Recently I have been struck by Satan’s exploiting our psychological weaknesses, particularly in demonic “obsessions.” He is a master at sensing our fears, our desires for control, cracks in our self-esteem, and our vain desires to be held in esteem by others. Then, when these flawed emotions surface, Satan exploits and exaggerates them.
Demonic obsessions are often recognizable by their unusual strength and debilitating power. What normally would be a typical human fear becomes a wild, out-of-control panic. What normally would be a typical human feeling of low self-esteem becomes a screeching voice in one’s head of self-reproach and condemnation. What often separates a demonic obsession from more normal psychological weaknesses is the power and suddenness of the attack. It is akin to a gale force storm arising suddenly in the brain.
If the person is already possessed, these human weaknesses can “feed the demons” and make it more difficult to exorcize them. This is why we often complement our spiritual remedies with trips to see a Catholic psychotherapist or sessions with a Catholic practitioner of other healing remedies such as Unbound. As the possessed person finds deep inner healing from such psychological wounds, the demons slowly lose their grip on the person.
All of us have flaws in our psychological wholeness. Such are the sequelae of original sin. As we find greater inner healing, the voice of Satan in our heads decreases. Then we can more easily hear the beautiful voice of God and the holy angels.
Editor’s note: Be sure to watch the Divine Intimacy Radio series with Monsignor Rosetti. You can find part one here and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel while you’re at it!
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Image (modified) courtesy of Unsplash.
This post was originally published on Catholicexorcism.org and is reprinted here with permission.
