This post may make some people mad. That is okay. This post is directed towards those who know the Catholic faith is true and right. To those that know the teachings of the church are the proper way to live, this post is a word of caution to you.
God tells me that ultimately the church (on both sides) doesn’t quite have it right. The left has chosen to embrace sin…. But He really truly talks to me about not judging people all the time too and honestly, it is the people on the right who I see tons and tons of judgment from. Just in the past two days I have read reports from solid solid Catholics who are speaking about schism. Let me tell you something, CHRIST ALLOWED THE AUTHORITY TO WALK HIM ALL THE WAY TO THE CROSS, even though the authority was wrong and He was right. Schism is rebellion, and that is precisely what Satan wants. Rebellion.
I now do spiritual direction and I am on a Deliverance Team. The people that come to see us would typically fall in the category of “left”. Though to God they fall in the category of “child,” just as each of us is a child of God. They are steeped in sin, and aren’t really convinced that what they have been doing is wrong. But the Holy Spirit has obviously gotten a hold of them because they know they’re life can be better which is how they walk in the door in the first place. I see repeatedly that these people are VERY VERY BROKEN. It’s as if I can see demons who have talked to them their whole life… so their whole perception of themselves, of others, and of the world… it’s based on a lie. They are objectively living in sin… But if I step back and really look, it’s as if they are sitting in a chair and demons are pounding on them. Demons that started pounding on them as babies. Usually that lie is that they are not loved or worth anything. They do not rest securely in God’s love. So they make up a God that they can live with so they can continue to cope. They deny sin because sin was inflicted UPON them by people who they loved and they cannot reconcile that in their heads…. And it manifests in rage too because from that perspective it’s as if you have to justify your existence. You rage because everything your whole life has screamed at you that you’re worthless…so you scream back…thinking inside “I have a right to breathe”…but not really believing that you do deep down. The deepest core of that rage is the belief that your very breath isn’t worth anything. This rage, which really boils down to self-hatred has boiled over in the streets. People screaming… look I AM WORTH SOMETHING… and it’s a demonic misperception… And it is precisely here that God’s mercy can break through.
I cried after meeting with some of these people because how do you preach the absolutely beautiful Doctrines of truth without inflicting more damage? Truth stabs them in the heart if it is presented too harshly because they were never taught, or sometimes they were taught but taught by total hypocrisy, where the rules were taught but not lived…. So for me, and for our deliverance team, we take a walk, a spiritual walk with them, mostly just asking them questions. It becomes really beautiful when they realize of their own accord (with the help of the Holy Spirit) that they have to change…. And it’s how true conversion takes place. This is actually what deliverance is. We teach them how to forgive, and then we teach them how to renounce the demons who have spoken to them, so their perception of reality becomes a Godly one. And the change is astonishing. And the whole time, it is them who says the prayers, not us. We teach them to take the authority of their own life back from the devil.
It is all like watching the church crisis on the front lines.
All the while God is telling me the road is narrow. People fall off to the left and right. I struggle with social media now because I just objectively want to speak truth, but the walking wounded are so so terribly wounded that they perceive wrongly because demons have trained them how to think their whole lives. I so totally understand why Christ said, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” Because it isn’t as if they didn’t know they were nailing Him to a cross. They knew that…But they believed it to be a good because of what demons had done to them. Christ could see that. That’s why he could separate the people, who are made in God’s image, from the demons who have totally rejected God. And it IS why He was so harsh on the Pharisees, because THEY DID KNOW better. I feel like the people who believe the orthodox teachings of the church really have to be careful about this…. Objectively their opinions are “right” but how are they viewing the other person? If they want their demise and not their salvation, then they are not being TRUE to what Christ taught. Do not mistake forgiveness and obedience with condoning sin. To be truly lifted out of sin, we HAVE TO FORGIVE, but that doesn’t mean a person doesn’t have consequences. And obedience, the reason it is so important is because it is precisely the thing that Satan would not do. Jesus was obedient, even unto death, and it brought Resurrection.
Ultimately what God shows me is that He wants is restoration of union with HIS WILL, like it was in the garden before the fall. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and HE DID THAT, but WE HAVEN’T embraced it. That’s why the church herself will go through a Passion, because a Passion will bring us to Resurrection. A birthing. Where each person can be fully realized in what it is God actually wants for us. If only we would listen, we would have the full power of God behind us. I believe this will happen, but not before we are ALL stripped naked, and humiliated. I just hope we can stand up at the foot of the cross. I pray for the grace of perseverance everyday now. God wants a different looking church than what we have right now and it will quite literally be a hell of a ride before we get there. Pray without ceasing. Stop judging, start listening and start walking with people in love. If they don’t listen, you don’t acquiesce to evil, you stand in it’s way, just like Christ did. He didn’t leave, He didn’t attack, He didn’t stop preaching truth. He stood in the way. And it led to the cross and brought Resurrection.
Veil of Veronica 
Thank you for a thoughtful post.
Thanks and God Bless you.
WOW!!! THE LORD IS GOOD THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT
God Bless you.
Thank you dear sister Susan…
I think we just cannot fathom how perfectly and clearly and lovingly God sees into the depth of all souls , seeing the true identity of all people. We humans just look at the appearances and judge from them alone.
Lately, I have really been praying for the Spirit of Elijah to fall powerfully upon the Church , for us to desire reconciliation and forgiveness first of all from within our own midst, right here inside the family of God that is the Church. Why start within the family of God? Because that is the essence of the Spirit of Elijah:
To turn the hearts of fathers to their sons, and sons to their fathers, in order to prepare a people well disposed for the Visitation of the Lord.
Indeed, it is all about generational forgiveness on a vast scale…. looking at the spiritual aspects of healing and deliverance that are territorial, familial and individual. All 3 levels…
So….For example, when you experience healing and deliverance ministry in the way you describe it this post, Susan, you cannot help but come to see that we are all walking wounded in differing degrees yet with many similarities borne out by our sharing in a common culture (for example) . When you begin to study the consequences of any form of abuse, above all sexual abuse, then you begin to see the rotten fruit it bears on our self image. It is in fact very easy in ministry to learn to trace the root causes of sexual identity confusion, or sexual orientation confusion. From there, one can see how , when , where and why a person became confused and wounded in their sexuality. Then , begin to prayerfully move out of the confusion and wound into a place of light, truth , understanding and deep healing in the Holy Spirit .
Suddenly, you stand back and look at the present state of the Catholic Church in America, for example. And you see the root causes and the path that vast healing should or could take. You stand back in shock and say to yourself :
” How , in the Name of God’s Merciful Love, is it that NO ONE IS HELPING THESE CONFUSED AND WOUNDED PRIESTS GET DELIVERED AND HEALED ? It is yet another “elephant in the living room” ! Or course all the victims of abuse need healing and deliverance….but so do their perpetrators ! What Charity or what Truth is found by just sending them off to some distant monastery or empty parish church to die in the sickness of the wounds that were inflicted upon them and that they in turn inflicted upon others…. in an unending cycle of distress???? Ministry proves that essentially all healing and deliverance needs are rooted in PATTERNS OF SIN THAT ARE GENERATIONAL and get transmitted in our society , community and culture.
IT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION THAT HEALING AND DELIVERANCE MINISTRY SHOULD BE THE VERY TOP PRIORITY OF EVERY SINGLE BISHOP IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Until that happens, we will continue to fall deeper and deeper into distress and division …
ELIJAH is the precursor. Elijah means healing through reconciliation. Reconciliation means forgiveness. It means Truth AND it means Charity. BOTH . FULLY . ALWAYS. EVERYWHERE. EVERYONE. We all need it. No exceptions.
WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR ?????
Jesus, please give us the Grace to want to courageously, collectively, corporately DESIRE TO SEEK HEALING AND DELIVERANCE inside the Catholic Church of America. We ask this in the Name of Merciful Love, that this would be the gift of this Advent Season 2018…because we want to be READY WHEN YOU COME BACK IN GLORY !!!
I agree Lucy. That’s why in our ministry we start with generational healing. God Bless you.
A beautiful post.
Hopefully this doesn’t come across as too picky since sometimes that ole bugger sneaks seemingly insignificant words into our lexicon ending up being glomed on to. Re: “the Catholic Church of America”. We are the Roman Catholic Church and not some denomination of it as it is in China. Schism may be pending, we’re always under Rome.
Thanks and you’re correct.
every time I read your post I get weepy, you have been given a treasure from Our Lord to speak out. Please continue, all of the readers need to pray to Jesus to keep you and protect you from all harm from the evil one. Mary Most Holy pray for us! Love you in the Lord, Tanya
Thank you. And God bless you.
Luke 18:9-14
“9 [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
(St. Augustine, Sermon 351.1).
“The Pharisee was not rejoicing so much in his own clean bill of health as in comparing it with the diseases of others. He came to the doctor. It would have been more worthwhile to inform him by confession of the things that were wrong with himself instead of keeping his wounds secret and having the nerve to crow over the scars of others. It is not surprising that the tax collector went away cured, since he had not been ashamed of showing where he felt pain.”
Thank you and God Bless you
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Amen, as a recent convert what I have been feeling for a long time. We need to bind the wounds first. I was Methodist until recently (came into the Church in 2012)- maybe that is why I have embraced the grace of Divine Mercy in entering the Church because there is huge emphasis on grace in my former tradition.. As a convert I find all of the arguments on the left and right confusing more than anything else. You really mean to tell me the NO Mass where I really learned and accepted Eucharistic reality (why I am a Catholic now by the way) is no good. Or that Vatican 2 was nothing but bad? On the other hand, what I see on the left was what was wrong with my old denomination- giving into the world which is falling deeper into sin. It has been difficult but I choose to focus on my own conversion and praying the Rosary like crazy! Being consecrated to Jesus through Mary has really helped- when I feel confused I just let Mary teach me about this new Church of mine! But I could never go back- Jesus is really present in the Eucharist, where else would I go?
I wrote a post on the two Masses not too long ago. You can read it here; https://veilofveronica.blog/2018/10/24/the-center-of-the-world-the-mass/ . I hope in reading it you understand I am not condemning the New Mass. The fighting I see over the Mass can really be over the top. And your words about the Eucharist, that is the key. We have no where else to go. God Bless you on your journey. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks I had no idea you had written about the Mass as I found this blog through Spirit Daily today. I will read- yes the Mass is the center of the world. I have attended a TLM and have been blessed to live near a Marian shrine where the NO is very reverent and said ad orientum. I love the reverence! Thank you for the kind words, so happy to be Catholic even in the difficulties right now.
God Bless you!!
Romans 9:16 -“So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God’s mercy.” Ref: Good News Bible (catholic Study Edition)
Romans 12;1-2 “A Living sacriifice”
Thanks for the Scripture quotations.
1 Corinthians 12:1-13 “Immorality in the Church” – (verses 12-13) “After all, it is none of business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the members of your own fellowship? As the scripture says, “Remove the evil man from your group.”
Yes, what do you do if the evil comes from authority that you’re supposed to be obedient to? It’s the conundrum we find ourselves in. And it’s why the battle is spiritual and not solved in a worldly manner. Prayer and Fasting.
The WORD says to flee from evil!!!
you flee from it in the sense that you don’t commit it. Don’t give into evil. But we’re also to stand up against it as Jesus did. He did not flee. He stood in truth in front of it and we’re called to imitate Him.
I do not understand why anyone would get angry with you. We all struggle with our past, with wounds, that only God’s mercy can heal. God bless you. When I talk with people, I try to see where they are on their path, so how I respond will differ from one to the other. Like you said, we do not want to wound anyone deeper. I have my own wounds that I struggle with, as I think most of us have.
God’s love is present, as St. Paul states. Jesus is God’s ‘YES:.
Thank you for your empathy and compassion.
Peace
Mark
Thank you for your kind words. Most people who get angry are wounded themselves and from suffer a spirit of control. But sadly, yes I have had people who got very upset with what I have written. God Bless you.
Great post. I am a Third Order Marist and what you describe is akin to the Marist Way of walking with people and helping them find peace, mercy, and truth in God without vitriol.
Thanks for sharing.
God Bless you!
Susan,
in reading this blog entry, I feel like we are kindred spirits! I have been involved with “deliverance” (ministries) for many years now – as I have been drawn to them in search of the freedom that you describe so well in your writing!
Reflecting on Jesus statement: “Let those who have eyes see, and those who have ears hear”…I believe that He was alluding to the need for deliverance! it “seems” like a ludicrous statement but not so! The catchphrase that comes to mind is: “I did not know that I did not know”. In my case, I truly did not know how demons had attached themselves to me through my ancestors, my past sins, and present associations and that they were effecting my “choices” in life so very much until I found freedom through deliverance and saw the difference in my ability to choose differently.
“Bondage” can go unrecognized because of the blindness that accompanies it.
One deliverance that I had had occurred when I read the book “Healing of Families” and the Holy Spirit enlightened me about a vow that I’d taken at ten years old and completely forgotten about.
It was a vow to never (ever) let anyone love me again. A vow that I made as my mom and dad were driving away – leaving me at a boarding school after a Christmas visit. I had blocked out making that vow all those years. The spirits of abandonment and rejection quickly attached themselves to me as a result and my life became a life of “lonesomeness” – unable to make friends, or sustain a marriage for that matter…which ended in divorce.
That is just ONE example of the incredible freedom that I have discovered through deliverance. I made some pretty bad choices in my life, turning to drugs and alcohol and a lifestyle that was taking me straight to hell,,,literally. Suffice it to say that I am a suicide survivor. Not many people “live” to talk about such things! I DID NOT KNOW so very many things about myself, until I found deliverance!
Recently, I completed a course on deliverance. It is called Unbound. It might be helpful for your readers to know about Unbound as a ministry to turn to in search of prayer and freedom, such as you have described. This is a link to the Unbound deliverance ministry:
https://www.heartofthefather.com/about/unbound/
God bless you and thank you for sharing this truly inspired writing!!!
Thanks so much for your comment and God Bless you. Deliverance is very freeing.
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It is important to discern between “judgement” that is condemnatory in nature and thus, anti Gospel…and “judgement” which is the product of discernment born of the Holy Spirit, and thus, a manifestation of God’s TRUTH. “Division”, by nature, is to be avoided IF it destroys “the good” intended by God, thus, creating discord , discontent among people. This type of division is wrong, a product of “The Great Divider” Satan.
In Matthew 10:34, Jesus describes a kind of division he considers warranted: “Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth; I have come to bring a sword, not peace. For I have come to set a man at variance with his father, and a daughter with her mother, and a daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household”. We might paraphrase with this suggestion: “I have come to set at variance a man with his bishop, his pastor, etc., and a man’s enemies will be that of his own Church.”
Right is right; wrong is wrong, truth is of God; untruths are of Satan. The Catholic Church is called to be a beacon of Truth in the world. Unfortunately, there are many false prophets among the “anointed clergy” including her hierarchy…who do not represent the “children of light”, but rather the “children of darkness”. To separate ourselves from those who promulgate darkness rather than the light of truth is our moral responsibility. The “real schismatic” is the one who preaches a Gospel of the anti-Christ. To follow him (or her) would be a betrayal of Jesus Christ.
I wrote this two years ago. I seem to remember Padre Pio’s Bishop hated him. Took his faculties away, spread rumors about him, and yet Pio said to remain in obedience (without sinning, no one can compel you to sin). In the end God fought for him and he was vindicated. It is good to seek good and holy Pastors, it is wrong to abandon Christ in the Eucharist because you don’t like the Pastor if there is no other church nearby. Stand up against evil yes, stand in its way, but don’t judge souls. I see a lot of people making assumptions about someone else’s motivation when we cannot really know someone else’s interior. It’s like the difference between John and Peter at the Passion. John stood with Jesus. Peter tried to save himself instead of trusting God because he made a judgement of what God should be doing against His enemies.