead and “earthbound human spirits and elementals” or to mediate peaceful coexistence with them, then it can be already a form of divination or magic. “Now, what’s bad with magic anyway?” a common teenager would say.   

Technically speaking, magic is evil. However, in current terminology there are two variations of magic—black and white. The latter means “to take away a spell” while the former means “to cast a spell”. Perhaps, the current terminology contributed to the mentality that magic is either good or bad. Fr. Candido Amantini, the mentor of Fr. Gabriele Amorth, never ceases to repeat the reality that there are no such variations of magic because there is only one magic—black magic. Every form of magic is always practiced with recourse to Satan. 

In Deuteronomy 18:10-12, we see the clear command of God against those practices like witchcraft, spiritism, sorcery, shamanism, channeling, and soothsaying or divination. Since spiritual power can only come from spiritual sources—the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of the devil—when we use spiritual power not coming from God, we are certain that we are using demonic power.      

The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us clear guidance on this matter: All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others—even if this were for the sake of restoring their health—are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.       

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

Clericalizing the Laity

An Essay by Fr. Jerome R. Secillano

“Clericalizing the laity” is a result of confusing the role of lay people in the church with that of priests. Lay people, oftentimes, are thought of as collaborators of the church’s hierarchy, i.e., bishops, priests and deacons who are collectively known as clerics. They assist clerics in what is called “inner-Church affairs”, which normally involved the formulation of pastoral plans, distribution of Holy Communion, proclamation of the word, catechism of children and of those about to get married, building of churches and of other structures and the celebration of liturgical activities by acting either as choir members, collectors or sacristans.  These are all important but they are not the high point of the lay apostolate.

Cardinal Francis Arinze, the former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, says that, “the essential feature of the layperson’s role is the vocation to bring the spirit of Christ into the arenas of secular life from within, i.e. into the family, work and profession, trade and commerce, politics and government, mass media, science and culture and national and international relations”. 

When laypersons take on their own distinctive role in the secular sphere as explained above, it seems better to refer to them as witnesses of Christ, or as lay apostles. As such they are called to be model husbands and wives, fathers and mothers or children; exemplary politicians or statesmen; ideal doctors, architects, engineers, pilots and lawyers; honest businessmen, bankers and trade unionists; diligent drivers, waiters, security guards and janitors; conscientious actors, sportsmen and musicians. By being so, the laity, in fact, are “evangelizers in the secular order”, claimed the former pope now St. John Paul II.

The spirit of lay empowerment in Vatican Council II debunks the model of a hierarchical church which many of us have come to accept. This old paradigm implies a more exclusive rather than an inclusive community of believers. With Vatican II, we no longer see the church as merely the exclusive organization of ordained ministers and of religious men and women but it is the “people of God” (Lumen Gentium 9) with the Laity comprising the majority. The assistance being offered by lay people in liturgy, in pastoral and finance councils and in membership in different ministries become the immediate effects of this shift in the understanding of what a church is. Sadly, we were stacked and have not moved on.  So today, we see lay people deeply engaged in these “inner-church affairs” serving as assistants or sharers in the ministerial functions of priests forgetting perhaps that their primordial vocation is to remain “in the world” to be witnesses of Christ as lay apostles and evangelizers in the secular order.

One awkward result of this shift is we have lay people who are more “pastors” than priests. They impose on their pastors to adopt certain programs for the parish, they demand the administration of finances and they sometimes make decisions that overrule the latter. Hence, it is not surprising anymore to hear stories of lay councils ruling the church, of lay people kicking out their pastors or of lay groups staging rallies against priests. These practices reflect a misreading of the real intent of Vatican Council II as far as lay participation in the church is concerned. They are at best anomalous.

The church is therefore duty-bound to correct whatever misinterpretation there is in empowering the laity. In the 2002 Instruction of the Congregation for the Clergy entitled, The Priest, Pastor and Leader of the Parish Community, the document says, “it would therefore be senseless to consider the pastoral council as an organ replacing the parish priest in his government of the parish, or as one which, on the basis of a majority vote, materially constrains the parish priest in his direction of the parish (26, 2).”  

On account of this instruction we see clearly that pastors should be in charge of the church or of the parish. Yes, lay people are their collaborators but the latter should not be calling the shots. The same document continues, "the basic task of such a council is to serve, at institutional level, the orderly collaboration of the faithful in the development of pastoral activity which is proper to priests”. Is it not correct, then, to let priests attend to these “inner-church affairs” with help from the laity but with less meddling from them? Consequently, is it not proper too for the laity to be concentrating more on how to evangelize their family, workplace and community? Or wouldn’t it be nobler for them if they become models of holiness in their chosen profession no matter what that is?  

For objectivity’s sake, it is true that there are priests whose pastoral sense is suspect. Some are lousy administrators. Others do not even have the basic social skills needed in reaching out to parishioners. More seriously, there are corrupt priests and there are those who violate their promise of celibacy. But should lay people work to remove the priests through signature campaign or rallies thus shaming the latter? Or should the pastoral councils take over the administration of the parish? The Code of Canon Law says, “Christ’s faithful have the right and at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters that concern the good of the Church……but in doing so, they must always respect the integrity of faith and morals, show due reverence to the pastors and take into account both the common good and the dignity of individuals” (Can. 212 §3).

The priests, as characterized above, may have been the ones who already compromised the integrity of faith and morals but even then there is nothing in the law which says that lay people can get rid of the former, more so, in a harsh manner. In fact, lay people are to show respect and should take into account the common good and the persons’ dignity. This is of course hard to swallow. How can someone show respect if the other is not worthy of it? For many of us, respect is earned and is not an entitlement. The best, therefore, that lay people can do is to have recourse to the priests’ bishops and hope and pray that the latter will apply the full force of Canon Law as warranted by the circumstances mentioned.

Suspending and defrocking of priests are of course not the best solution to the issue of a “clericalized laity”. It is the education of clerics, religious and laity which is important. The clerics and religious would have to be reminded of their essential character as central figures in the church. Whether we admit it or not, they are still the “face” of the church. The lay people, for their part, have to be educated on their roles and be formed as evangelizers in the secular sphere specifically in areas where the presence of priests are not lawfully warranted such as family, politics and business. Advancing the mission of the church should never lead to a struggle for power. On one hand, clerics and religious should not “fear” the laity. Lay people, on the other hand, should not be unnecessarily aggressive. From clerics and religious, the laity receives the strength through the sacraments and the dynamic exposition of the church’s doctrines and then the encouragement to evangelize the secular order. The laity, then, takes full responsibility in the secular area.

But why do clerics, at times, venture into the arenas of politics and business? Why do they involve in discussions about governance and economy? Do these not show their failure to form a dynamic laity whose proper mission is to evangelize these spheres? Is it a move towards a more “secularized” clergy? You be the judge.