The ministry of love for the salvation of souls and the characteristics of the call for healing and the exorcism of evil spirits / A short reflection on the reading from the Gospel of Saint Mark 3: 20-30

The ministry of love for the salvation of souls and the characteristics of the call for healing and the exorcism of evil spirits.

A short reflection on the reading from the Gospel of Saint Mark 3: 20-30.

My beloved brothers and sisters in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

    My sharing is in the use of simple and easy to understand language. I use this method so that those who are weak and do not have higher education can understand the message and meaning of what is written here. I am also the same as all of you, I don't have any advanced studies and only know how to read the Catholic Bible, that's a simple understanding and the way of the village people. 

    My sharing here is only intended for all members in Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels). Therefore, I encourage you all to read and continue what is written here so that the Mission and Vision of our calling and way of life bring salvation to the people. I want each existing group or community to take time to read and review their respective spiritual lives while helping all members to explain my sharing. It is also hoped that all of our respective Superior Servants and also the Spiritual Guides Brothers and Sisters for each group and community will take on this role and responsibility to guide and help each other, so that we can all walk together in achieving unity with the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For other Catholics who want to read it, I advise them to use this spiritual reading with an attitude of faith and prayer because the purpose of life in this world is to believe in the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, through His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

    Our way of life and ministry is an act of love and forgiveness. We need to re-evaluate and see the extent of our commitment and direction in life. We are called and chosen by God to cooperate with Him in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the salvation of souls can be saved from sin and death. We need to achieve true inner peace. This way can help and be useful for Christians to achieve silence. This is the prayer I mean so that it can benefit all our members who are in Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels). Prayer is an encounter with the personal God. And to experience and want to be united with God in such prayer, let us re-read this passage from the Gospel of Saint Mark 3: 20-30. If we read this passage from the Gospel of Saint Mark, it is possible for us to draw two different conclusions, namely that Jesus was not an expert in the casting out of evil spirits.  This means that His Church is not true and remains wrong because Jesus was said to be possessed by Beelzebub (verses 20-22). The second is that because He was human, Jesus was said to be insane. This can cause doubt and confusion to acknowledge His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

    And if we continue to say that Jesus is no longer sane, can we place ourselves again in salvation with a personal encounter with God? That is, can we truly pray and experience His presence? We should never say that since we have been baptized and ministered, we already know various forms of prayer. This is as if we want to overcome the Eucharistic prayer and want to overcome the personality of a Catholic priest. I want to rebuke and give advice here, and my question is just a simple one, can all of us who attend Holy Mass and who serve in the church and community place ourselves individually in safety with a personal encounter with God? Whether the Catholic priest is present at Holy Mass or not, can we re-position ourselves in the person of Jesus who saves and His Tabernacle? Now can we all evaluate and know who our Catholic priests really are? If I were a Catholic Bishop, I would only give one answer here, namely, our Catholic priests are ordinary people but because of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, every Catholic priest is an “Alter Christus – In persona Christi” Latin (another Christ) reminding us that, although Christ himself is present in His Church, the Catholic priest acts as “another Christ” based on his ordination. Therefore, the Catholic Church understands the Christian faith as Alter Christus (another Christ) acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). Because Jesus Christ is a man, and those who act in the persona Christi and are the Alter Christus must be men as Christ is a man. In addition, our Church is bound to the example of Jesus Christ himself who only chose men for this ministry. I explain the personality of the Catholic priest because it involves our prayers every day at the Eucharist as well as the reading from the Gospel of Saint Mark. (Gospel of Saint John 20: 22-23, Gospel of Saint Luke 10: 16).

    In order to understand the reading of the Gospel of Saint Mark, I only explain about the charisma and temptation that we need to know so that every group and community that exists in Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels) can step bolder to continue our Mission and Vision without fear of false spirits and human sins (Gospel of Saint Mark 3: 20-30) in this world. We see for ourselves how the scribes who came from Jerusalem said that Jesus was possessed by Beelzebub and that by the prince of demons He cast out demons. This kind of conversation carries a different meaning in terms of spirituality and not salvation. This verse "possessed by an evil spirit" explains the state of human thinking and opinion about Jesus' ministry. And by saying that what the Holy Spirit does is done by evil spirits, man actually rejects the light of God’s grace and the forgiveness of sins given by this grace. That attitude in itself places people outside of salvation. But the grace of God can still also change that attitude, so that people can accept that grace again. I will explain our situation as human beings who are easily tempted and how we should respond to this reading from the Gospel of Saint Mark. We will see how the work of the Holy Spirit really is and how self-temptation and tendencies come from the devil.

    We who are called in the ministry of healing and exorcism need to understand the charisms that are in us. This is very important for a minister because charisms are gifts of grace of the Holy Spirit, to serve and all of them are given for the development of the Church in this world, for the well-being of humanity and for the needs of the world today. For example, we are also said to be sane or crazy, refer back to the meaning and significance of charisma here. Remember that we must receive the charisms from God with gratitude because the charisms we receive are an amazing wealth of grace for apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ. What we need to realize here is that these charisms and gifts truly come from the Holy Spirit. And those gifts must be exercised in love which is the true measure of charisma. This explains our identity as children of God the Father and also as a good servant and shepherd (1 Corinthians 13). Therefore, I want all members in each group and each community today to test these charisms. Always reminding ourselves that no charism exempts us from the obligation to respect the priests of the Church and to obey them. As has been explained, “they are especially those who serve, not to quench the Spirit, but to test everything and to hold fast to what is good” (LG 12). All charisms, despite their many differences, are intended to complement each other, and should work together so that they are useful for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7).

    Therefore, for all of us who feel called to the ministry of healing and exorcism, reread this passage from the Gospel of Saint Mark as a personal prayer and reflection. This is so that we don't easily forget that temptations in prayer often occur. We see for ourselves how Jesus was said to be insane. We as ordinary people can also be said to be insane because of our indifference to difficulties in prayer. We must admit our limitations in ministry. But as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, prayer is a gift of grace and requires a firm response on our part. I use “spiritual struggle” because the prayers of the Old Testament before Christ, as well as Our Lady and the Saints and Jesus Himself, teach us that prayer means struggle. We struggle means we fight against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does everything to prevent people from prayer and also from union with God. We see for ourselves how Jesus was said to be insane. There is a possibility that we also start thinking about similar things until we are no longer able to fight in prayer. We can evaluate for ourselves the reasons and causes of things like this, as well as who is constantly preventing us from coming to God. My personal advice and view is, those of us who do not always want to act in the spirit of Christ, they also cannot get used to praying in His name. Can we reposition our loving ministry towards all people? Regarding the charisma and temptations that I explained earlier, there may be doubts about praying in the name of Jesus. This is because there is confusion about prayer that we find within ourselves and around us.

    If we are also said to be less than sane and imperfect, and we begin to feel the conversation and ridicule of others, there is a possibility that we begin to be tempted and have objections to Catholic prayer. It is true that as human beings who started to be attracted to prayer, we were initially enthusiastic in this ministry. But what I need to warn you about here is the state of Jesus who was said to be less than sane. If in our time, that event is the ridicule and opinions of others towards us. Then if we are not rooted in Jesus Christ, we begin to experience failure in prayer. Feelings of discouragement arise from being ridiculed and insulted, sadness begins to interfere with our lives until we feel we cannot give our entire way of life and service to God. Pay attention to the state of this inner and psychological emptiness event. In my opinion, this is because we begin to quickly become discouraged. And those who seek God in prayer are very quickly discouraged, because they do not know that prayer also comes from the Holy Spirit and not just from themselves.

    Let us go back to read the story of the Prophet Elijah in the Old Testament. God who revealed Himself on Mount Horeb shows that God is also pleased with Prophet Elijah so that He spoke to him. The presence of God was evident in a calm and peaceful situation. We see here how God who spoke actually guided Prophet Elijah to follow His instructions. This "gentle breeze" explains that Prophet Elijah succeeded in listening to the voice of God. This is not a temptation that leads to anxiety and fear. And that still and gentle voice was the voice of God. Prophet Elijah heard the voice of God that healed him, only after he heard the "still and gentle voice" earlier. God speaks in silence and only those who are quiet in heart can hear what God says. Experiences like this invite us all to be more earnest in the silence of prayer. When it comes from God, it will produce fruit in the spirit at the time it is given. This fruit is what is important. Reflect again on the Prophet Elijah and God revealing Himself on Mount Horeb. But if it comes from the devil, it will cause other effects such as anxiety, dryness, vain pride and arrogance (1 Kings 19: 12-13).

    Hopefully with this explanation and sharing, we can all understand whether our ministry is in accordance with the charisms that we have. My advice is not to exaggerate in ministry. Enough with the charisma and gifts that we have. It is better to be a humble and prayerful person than to be arrogant and show off. If this happens, you all must be firm and remove the members who behave like this from the existing group or community. Follow my advice because these little demons are good at disguising themselves and acting all the time. The characteristics of people like this are not in accordance with our way of life and ministry. This is because their purpose is only to seek temporary pleasure and not to build the Kingdom of God in this world. If these little devils are left alone, the unity of Christ's Church will easily be divided. This is the duty and responsibility of all of you. I want to emphasize that we should use the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we have. Try to understand first why you all began to be attracted to these spiritual and holy things. This is what happens when we start wanting and being attracted to the way of life and calling here. If there are still signs of uncertainty or you just want to be alone, refer back to the explanation of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels).

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)