1 February 2024 Mark 6:7-13
Why isn’t exorcism a sacrament?
It seems to be a very big deal in the New Testament. Everywhere Jesus went, he was casting out unclean spirits. When he chose the Twelve there were three things they were to do, and one of them was to cast out unclean spirits (Mark 3:14). If the guy in Gerasa, on the east side of the Sea of Galilee, is any indication, the world was in very great need of having demons cast out (5:1-20). And the first time Jesus sent his disciples out to evangelize, he gave them specific authority over evil spirits (6:7). Exorcism always seemed to be on the agenda wherever Jesus and his disciples went.
So why isn’t exorcism a sacrament?
It’s because the sacraments are stronger than exorcism.
Exorcism drives something out. Sacraments put something in, and what they put in is the very life of God. Divine grace is divine life. Divine life is power.
In the Eucharist, which Catholics call the “source and summit of the Christian life,” believers receive nothing less than Jesus himself, in all His fullness, in all His particularity. Everything that makes Him Jesus is present in the divine food we receive (CCC 1324-27). And this food, unlike other food, does not then become what we are. Because it is Jesus in His fullness, we become what it is. And with His life alive within us, we can say to Jesus, “Whatever is in me that cannot or will not follow you, kill it,” and it is killed. We can say to Jesus, “Whatever can or will follow you, strengthen it to follow,” and it follows. With this food, we can be, literally and in fact, “in” God, and God “in” us.
That is real power for living, far stronger than any demon, far more potent than any exorcism.
In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, commonly called Confession, we receive the grace of God (which is to say the life of God) that cleanses us from our sins, and in the power of that divine life within us, we can extend forgiveness and reconciliation to others. In forgiving we are delivered from the folly of vengeance. We can never “get even” after someone has wronged us, and the more serious the wrong, the more impossible it is to get even. Revenge doesn’t work – just ask Batman. He got into the crime fighting business in May 1939 (Detective Comics, no. 27) to get even with the thugs who killed his parents, and he is at it still. With forgiveness, the things and people who have harmed us have no more power over us. With forgiveness demons have no more power over us, either. Experienced exorcists know, and teach, that making a good confession is better and more powerful than any exorcism.
It's the same with all the sacraments. They impart to us the grace of God, which is to say the life of God, and that is more powerful than any evil spirit, more potent than any exorcism.
Of course, we are raising now the least religious generation there has been in a very long time. According to the Pew Research Forum, 70% of Catholics no longer believe in the “real presence” of Christ in the Eucharist. That may lead to some increase in evil spirits in the near term. As we survey our times, that certainly seems to be the case. In many places the demons appear to be winning. But they still recognize Jesus, and fear His sacraments (1:24, 5:7).
It occasionally happens that evil obtains such a strong grip on some people that nothing else can take hold until the evil is expelled. Exorcism at such times is a good and charitable thing. It is a work of mercy, and is to be valued and respected as such.
Sacraments can prevent evil from gaining such a grip, because the demons are terrified of them. Sacraments mean demons fail. Sacraments are stronger, and they are way more available, at Church, every Mass, every day.
There be demons. Go to Church.
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