June 10, 2018
Many years ago, I got a phone call from a psychiatric hospital. The doctors were at a loss what to do with a young woman from Africa who was mentally disturbed. When I told the lady that I was a priest and had been working in Africa for many years her face lit up and she told me her problem. Her aunt was utterly opposed to her living with a young man and had first threatened Many years ago, I got a phone call from a psychiatric hospital. The doctors were at a loss what to do with a young woman from Africa who was mentally disturbed. When I told the lady that I was a priest and had been working in Africa for many years her face lit up and she told me her problem. Her aunt was utterly opposed to her living with a young man and had first threatened her, then mistreated her and finally cursed her. Now, many of us might not worry much about a curse. But in some cultures, this is taken very seriously, and that young woman was out of her mind with the fear that she would die. I gave her the Gospel text of today to read which speaks of a rich and strong man who owns a house and another man who comes, ties him up and takes away everything he has. I explained to her that the strong man, the evil spirit, who scared her so much, could be defeated by the stronger man, who is Jesus. She had only to trust Jesus and no evil spirit could have any power over her. When I visited her two days later she was completely normal In some passages of the Gospel Jesus casts out evil spirits. He saw evil powers at work in the life of people and sometimes taking possession of them. He called Satan “the ruler of this world”. But he was also convinced that he was stronger than all powers of evil and had come to liberate people from these destructive powers and establish the rule of God instead. The bible sees history as a struggle of the light against the powers of darkness, of truth against the “father of lies”, of love against hatred. It is also a struggle in the heart of every person. If you are inclined to think that these are ideas of long ago which do not fit into modern times, just be aware that this struggle of evil against good is the stuff all great literature and every Sunday evening crime story is made of. It follows usually the same pattern: There are people living peacefully their everyday life till something terrible happens, e.g. a murder or some evil agent threatening to destroy the world. Then confusion tears people apart. Some are suspected of the murder, there are rumours and accusations. Finally, a saviour turns up in the form of James Bond or commissar X who uncovers the evil people and ties them up and restores the old order and security. Although we believe ourselves to be enlightened and to think scientifically the basic patterns of thinking are still the same. Only the way we image evil is culturally conditioned. Sometimes we are inclined to personify the power of evil and give it names like Satan or Bezebul. Modern people reject such ideas as a myth forgetting that myths do not describe facts, and yet contain basic truths. The truth is that evil is real and it has power over people and can possess them. Destructive ideas, thoughts and desires can become an obsession. People can have an obsession with personal power, e.g. dictators like in Syria who are ready to destroy their country and their own people. Others are obsessed by greed for money. Without any scruple they accumulate fortunes at the expense of those who have nothing. We might be obsessed by sexual compulsions, by feelings of jealousy and hatred ready to destroy our enemy. The power of evil that can enslave us takes many forms. The Good News is that there is someone stronger who can break the chains of false ideas and ideologies, of destructive feelings and compulsions and open our mental prisons. Jesus is stronger than all powers of evil. The closer we are to him the less evil can touch us, the freer we become. Jesus has already overcome the world. On Good Friday the powers of evil seemed to have won the battle. On Easter morning Jesus proved to be stronger. This victory we celebrate at every Eucharist when we profess: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again..
Fr. Wolfgang Schonecke, MAfr