Recently I heard a sermon in church about one of the many episodes in the Bible in which Jesus encountered people who were possessed by demons. Jesus cast out the demons and freed the people who were possessed from their afflictions. One can write these stories off as quaint folklore tales or maybe as representing a simplistic way to characterize the nature of sin and the way to deal with sins. They may be trivialized as
being just the way that people understood or tried to explain things at the time. After all, they didn’t have Google back then; so, there was no way to look up what might be causing a behavior or an ailment or illness. Declaring that the person must be possessed by a demon was as good of an explanation as any and was widely accepted.
We tend to think of ourselves as much more sophisticated and knowledgeable about the world around us these days, so demonic possession has fallen largely out of favor. The Catholic Church still has an active practice of exorcism for demonic possession, so perhaps they have not really gone away, but rather just fallen out of the vernacular. When you think about it, demonic possession is as good an explanation as any for the evil behavior that we so often hear about on the nightly news. It makes as much sense to explain the shootings, lawlessness and cruel behavior towards children and others to attribute it to the perpetrators being possessed by demons, as it is to try to figure out other reasons. Many crimes are attributed to drug addiction and the need to “feed the drug habit”. Perhaps it could be described as the need to feed the drug habit demon that is within that person. Once “cured” of that habit the ex-drug addict is said to be “clean”. Remember that people whom Jesus had cast out demons from were also said to be clean.
What of our own demons? Perhaps what we call sins are really the demons that live within us. According to Christian tradition the seven deadly sins are: envy, gluttony, greed or avarice, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath. There is not any place in the bible where such a list exists, but each is identified somewhere in the Bible. You can Goggle “the seven deadly sins” and get references to where they appear. It is probable that all seven 
demons live within us to some extent. It is only through our faith that we control these demons or cast them out. Sometimes incidents in our daily lives let one of more of these demons out and they temporarily control us. News stories of “road rage” provide an example of a personal demon that took temporary control of that person.
As we struggle to understand what could have possessed someone to commit a heinous crime – shooting innocent people or molesting innocent children – we are struggling both to understand their demons and to control those demons within us that want us to hate or fear them. I have been amazed and humbled by every news story of a group that was targeted for an attack by a demon-possessed person who find it in their hearts to forgive their attacker. We don’t see those stories enough on the news. When they do appear you almost always hear that they have prayed about it and that God told them to forgive their attacker. They have cast out the
demons that were within them that wanted them to hate that person and found a way to express God’s love to them.
The impact on the victims of being able to forgive is profound and in many cases, the impact on the perpetrator is equally profound. The demons of hate and prejudice and fear that were driving that person to that heinous act have been driven out by the love of God expressed through their victims. For the victims, there is no closure to the incident more powerful or more healing than the act of forgiveness. That simple act casts out that demons that were introduced by the actions of the perpetrator and allows them to go on with life “clean” and free of those demons.
So, which demons live within you? Do you harbor demons of hate or envy against someone? Perhaps you have let the demon of drug dependency or alcoholism creep into your life and that demon has opened the door for other demons to control your actions. 
Maybe the demon of depression has seized control of your life and cast you into a dungeon of darkness. Perhaps that little demon of self-doubt has grown into a monster inside of you and now you seek to hide from the world. Maybe you have let the demon of complacency or the distractions of the world lead you away from church and your faith.
Whichever demons may be in temporary control of your life, you need acknowledge them and then take a stand and cast them out. Taking a stand requires that you have solid footing upon which to base your life. Jesus told parables about the wise builder who
built his house on rock and not on soil or sand, which might wash away in the storms of life. Your faith is the rock upon which you must stand to cast out your own personal demons and build your future. Once you have taken that stand and cast out your demons, you can live a “clean” life, free of the demons that sought to drag you down or hold you back.
So, I ask you; which demons live within you? Pray today that God help you cast them out, so that you can be clean.
Posted by Norm Werner 
“Cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90. ‘Because I think I am making progress,’ he replied.” (Seattle Opera post). Jack went on to write about his grandmother who was still reading her Bible at age 92, even though she needed a magnifying glass to do so. She was still learning about God and Jesus and making progress in her relationship with God.
Him and form that relationship. That guidance is contained in the Bible. Fortunately, for us, the Bible tells us that we have also been given a guide. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).
express this ego-restricted view of the world in our religious art, which always depicts God in our own image. We have a hard time conceiving of something that we cannot depict in a material way.
of faith”. Jesus beacons us to jump and trust that He will catch us and take us the rest of the way.
progress.” It is a journey that I realize that I will not finish on this earth; but, I hope that I get enough done here to be able to continue the journey in Heaven.
(business or political) violates that trust to their own advantage. It’s as if we somehow suspend disbelief in human nature for those people until they prove that they don’t deserve our trust. That is probably a cynical view of the world, since it presupposes that those whom we trust don’t, in fact, deserve that trust.
wrong. Instead of the nurture of faith they are exposed to the nature of competition and, in some cases, a winner takes all attitude about sports and life. In too many cases, they are exposed to adults in coaching positions of authority who demonstrate to them some of the worst human traits of anger and selfishness. All too many of those youth coaches teach a win-at-all-costs outlook on life.
lessons need to be positioned within a moral context that might be lacking because of a lack of any religious nurturing. Few coaches have the time or take the time to worry about that aspect of their athletes lives.
being ugly or beautiful. Which impression will you leave with the people that you encounter today?
joy when meeting someone new.
So be a beautiful human being today. Greet and interact with others. Share the experiences and outlook on life that make you unique and beautiful. You don’t need to look in the mirror before you go out into the world; just check your moral compass with a little prayer and ask God to give you the courage to let your unique beauty shine through to others.
take the time to also recognize the effort that the people who did not win put into whatever it is. In the Special Olympics games, every contestant is rewarded with a medal for for trying their best, even if they did not come in first.
To me, the most interesting word in that little saying is the word “successfully”. That begs the question of who is measuring the success of one’s life and by what standards? Too many people measure themselves and their achievement of success in their lives by what they think others will think of them or how they think others measure success. For those people, success equates to the accumulation of what they see as the three “P’s” of success – possessions, power and position.
Solanus Casey , the Capuchin Franciscan from the Detroit area who was recently elevated to the level of Blessed by the Catholic Church. They certainly didn’t accumulate great possessions, nor were they in positions of power or great prominence; yet who would say that they did not live successful lives. By what standards were their lives judged? I would submit it is by the standards that Dale Evans was espousing.
Evans recommends and not by that old Malcolm Forbes hack, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins.” Inspirational writer and speaker, Wayne Dyer, put it nicely in this quote that I saw on Pinterest.
comfortable place – a place that they are so familiar with that they seek refuge there. When you’re there, you can excuse yourself for your situation, because it is obviously not your fault. After all, when you are wallowing in self-pity, you can explain your failure as being the consequence of “the whole world is against me.”
will find that the comfort of self-pity is replaced by the excitement of doing something new. You can stop spending all of your time thinking about what was or what might have been and start focusing on what will be. A new direction will lead to new goals and new purpose for your life and the darkness that surrounded you in your sanctuary of self-pity will fade away, replaced by the lights of hopes and dreams.
done, but thy will be done”; a great weight will be lifted from you and His light will begin to shine in your life, pointing the way out of whatever Hell-hole that you dug yourself into. Perhaps you will recall the Sunday School song “
your character. You may know people who seem to “go to pieces” anytime they hit a tough spot in life. You may also know people for who the phrase, “adversity brings out their best” might have been coined. Those people don’t thrive on adversity; but they are able to handle it with aplomb.
purpose. Whatever the reason, some hot water situations cause people to harden their position and perhaps even become stubborn or belligerent. Others may find that their preconceived notions about something or someone soften a bit in the midst of a shared adversity. They conclude, “We’re all in this situation together.”
or find strength by leaning upon it. Do you remember God’s promise – “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” He is right there with you and all you have to do is ask for His help.
that I’ve found in my life to give yourself to God is to prayerfully say to Him…Not my will but thy will be done.
button for life. We need time to think and reflect, to evaluate things and, possibly, to reimagine our role and reactions to what is happening. How many times we think back to situations and from that new point of view, say to ourselves, “if only I had thought of this back then.” Perhaps you would have thought of that back then, if you had hit the pause button.
happen to us often elicit equally hurtful reactions from us and usually just end up compounding the problem. Problems that are so big that they overwhelm us too often cause responses that are overly ambitious and not well thought out. Pausing to see how to break the problem down into a series of smaller and simpler responses can lead to a much better chance of success.
slide into depression because you see no way out. You may wish to say a little prayer, asking for God’s help with the decisions that you have to make or perhaps you would finbd comfort in the little prayer that I use and have written about here many times – “Not my will, but thy will be done.” 
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