Religion Q & A – Seeing Spirits? Part 2
Blair asks: “When Jesus was on earth could he see devils and angels????”
Answer: Jesus could, in fact, see demons and angels, and even Satan himself. In the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 4), we read about the temptation of Jesus where he is led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to fast, pray, and be tested in the three primary ways that Satan tries to get at all human beings – through greed, power, and pride. Scripture documents an actual conversation between Jesus and the devil, which you can read for yourself in the Bible. In the end, Jesus tells the devil to leave, and he is left alone with angels who attend to him.
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Austin asks: “Why do spirits possess you and why do they try to cause you harm or harm within a family?”
Answer: We will assume that you are referring to evil spirits that “take over” a person. In the case of demonic possession, most cases involve people who have opened themselves up to demonic influence through the involvement of occult practices, like the ones listed in the following Powerpoint. If someone has practiced any of these activities, they are more prone to have evil spirits “attach” themselves to him/her or to the place where the activity had happened. Evil spirits are difficult to get rid of because they do work to cause harm – usually emotionally and psychologically – as a way to hurt God. You see, Satan and the demons that work with him cannot destroy God. Knowing this, they do everything they can to destroy the one thing God created that He loves above all else – humanity. We often are afraid of those “things that go bump in the night”, or the effects of the lesser demons whose job it is just to rattle our nerves by scaring us somehow, but what are more dangerous are the more intelligent spirits that tempt us to sin and wreak havoc on our own lives. If they can get us to destroy our own relationships, our families, our futures, and our own lives, they are more than satisfied by this pain that pierces the heart of Christ. This is why we must do everything we can to protect ourselves through prayer and appropriate fasting – just as Jesus did. Temptations will always be there until the very end of our lives, but if we stay close to God, Satan will have no hold on our souls.
Jonathan asks: “If you get overcome by demons and you never get rid of them when you die, can you still make it to heaven?”
Answer: If you can get your parents’ permission, you can watch the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose on DVD. Without giving too much away, I think it’s a really good representation of a different kind of possession – one of those special cases that we normally don’t hear about. I’m not one to watch scary movies, but this one really made me think. It was recommended by one of my good friends who owns a Catholic bookstore. He was selling the DVD and he gave it two thumbs up. You can always fast forward the scary parts, but you almost have to watch them to understand how the story comes together at the end. For any of the 8th graders reading this response, you’ll recognize the classic features of demonic manifestation from Jesus’ exorcism miracles that you researched last year. VERY interesting!
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Megan D. asks: “Can demons appear as people here on Earth? If so, would we able to identify them, and how?”
Answer: Since you’re asking about demons in particular, I’ll just focus on those apparitions. Saints who had encounters with demons saw them in both human and animal forms. St. Padre Pio was able to see demons, just like Jesus did. There is a story of an instance when what looked like his superior approached St. Pio in his cell (bedroom). He told St. Pio to stop his ministry. St. Pio was suspicious of this man and asked him to pray with him. As soon as St. Pio knelt down and began praising God, the “superior”/priest disappeared into a cloud of black smoke and the room smelled of sulfur (the usual smell associated with evil spirits). Demons will not praise God.
The criteria for testing spirits are found in 1 John 4:1-3. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” This is called the ability to discern spirits and it is a spiritual gift of the Holy Spirit.
Also, if you feel a certain amount of unease in your heart with bad fruit coming out of an experience, you’re probably dealing with some sort of demonic influence. By “bad fruit”, I mean the opposites of the fruit of the Spirit listed on the poster by the altar in my classroom, which is based on Galatians 5:22.
Keep in mind that all apparitions – even those of evil spirits – are allowed by God for a greater purpose. I will show you clips of the movie Padre Pio so you can see all of this in action.
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Ike asks: “Can spirits really stay behind and haunt places or is it just demons wrecking havoc?”
Answer: I will let Dr. Peter Kreeft handle this one. See his response in the link below.
- excerpt from the book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven
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Kayla Rayford asks: “If we ever see an angel, a spirit from purgatory, or a demon, what are we supposed to do?”
Answer: If you think you are having an encounter with a spirit – whether angel, demon, or poor soul – make sure to test it first. As I stated in one of the responses above, the demon will not pray with you. The angel definitely will. The poor soul (if allowed to communicate with you) will ask for prayer to get him/her out of purgatory faster. Unless it is a more difficult case of possession, demons will flee immediately at any mention of Jesus’ name. Possessions take some time to get rid of, as the ritual of formal exorcism involves the Sacraments and intense prayer. In any of these situations, do not be afraid. This is why it is good to read the lives of the saints and to learn more about circumstances of spiritual encounters so you know what to do.
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