Dispatches from Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

May 11, 2018

What is a “demon”?  I do not think they are much like those portrayed in The Exorcist or any of those films of that genre.  I am skeptical that those kinds of “demons” actually exist though they might be portrayed in wildly ecstatic forms of Christianity, a nightmare acted out to serve a variety of needs for a damaged personality.  No, I believe demons are far more sophisticated than that.  A “demon” is something that takes control of a person in a negative way, changing the person to the point of then controlling the person.  Addiction to drugs and alchohol can become quite “demonic”.  But then so can greed, lust, gambling, rabid religion full of fear and wrath, hysterical politics full of rage and power.  The “demon” becomes the master and the definer of what is true.  The “demon” takes over one’s reasoning and takes over one’s judgment.  The “demon” has the capacity and the desire to take over more and more of our perception of the world, even sometimes our perception of both that which is human and that which is divine.

I find the “denomic” grows in the midst of a mob.  I personally have seen it at work in a Ku Klux Klan rally and certain political rallies, I have even seen it at work in out-of-control revivals in which something other than God has taken over the crowd.

But on a smaller and more personal scale … I have seen first hand the “demons” of rage, jealousy, prejudice and violence … I have seen these “demons” seize control of a soul and steals away his or her good judgment.

No, I worry not about wild-eyed demons, but rather about wild-eyed people.

Always in His Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz