Word to the Wise
Friday, January 19, 2007 - Second Friday in Ordinary Time
[Hebrews 8:6-13 and Mark 3:13-19]He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.
One of the great revelations to me when I became pastor of St. Ann Parish in San Antonio (1994-98) was the amount of demon fighting that was part of the job. I mean this quite literally. This was reflected in the regular appearance of a tray of jars of water to be blessed and left at the front door desk for parishioners to pick up on demand. My parishioners used it regularly to protect their homes from the devil. It was not unusual to be asked to come to a home and bless a particular room where unusual noises were heard. On one occasion I was asked to bless an awful tenement where some brutal drug-related murders had taken place. The proprietor promptly told the public media that I had been there to bless the location so he could get more tenants! The European-American culture sees the demonic as something spectacular. Other cultures see it as an everyday reality! The latter was and is part of Middle Eastern culture. So, casting out demons was (and is) part of the job description of an apostle! As a seminarian ("student brother"), I was "ordained" to the order of exorcist! I put my hand on "the book of exorcisms" (which I never saw again!). I don't want to trivialize the existence of the demonic but it's not the part of my ministry that I emphasize, to be sure. Nevertheless, I can't write it out of my "job description." It would be dangerous in the extreme to ignore its possibility! AMEN
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