Beware final impenitence.
I'm not sure they are possessed though.
You heard the story about the guy in Washington who cursed the hospital chaplain out of the room? Most Catholic bloggers heard about it by now. There may have been some misunderstanding, I'm sure, but some are calling it a gay ambush. I don't think so. I'm not sure what happened but it sounds to me as if a gay man, who asked for the sacraments, didn't think homosex is a sin, and a sincere priest felt he couldn't administer the sacraments if he wasn't in the state of grace. The patient, evidently not willing to be reconciled - the priest, in his charity, offered to pray with him instead. Something like that, I guess.
Then the guy goes all Walt Kowalski (Gran Torino) on the poor priest, and the priest - respectful of 'patients rights' quietly excuses himself when told to 'get the f--- outta the room' by the patient. There is a media-skewed version of that story here.
Anger and resentment sets in and eats away...
Fr. Z has another story of ungodly gay rage at a priest from a transsexual would-be parishioner. The transsexual contacted a priest to ask about coming to church - priest told the person fine but some parishioners might be uncomfortable. Priest doesn't see any transsexual at Mass, emails the person back, wondering if the person was still interested. Long story short, the transsexual went crazy in a reply email using the F-word worse than Kat and Digit ever would, thus freaked the priest out, which moved him to write to Fr. Z wondering if the devil made the transsexual respond like that, or what? Story here.
Not always the devil.
People have their own disorders which can be exacerbated by all sorts of issues, from mild depression to raving drunkenness. If they are deeply wounded and worse - trapped in a sinful life - a slave to sin, as the Gospel says - they kind of have one foot in hell already. If we live in a state of mortal sin - we can be worse than the devil - we lack charity. If we drink and get drunk we can be a bit out of our senses, judgement impaired and out of control. If and when we get a nice email from someone we think is holier than thou and hates us or our sexual inclination, we can go nuts and be as vile - or worse than the worst demon.
Mortal sin separates us from God. If we die in mortal sin we are damned. Just as a holy contemplative like Elizabeth of the Trinity could say she lived in heaven on earth by faith, an anticipation in loving, interior recollection*, the opposite may be true as well. So maybe, just maybe, one can conjecture that a soul in mortal sin, obstinate in mortal sin, can be living a sort of anticipated hell on earth. Certainly rage and hate spring from a place of pain and suffering and blind rejection.
The devil does his thing, and he is the author of these things, the father of lies - but we always have free will. Gay pride can keep a soul from being reconciled with the Church, the Body of Christ - God.
Postscript
In fairness to the priest who wrote to Fr. Z - I'm convinced - through experience - that there is indeed a diabolical element to the sexual-gender-revolution, as the priest suggested in his email to Father:
I have to admit that this left me deeply disturbed. I’m beginning to seriously wonder if there might be a demonic element [YES] to segments of the sexual liberation movement, and now I think I have a glimpse of what people might be thinking when I get hostile looks while wearing my Roman collar in public.
Ask your readers to pray for us. Ugly persecution is coming. - Fr. Z
I agree. I will be praying for Fr. Z and priests even more. As well as the conversion of sinners.
Now I need to go to confession.
Scene from Gran Torino
*BTW - This is why the penitent sinner must strive to practice prayer. The prayer of recollection keeps the soul fortified within the interior castle of grace - the soul in the state of grace - the presence of God, safe and secure from the onslaught of hell.
I was waiting for you to comment on this Terry, after reading it on Fr. Z-Pacs blog and some other crazy one...( and yes, Terry, you SHOULD go to confession for leading me down the path to craziness.. as your blog was my entre to all of those weird Catholic blogs...one day I am Googling info on Ivy now, six months later I am addicted to reading what these nuts are up too. Its so bad that when things like this happen I kind of can't wait to see what these people are going to be saying about it. Now I have to go to confession...and Father better bring food, water, a smart phone to contact the outside world as he is most likely going to be there a LONG time!)
ReplyDeleteNo arguing your headline...some gay people can be bitches on steroids! But then some straight people as indicated in the com boxes of some of my favorite sites, can be bitchy, self righteous, mean spirited and ignorant...and more then ready to throw the first stone without looking at their own hearts.
Now I freely admit that my mind was wandering toward's recess through most of Catechism, but I thought Last Rites..or the Annointment of the Sick was like going to confession..were the priest asks if you are sorry for your sins and you say yes and hopefully mean it and if you don.t God will know . Its not up to the priest to inventory your sins and rank them in order from bad to worse. Last rites I thought was not something were you had to be totally free of sin, or if that was the case none of us would be getting it. Can someone clear that up for me?
Anyway, about the possessed tranny...eh...sounds like a nut case but possessed?? Come on..we are starting to act like those villagers in the beginning of Dracula...waving crucifixes and running inside at dusk.
Seriously, its scares me reading these types of things. The world is so polarized right now...gays screaming at priests and picketing churches and throwing things on people, to these right wingers on some Catholic sites who are so filled with anger and are masking their palatable fear of a changing world with sanctimonious and mean spirited ramblings and literally "demonizing," their enemies.
And not so seriously Terry, you mention bitchy and Fr. Z in the same post and you don't link the two??? That man is a Kindle carrying bitch on wheels!!
Mack, anointing of the sick starts with confession according to the ability of the afflicted; if you were desperately ill and unconscious, it's a different situation than if you wilfully fail to confess your sins. The hospitalized man, as part of his confession, talked about his struggles, but didn't repent of his mortal sins or his lifestyle; had he confessed his homosexual activity as a sin and repented of his lifestyle choice, the priest would've continued with the sacrament. Had the priest given communion to the man, he'd be committing a sin by doing so knowingly when the man was in a state of mortal sin. The result would be the same had the man been living in sin with a woman. Because the man doesn't acknowledge his sin, he got a second opinion from a priest who also faithfully follows Church teaching, thus the call to the court of public opinion.
DeleteAnd I hear you about teh bitchiness; I stopped reading a blog because of the armchair popes in the combox. Deciding I was wrong (and my childhood catechist and priest were also wrong), they quoted canon law, then mocked me for assuming they quoted the catechism, which is the normal place for laity to seek information. They assumed much into their reading of canon law and what they claimed the passages cited was not at all what they said.
Z I can take some days and some days not; he provided me with a lot of good, solid information at a time I was seeking it, but he can be divisive. I don't read the comments during Lent.
I have received the Holy Anointing at a Byzantine Rite Church, where on the Wed. of Holy Week, they have an anointing service, preferring that you go to confession first although it isn't mandatory. They recommend that everyone be anointed annually.
Nan...thanks for explaining that makes sense.
DeletePossession is rare. But people can be oppressed and obsessed, which can cause the behaviors described. Great advice, Terry; we must always strive to be in the state of grace and take our conversion seriously.
ReplyDeleteI have experienced this with one gay guy who visited my blog almost daily and left comments calling me obscene names, etc. I posted some of his ad hominems, but quit after he had pretty much spent his vitriol and was getting boringly repetitive. When I changed my comments policy to exclude anonymous comments he stopped commenting.
ReplyDeleteFrom their behavior, it's pretty clear that those trapped in the same-sex lifestyle are very troubled and unhappy people. Just look at the statistics on homosexuals and depression. They want to blame it on others for not being willing to celebrate their disordered lifestyles (Love me, love my sin.). What they apparently don't realize is that even if the whole world says it's okay, they will still hate themselves because they will know it is a lie. "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord." God help these poor troubled souls.
Not all demons share the same depth of evil, but I'm skeptical of your claim that humans in this life can be worse than demons--especially the devil. That certainly hasn't been the testimony of mystics and the saints, and there are good theological reasons for doubting this. For one, demons are pure spirit and intellect, and thus their will is firmly set on the course they have chosen: disobedience and evil. They are not divided as we are. In past years I've done terrible things at 1 pm and then have done selfless, generous things at 2 pm. Now, once a human is damned--his will is fixed--then all bets are off, and then many humans are undoubtedly more evil than some demons.
ReplyDeleteFinally, demons are more ugly, foul, hateful than is often imagined. The depth of their malice far surpasses any human I've ever met, and I've served time in a max prison with serial rapists, child molesters and murderers. In fact, the human is actually the more foul the more they allow demons to influence them. Thus, our own penchant for evil is like a flame and the demons influence is like an accelerant. If demons did not have such an influence on us, then God would not be as merciful.
You are all right - what I'm talking is how incredibly wicked alcohol can be in a person already gravely 'disordered' and deranged. Remember, I grew up in an alcoholic home - lived with the same for a time in my life - fallen human nature can parallel the demonic. I'm not at all denying demonic oppression or obsession or worse - but human beings are quite capable of the worst behavior - even atrocities - all on their own.
ReplyDeleteVery true Terry. Coming from a mixed Irish German family I know that some people drinking can change on a dime..its all fun one minute its hell the next. Its truly scary.
ReplyDelete