Power to drive out mental demons
“Hey brother. If we infest this guy, we’ll never be short of bucks!“
Power to drive out mental demons
CHRIST’S IDEA OF AUTHORITY, synodal reflection no 7.
by John Wijngaards
“Calling his twelve disciples to him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness.” (Matthew 10,1)
“I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice that demons submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10,19-20)
Series published by:
(click on image)
 started on 2 Jan 2023 |
 started on 9 Jan 2023 |
 started on 3 Jan 2023 |
 started on 23 Jan 2023 |
 started on 23 Jan 2023 |
——-+——-
This is a sad story, based on true facts.
During one of my trips to the United States I visited a wealthy Chicago businessman and his wife. Their son Phil had served as a Catholic priest for a number of years. Then things went awry.
“He came to us”, his father told me, holding his arm round his wife’s shoulder. She was crying. “We knew there was something terribly wrong. He would flare up one moment with anger, then he would sit in a corner of the room sobbing and wiping his eyes. At night he couldn’t sleep. He kept walking around in our garden.”
“Did you try to find out what was troubling him?”, I asked.
“Yes, we did. No luck. He wouldn’t talk to us. I made an appointment with a psychiatrist. It didn’t work. In the end our parish priest arranged a session with the diocesan exorcist. It was a disaster. Phil was furious. He ran out, shouting at all of us …”
“And then, worst of all, he came home and went up to his room. Later we found him dead in the bathroom. He had hanged himself …”
I tried to console the couple as well as I could. I had already heard from other sources what had been behind it all. Phil had fallen in love with a young woman. Then when he discovered she was pregnant, he simply did not know what to do. He did not find the right person to help him through the predicament he was in. Yes, it truly happened.
Demons in the Gospel accounts
At the time Jesus lived in Palestine, people ascribed defects in animals or humans to being afflicted by demons, unclean spirits. It was a belief that had been inherited by the Jews from civilizations in Mesopotamia. Remember that the action of infections by bacteria or viruses had not yet been discovered. Unclean spirits were not considered devils.
People were aware of the fact that some inner forces are at work within a physical body: the ‘psyche’ that keeps the body alive and, in humans, the ‘pneuma’, the deeper human soul. Demons were reckoned to be strange unhealthy ‘psyches’ that travelled around looking for a body to infest. Mental illness too in a man or a woman was blamed on an invasion by such demons.
Jesus accepted this belief of his time. ‘Driving out someone’s unclean spirits’ was equivalent to curing that person. For Jesus this was not just an external ritual. It implied also relating to that person, treating him or her as an individual who needs support.
Most healing accounts in the Gospels have been reduced to a minimum. They were part of the oral catechetical tradition before they were written down in text. So we often get the impression that Jesus just cured a person and then left them to their own devices. This, we can be sure, is not correct. It is confirmed in the more elaborate story of a man afflicted by unclean spirits. He lived in the region of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 5,1-20).
We are told that the poor man would stay in cemeteries or roam in deserted areas, day and night not wearing any clothes. He would cry out in anguish and cut himself with stones. He obviously was mentally disturbed.
When Jesus had driven a ‘legion’ of demons out of him, the man put on a dress and sat down with Jesus. Astonished neighbours found that the man had recovered ‘his right mind’. When Jesus and other disciples entered a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee, he begged Jesus for permission to come along. He must have said: “I want to be one of your disciples. I can help you in your work!”
Aware of the man’s mental instability, Jesus did not consider this a wise move. The man needed a more prolonged and full recovery with his relatives at home. So Jesus gently gave him this advice: “No. Rather go back home to your family. There too you will have opportunities to preach the Good News. Tell them how God has shown mercy to you and healed you by his power!”
Counseling
Many people also in our own days struggle with mental health problems. Priests can be of enormous help to them but it requires the fundamental skills of understanding people and how to counsel them. These are some of the ‘unclean spirits’ they will come across:
The demon of guilt. “I have messed things up. Should have done better. Nothing can undo the harm I’ve caused.”
The demon of anxiety. “I can’t cope. I fear the worst. I panic about everything. I don’t know what to do.”
The demon of downgrading oneself. “I’m worth nothing. Small wonder people ignore me. I’m really a nobody. I’ve got nothing I can be proud of.”
The demon of depression. “I feel hopeless, worthless., exhausted. I can’t sleep. I’ve lost my appetite. I’m at a loss what to do.”
Questions
Do church leaders realise the special role they should play in this? That without underestimating the expertise of professional psychiatrists, spiritual guides can and should make their own contribution? That they can wipe away guilt, reassure waverers, put those who stray back on the right path? That they can speak in the name of God who is love?
Text: John Wijngaards; illustration: Tom Adcock.
