I have been unusually interested lately in the rite of exorcism in the Catholic church.   I have been listening to a lot to Father Vincent Lambert on many of the YouTube video talks he has given.   On a few occasions, I have heard Fr. Lambert say that the rite of exorcism is a sacramental of the church….not a sacrament.

This struck me as one often thinks of the power of an exorcism when we think of movies about demon possession.  Yet the true power is in the sacraments themselves.   Going to reconciliation (confession) and receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is the MOST powerful way to expel evil from our lives.

In the occasions where someone is truly being tormented by evil, from oppression to possession – the rite of the church as a sacramental is to bring relief to the person afflicted in order to reattach them to the life of grace in the sacraments themselves.   The goal always is to bring someone to Jesus – and the ways that Jesus brings us His grace and power is through the sacraments of the church.

Thanks be to God for the many sacramentals we have – from holy water to rosaries to medals scapulars, and the like.  And thanks be to God for the sacramental of the ministry of exorcism.  In a world becoming increasingly interested in the occult, in witchcraft, in horror of all kinds – we have the answer to help those who have now put themselves under the powers of the evil one.   The answer is always Jesus.   And we find Jesus, most fully and substantially in the Bread of Heaven, the Holy Eucharist.