The Devil Made Me Do It

Gospel Mt 16:24-28

"Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom."

It's funny, EVERYONE thinks they are going to heaven, of those that believe in it anyway. Nobody ever thinks they are going to the other place. It's a fact that demons, sheol, graue, hades and the pit of fire are mentioned much more often than heaven and paradise is in the Bible. Yet, people cling to the fact that they have a one-way ticket to heaven just because they believe in Jesus. Heck, even priests don't seem to be learning about hell and the Devil in the seminaries anymore. I can attest to the fact that in the Catholic Church, we rarely hear homilies about it, nor Satan and his minions. The sad thing about this is that even though Satan is rarely mentioned these days he IS alive and well and gathering up souls left and right, including priests and professed Christians and Catholics and other followers of Christ. The Pope, Bishops, Priests, Pastors, and every other leader in a Christian faith is doing a tremendous disservice to their flock if they are not preaching about Satan and hell and advising them to seek redemption for themselves. It is a fact that those very same leaders particularly Catholic leaders, will be judged harsher than anyone else when they are standing before Jesus, the Just Judge, because, as such, they are responsible for the souls of their flock. By leading them down a rosy path and not pointing out the thorns they are endangering them and their eternity.

Worldwide, exorcisms are on the rise. Here in New York City, the archdiocese is having a hard time keeping up with the demand. The NY Post wrote about it at the end of last year; here is the article:
http://nypost.com/2016/12/28/in-a-wicked-world-exorcists-are-in-short-supply/.  If that doesn't scare the stuffing out of you ~ nothing will.

There are so many things that opens one up to the demonic. My short list includes so called psychics and mediums, jewelry, chants, music, porn, drugs, alcohol, seances, violence and giving your energy to anything paranormal. Of course, one of the most dangerous is the ouija board. I can still see myself as a tween, sitting in my best friend's basement. We were huddled over the board on the floor while we sat Indian style around it with our fingertips on the pointers. How funny we all thought it was when the pointer moved by itself. How cool we thought it was that a friend of a friend was there that was into black magic and taught us a few spells. How innocent it all seemed, until something followed me home.

I sound like a complete nut job, now don't I? Yes, I know I do, but I can tell you that it was taken very seriously by our church and a priest did come to the house to bless and cleanse it. 

The Devil isn't looking for the sinners. He already has his grip on them. Jesus is looking for the sinners. He wants them to follow Him and to live by His teachings, not their own nor Satan's. Jesus wants them to choose Him and walk the path of righteousness with Him and forsake the evils and excesses of this world, so that they can be with HIM in the next. 

Please be careful in the choices you make in this life and don't attract anything evil into it. Find your way back to Jesus if you have fallen away. Read the scriptures and familiarize yourself, once again, with the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. The more that you read and pray, the more the Holy Spirit will open up your eyes to the parables and experiences of our Lord. We can't always rely on our religious leaders to lead us so take your soul into your own hands. Pray more. Judge others less. Read and study your Bible. Join study groups in your church. Tune out the things in the world that can lead you to sin and tune into a life of joy in helping those less fortunate. Pray for peace for yourself, your family, your community and the world. Help others find their way back to Jesus Christ. He is waiting for all of us to heed His call and follow Him. The free will that God has given us is sometimes a dangerous thing in our hands. Choose wisely.

Trust me when I say, I have seen, with my own eyes, a demonic entity and Jesus Christ and I would much rather spend eternity with my Lord. Who's with me?

Peace,

Mare