cancer demon

[Daniel_Marsh]

Yes Sam, I think you got it.

for your consideration, Ezekiel 18

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:
" ‘The fathers eat sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
** 3 "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.** 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

5 "Suppose there is a righteous man
who does what is just and right.

6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife
or lie with a woman during her period.

7 He does not oppress anyone,
but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.

8 He does not lend at usury
or take excessive interest. [a]
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
and judges fairly between man and man.

9 He follows my decrees
and faithfully keeps my laws.
That man is righteous;
he will surely live,
declares the Sovereign LORD.

10 "Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things ** 11 (though the father has done none of them):
"He eats at the mountain shrines.
He defiles his neighbor’s wife.

12 He oppresses the poor and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.

13 He lends at usury and takes excessive interest.
Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head.

14 "But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:

15 "He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

16 He does not oppress anyone
or require a pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.

17 He withholds his hand from sin [c]
and takes no usury or excessive interest.
He keeps my laws and follows my decrees.
He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. 18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.

19 "Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. 20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.** The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

21 "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. 22 None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

24 "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.

25 "Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

…

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Agricola:

C’mon everyone! “Cancer demons” aren’t that unrealistic are they?

Just relax, take a deap breath, and call the closest medically trained exorcist!

Wahoo! Get a grip! And I’m not saying to hold on frozen with fear, but with anticipation of what is coming.

I have worked in emergency rooms, morgues, have recently been befriended by an anti-Catholic who used to work for Hell’s Angels but now is helping me get my own life back together, last night I was nearly in despair when a parolee, recently unfairly accused by a police officer who used him to extort fraudulent work from the same company that cleaned up my own house after our fire, and he’s promised to come back today and not give up on my failure (supposedly because of my imaginary mental illness). I have literally “heard” the cry of thousands of Catholics as I entered their pleas and thanks into a database for the Third Synod of Wichita.

At this point, a “cancer demon” is not such a stretch. My sister-in-law, Mary Jane, was nearly dead. Her father and doctors even gave her up for lost. When I got into the room where she was on a ventilator, having been instructed in proper procedures in such things, I set my mind to believe for all I could that she could hear me. First I took the others out of the room and told them that they should behave as if she could hear them even if she looks like she’s in a coma. Some family members were crying, others were angry and even bickering, others were deciding on arrangements to dispose of her possessions. I told them very gently that when you talk around her as if she doesn’t hear you, that confirms any suspicion she has that the world is giving up on her.

I opened a Bible and read some Gospel chapters – don’t remember which one. Then I asked my wife to leave the room, and held her hand gently and pleaded with her to give me some sign that she was listening. At one point I thought I felt a tiny twitch, so I waited until I calmed down and said, “is it really you” and I felt another twitch. The next day she woke up and now is in progress of what I expect to be a “nearly miraculous” recovery from her schizophrenia. Personally I believe that her being schizophrenic is tied in with her lung condition, if for no other reason than the obvious one that the same soul shares the experiences.

I was never afraid of her, even when she used to stay overnight and run around screaming at demons while weilding a knife, when our children were asleep and I was awake. OK, so I was a little afraid, but I have never given up on the fact that Mary Jane is not actually crazy, but just oppressed.

That’s what oppression does. It holds in demons that would have come out freely had nobody gotten in the way. Turns out these demons that haunt her probably belong to somebody else anyway, so whoever is supposed to die of cancer to end their suffering is being denied their “demon” or “attitude” or whatever it’s called, while medicine only knows to keep her body alive but can neither “fix” the mind not “fix” a broken leg other than trying to control things within limits so the healing will proceed at the stated rate – or at least they wish they could actually map out the healing process. Christ gives us healing, and that healing may come in kicking out demons, or in getting better adjusted to our own demons.

Here I’m using the word “demons” as a communications tool, no more and no less. Anything else such as hobgoblins, spooks, boogeyman, boogerman as some say, are all in our personal imaginations and are fascinatingly motivating us toward our destiny, come what may.

Alan

 

[Fergal]

Daniel Marsh:

I was not sure where to place this thread.

It looks like my prostrate cancer may be back. My last PSA blood test was borderline ( 0.1 ). I had prostrate surgery last december 2004, and had a bunch of surgeries this year.

I keep encountering people who claim that I have a “cancer demon” or that I am under a generational curse.

How would you respond to such a person?

I wouldn’t respond. That nonsense doesn’t deserve a response.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Fergal:

I wouldn’t respond. That nonsense doesn’t deserve a response.

Sorry to respond, but the nonsense became more nonsensical so I’ll respond in your proxy.

A few minutes ago my wife told me that her sister just experienced a major breakthrough in her schizophrenia, after three decades of problems that, frankly, had lost her parents to give up hope. She has cut her cigarette intake by half, and all this after Julie and I had discussed this very thread.

I don’t know about demons or goblins, but I know this. If anybody tries to tell me that I only imagined that Mary Jane signaled her consciousness to me with her finger, then they can join the crowd that wanted to “end the pain” of Terri Shaivo.

As for not responding, be aware that not all people are either skilled or born to talk to those who are asleep or otherwise barely conscious. When Christ said the girl was not dead but merely asleep, He wasn’t speaking some hocus-pocus because I’ve worked in a morgue and I know once a warm-blooded creature assumes room temperature, it’s over. Clearly this girl had not died beyond resuscitation.

You can believe in demons or not, and that’s OK with me. As far as I’m concerned, the name of God and staunch, unwavering faith can drive out illness, so if they are not demons then the Bible of course is speaking literally about driving them out.

Alan

 

[st_ignatius110]

I would highly suggest reading Fr. Amorth’s book An Excorcist Tells His Stories. Fr. Amorth is the Chief Exorcist of Rome and has had many encounters where demons are allowed by God to inflict upon people diseases or suffering. This does not mean a person is possessed by a demon…merely oppressed.