On demonization and spiritual reality

I just finished re-reading a really great book (not for the faint of heart or those without a specific calling) called "Hostage to the Devil," by Malachi Martin.
I then read a review a friend sent me on an evangelical blog called Reason to Believe, which you can find here:

http://reasontobelieve.blogspot.com/2007/03/hostage-to-devil-by-malachi-martin.html

Reading that blog and review was sort of heart wrenching, because I know where that guy is (was) when writing it....I can totally relate.
Having been involved in deliverance counseling for many years in a protestant, nonedenominational, evangelical, very me-and-Jesus-on-a-mission kind of way, I "knew " certain things about the way the demonic realm worked. For example:

I knew that believers could not be POsessed but only Opressed.
I knew that people needed to face sin head on in order to be freed.
I knew that all I needed as a weapon against evil was strong faith in the name of Jesus.
I knew how to break down the TYPE of oppression, root out the source of the oppression, and how to bring about healing.
I knew also that this was a temporary thing-- that the afflicted person would have to ultimately continue the battle.
I knew I didn't need anything to exorcise someone but a tongue to praise the Lord and call down justice upon the demon at hand.
I learned not to doubt my power against evil spirits. Pre - deliverance session, I prepared myself by getting fired up in the Spirit (praying the Word, praying in tongues, etc) and by confession (telling God I was sorry for any sin I could find in my life) During the session, we usually began with prayer, counseled the person to renounce certain things they had/were doing, prayed, and saw deliverance.
It was simple. It was usually relatively quick. and it was NOTHING like the exorcisms depicted in stories like Annelise Michel (the real Emily Rose) or in books such as this one. And yet, all of these experiences were real, true, and valid. And I just didn't know what to make of them.

When Peter and I were considering my return to the Catholic Church, and possibly his own, that was our number one question for our priest.
We told him that we had been in deliverance ministry and that our biggest beef with the RCC was that only PRIESTS were allowed to "perform exorcisms." We first of all, didn't think a big ritual was needed to root out an entity because, hey, we had seen it work again and again and even in our own lives without one, and two, we didn't think that lay persons were incapable of casting out demons. We had done it. We knew.
Our priests' response, at the time, made good sense:
"The Catholic Church's position is that while anybody CAN exorcise someone, not everybody SHOULD. A priest who had been specifically called to the office of exorcist would be spiritually and academically and practically prepared in the best possibly way for success at such a ministry."
We agreed with that, and so we went forward.

And then the attacks started.

For a while there, (and I didn't blog about this much) we underwent CONSTANT spiritual attack. The word "paranormal" doesn't do justice to the wierdness and hyper creepiness of the things we were experiencing. These things have, to some degree, always occurred around me because for as long as I've lived I've experienced frequent periodic bouts of unexplainable activity either in my home or in my place of employment. Upon becoming a Christian and learning the source of these events, I became empowered to do something about it and learned to live with the parts that were, indeed, from the Lord.
After all, I'm a person who underwent a PHYSICAL change at my baptism. I've seen all sorts of strange things and beleive that pretty much anything is possible.

Nevertheless as these activities continued, I was in a state of extreme confusion (the confusion the author of this review I just mentioned experienced is NOTHING compared to the confusion of a person who is used to dealing with something one way and is suddenly forced to deal with it in another.) What I didn't realize at the time was that Satan is the author of confusion.... and that the confusion was just there to trip me up.

You see, there are three levels of activity we humans encounter: Supernatural activity is Divine, springing from God, creating activity that is both glorifying to Him and purposeful in that it fulfills His good and perfect will. Supernatural activity can include visions and certain abilities (from levitation to psychic knowledge of another, from bilocation to the ability to move objects by will, etc.) known as spiritual gifts. Prophecy, tongues, etc fall into this category. So do apparitions that glorify God or aid the members of His body.
Preternatural activity is demonic activity.... although Satan is capable of imitating many works of the Holy Spirit (think Pharaoh's magicians copying Moses' actions) these do not glorify God nor are they done to draw the person doing them or the person seeing them towards God. Rather , these are special visions and abilities which stem from a demonic source and lead only to further demonic sources. Ultimately, these abilities are not ALL powerful, and they can be conquered alongside their source.
Natural activity is what we do on a daily basis. Very often we can find within ourselves incredible ability (the ability to forgive some one who has truly wronged us, or to be kind to someone who doesn't really deserve it) and often God Himself has put it there. We all, however have certain qualities and characteristics that define us and help us to percieve what we consider "normal." God can influence us in both a natural and spiritual way. Demons can influence us in both a natural and a spiritual way.
Demonic attack can come in the form of something we might consider totally natural (sickness, disease, pain) alongside our "spiritual" person (emotional pain, mental illness) and finally in paranormal activity (objects moving, psychic knowledge, levitation, etc) And it's important to say this: SOMETIMES the source of an illness, pain, disease, etc can be perfectly natural. Sickness is a physcial consequence of our fallen world. Satan is not responsible for every sniffle and sneeze. However, because he is a crafty adversary, it's often worth looking into.
Likewise, the power of God is enough to heal pain, physcial or emotional, illness, and to stop paranormal activity. The Power of God is more powerful than any other thing.

Where does this power come from? In my experience, the power is in the NAME and person and actions of JESUS CHRIST, who acts on behalf of the Father in perfect love and perfect unity with the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. The demonic realm has a true and absolute hatred for Jesus Christ and consequentially for those who follow Him. When I was a protestant, the name and authority of Christ was enough to send a demon away, and I knew that, and I called on it often.

As a returned Catholic, I knew that a "change" had occured in my spiritual reality. I had seeds of doubt sown by well-meaning protestant friends with legitimate concerns about the Catholic Church. (When I say legitimate, I mean in the sense that they are correct to want to keep us from idolatry, sin, and empty religiosity. I do not mean that the Magesterium of the Roman Catholic Church endorses or practices any of those things which they feared I would encounter) Were I to have changed my "stance" (ie begun to relax my biblical standards of right and wrong) I would have been easy prey for demonic entities who seek only to kill and destroy. But I didn't. There was simply a new "Thing" happening in my spiritual world: and new "rules of operation" were developping from the old ones. They weren't becoming something DIFFERENT, they were evolving.

For me, the problem was simple:

I hadn't changed my BELIEFS-- other than that I was now under the authority of the one church that can claim it was started by Christ. Previous to that I had no authority over my head--- I was a free floating, saved-by-faith believer who was missing an essential aspect of my spiritual person: grounding in the Church. What did that mean? To me, it means that until I came back to the Catholic Church, I had all the power of Jesus because I believed. I had His holy spirit. I had all the joy and personal revelation and knowledge of God. I had a ticket to heaven and a mansion, and treasure, waiting on me. I had a call to share Christ with everyone who would listen. I was a new woman, and the old woman had passed away. BUT I was a lone ranger-- - I was not ONE, Unified, with the body of believers in a way that made us all ONE.
I was missing out on some obvious avenues of grace that would have helped me on my mission.... which I now have. As a Catholic, I had all the power of a believer, PLUS all the power of a believer who has AUTHORITY bestowed on them by the spiritual "order" God set in place.

In the Eucharist, I am given an added "weapon" or tool to fight the forces of darkness. I am better equipped. In the sacrament of confession, I find absolute peace and serenity which surpasses all understanding, and thus I can face anything Satan throws at me with assurance of my "clean" condition-- not only does God's Word tell me so in scripture, but those to whom He has entrusted true authority on earth have told me so. I can truly claim that my sins are cast as far from me as the east is from the west. In the sacrament of Marriage, I have found extra bucketloads of grace to build my marriage on the Rock of Christ and to find in it health, happiness, and wholeness. My marriage has never been better than when it became a Catholic one.

So what does this mean? It means that if my beliefs hadn't changed, and I had only built on my theological foundation, I needed to do the same for the way I looked at demonic activity and demonology.

I needed to see that the Church had been doing this for MUCH longer than I had and had developped a very good system that truly worked because it was based on this supernatural reality, the same supernatural reality that I already KNEW as a protestant:

God allows Satan to work. We must use our wills to allow God access to our souls. We must do battle with the Enemy trusting in the cross of Christ and none else, and we must be prepared to "legally" do so by keeping our own selves free of the factor that separates us from God: sin.

So flash back to my own frustration when I was coming under attack myself:

I no longer knew if "what I knew" was real-- I second guessed myself. Because things got worse instead of better when I tried to fight the battle the "Catholic" way-- by having my house blessed by a priest-- I second guessed the Church. And Satan preyed on that fear and things were crazy, until I seriously doubted my own perception--- wondering if I really knew what I thought I knew and if I really saw what I thought I saw. And that made me question everything, right down to whether I (and my family) was even saved at all. Confusion. It's the Enemy's best weapon.

So here's what I learned from all of this and the subsequent pursuit of my calling to deliverance ministry.

There is NO difference between the protestant "Way" of doing deliverance ministry and the CATHOLIC way. And yet-- there is every difference. Funny, huh?

Catholic deliverance ministry involves using the exact same principles as protestant deliverance ministry-- in other words,. we believe that our wills must be at work in the process of deliverance, that people can unknowingly open themselves up to the forces of darkness and need to close those doors of their own volition by bathing them in the blood of Christ. We believe that the person doing the "exorcising" can not stand in his own strength but in the power and authority of Christ. We believe that sin prevents us from serving God and from communion with God and gives parts of us over to Satan.

At the same time, we believe that we have been given certain graces which are available only through the authority of Jesus passed on through the apostolic succession we have in the Roman Catholic Church, which can be traced person by person all the way through to the biblical Apostle Peter, who was made apostle over all the other apostles. (for a complete list of people who stood in Peter's place as head of the Church whose head is Christ, please see this impressive link: http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/articles/popelist.htm)

This Church enjoys certain grace or certain blessings (to use protestant language) that are not given by God elsewhere, which are used for the advancement of the Kingdom on earth, and this is because of the authority and purity of doctrine we enjoy in the Roman Catholic Church that we could have no other place. For this reason, demons PARTICULARLY detest Catholics, and particularly detest those avenues of grace which God has given us through the apostolic succession.

Some of these avenues of grace include, for example, the Rosary-- which is one of the best weapons against Satanic activity I have ever personally encountered. Another is the intercession of St Benedict, and the sacramental medal he left us. Another is the intercession of St Michael the archangel. Another is Holy oil. Another is holy water. Another is the brown scapular I wear under my clothing. These things which protestants see as simply "objects" are called sacramentals-- avenues by which grace from God can pass into a person or place or thing when infused with FAITH IN GOD. They are not amulets, they are not "magic objects." They are methods by which God has allowed us in our infinite human, physical weakness to experience God and to see Him work as we co-operate to advance the kingdom. They are symbols of his love for us, infused with power.
Protestants KNOW in their heart of hearts that this is so, because they have no problem believing that a person can experience demonic activity in their home by simply owning a statue dedicated to another god or by bringing into their home an item dedicated in some way to demons or to Satan himself. Are demons more powerful than God?
I'll say it again: if an OBJECT can contain within itself an attachment to demonic forces, can an object not contain within itself an attachment to angelic forces of good?? Is God less capable than Satan? Surely not. Sacramentals, or "Holy Objects" are powerful weapons against the dark. Like a good flashlight, they cut and destroy and expose and illuminate the evil they face.

Likewise, we believe that if a layperson has power because of the authority of Christ and the priesthood of all believers we each enjoy, so a priest who has been ordained with the special priesthood of melchizedek by authorities which have the power to do so has all the more ability to channel grace and goodness into the dark places for it is his office and calling. Thus we put our priests in harms way because we know that they are specially equipped, better than we are, for what we are facing.

When a priest blesses a house, sometimes, that is all that is needed to "let the light in," so to speak, because the persons who live in the house exist in such a way that their faith has been stretched to the max and powerfully exercised just in this action of the priests.

We (both protestant and Catholic) know that a PLACE or piece of land can become subject to demonic influence by the types of activities that take place there-- ceremonies calling on Satan, for example, will leave a powerful trace of Satanic influence. This is why I used to prayer walk around my neighborhood, pausing each day to claim the land in the name of Jesus.... after all, I had neighbors who were openly satan worshippers. Thus, claiming the land in the name of Jesus was a spiritual action-- it created a spiritual reality, or at the very least, a clash, with the forces of darkness, preventing them from pursuing the ownership of that area.

How much MORE powerful is the offensive position of the Catholic Church when we have priests-- persons who have had the priesthood conferred on them by those in apostolic authority-- bless our homes? I remind you here that Christians are to be always on offense... we shouldn't be forced to play defense.

If a priest blesses the home of a person who was already a devout, spirit filled believer, however, the playing field has changed, but the battle may not be won yet. Why? Because the spiritual "level" of the house is higher than the spiritual level of the house where the people were nominal, or average believers. These people are not a threat to Satan and his dark kingdom, but people on fire are a whole other world. Likewise, people on fire are a threat to the kingdom, but people on fire with the most powerful army and the most powerful arsenal are the biggest threat to the kingdom of darkness.
Often times, after a priest blesses a home , things get worse before they get better.

In terms of battle, this represents what we know to be true: We attack the darkness with whatever we've got. And the darkness fights back with whatever it takes. If I have a tank, and you have a knife, I'm going to win. But you might get inspired and furious and choose to go down kicking and screaming, which is exactly what happens in Spirit filled Catholic homes when Satan attacks.
Is one way better than another? No. Either way, the victory is the Lord's. A small, easily won battle is a blessing-- there are fewer casualties and you were spared the darker difficulties of war.

But I have to say, having been on both types of playing fields, I am grateful to be on the Catholic one now because it has revealed so much more to me of the NATURE of good and evil.... After my eperiences with the demonic in a protestant setting I felt totally exhilerated and justified-- like, "THIS IS REAL!" I knew before them that it was real, but I knew in a special, I'll-never-forget-this kind of way that it was really real and that changed me.
But after my Catholic experiences, where I really was purely at the mercy of God and where everything I thought I knew broke down through my pride and arrogance and built into me a humiliating humilty I cannot describe, where I actually experienced fear and disgust and all of those emotions that remind you why you need God in the first place--- now THAT was powerful. That didn't just leave me going "this is real," but it changed me-- made me straighten up. It made me take this short life much more seriously and caused me to see without a doubt not only that we really and truly are engaged in a spiritual battle but also that we MUST CHOOSE, we cannot be bystanders for we will be massacred, at the very least injured beyond recognition.

The Catechism says that ALL of life boils down to the battle between good and evil. Scripture says that we must choose this day whom we will serve. There is unity in the Holy Spirit that allows believers from all walks of life to battle the spiritual forces of darkness in a way that brings a Victory for the Lord. Believers everywhere must unite, must work together to further the cause of freedom, which only those of us who have known captivity can tell you is the most blessed and beautiful thing about being a servant of God.

The important thing here is what we DO with that confusion. It is the same Holy Spirit that drives out demons in both protestant and Catholic settings. One may not understand the other with perfect trust, but it is vital to the cause of unity in the Spirit that all fear of "differences" be cast aside and that we walk in peace with one another, learning from one another's experiences in deliverance ministry. Otherwise, we have given Satan a point to hang on to.