Deliverance from Extrinsic Evil

Spiritual healing can also take the form of “deliverance,” not just from intrinsic evil (sin) but also from extrinsic evil (demonic interference). In our prayers we ask God not only to “forgive us our trespasses” but also to “deliver us from evil.” This latter petition is a request for another type of spiritual healing provided by the Eucharist, namely spiritual power over the enemy and protection from his wiles. Those who receive Communion devoutly and fervently are not only healed of the effects of sin in their lives but also protected from the attacks of demonic forces. Scripture tells us, “You cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons” (1 Cor 10:21, NIV).

The enemy – the thief, as Jesus calls him – tries to “steal, destroy and kill.” He is essentially anti-life and can be subdued only by the divine Life-Giver, who said in contract, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10, emphasis added). “Indeed, “ St. John records, “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil? (1 Jn 3:8). This “exorcistic” mission of Jesus was his premiere healing ministry, performed in many ways and instances (and even at a distance when faith was intense, as recorded in Mark 7:29-30). But it would seem that Jesus’ deliverance healing is even more accessible to us when he is allowed to exercise this ministry by his presence in Holy Communion, as we abide in him and he in us (see John 6:56, RSV).

The ancient prayer Anima Christi is often used exorcistically, especially with the phrase, “In thy wounds hide me.” That is where the devil dares not come, for he dreads the precious blood spilled from those wounds. Christ, the “wounded healer” (who was “wounded for iniquities,” that is, for our capitulations to the enemy), uses those wounds to dispel the evil one, for they are permanent signs that Jesus is the conquering Redeemer. It is “by his wounds we are healed” (Is 53:5).

The precious blood from the wounds of Jesus is offered to us at Communion (present in one or both species, by host or by cup), while that same precious blood is offered to the Eternal Father in atonement for sins that have wounded our souls. In the eucharistic context, praying the Our Father elicits great power for deliverance healing: “Deliver us from evil.” Only divine ingenuity could devise such intimacy in which to exercise Jesus’ messianic ministry of “destroying the works of the devil.

We already know that the first Mass was the occasion of a Passover meal. The word “Passover,” as explained in Exodus 12:27, is derived from the fact that the Israelites were “passed over” by the angel of death; this happened only because the blood of the sacrificial lamb was placed on the doorposts of their homes (see Exodus 12:23). But St. John reminds us that our own deliverance is also by the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb - Jesus himself (see Revelation 7:14). “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7), we say in the Mass, where he is symbolically sacrificed again and again as we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26, NIV). The Eucharist makes the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb [present to us today, and its power for deliverance healing is far greater than that of the lamb’s blood on the Israelites’ door lintels. When the Eucharist is devoutly received, this deliverance healing can scatter the evil spirits of lust, infirmity, divorce, depression, fear, and sloth and countless other forms of evil entities that constantly assail us.

One of the most dramatic forms of spiritual healing through the Eucharist is the popular practice of healing the family tree through offering a Mass for the living and deceased persons in one’s family. I discuss this practice at length in my book, Healing Your Family Tree. Scripture in several places tells us, “The sins of the parents are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation.” The sins or our ancestors affect us; and our sins, in turn, affect our offspring. The Eucharist is the most powerful means of breaking this bondage. Many healings have been reported by people who have had a Mass offered for their family tree, attended it, and asked the Lord at the consecration and at Holy Communion to cover them and their family with his precious blood to purify the “bad blood” (a biblical term for any transgenerational bondage). By God’s mercy, especially in the Eucharist, family trees have been spiritually healed.

This excerpt is from the book The Healing Power of the Eucharist, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Books, an imprint of St. Anthony Messenger Press. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.