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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Update on spiritual warfare	Elena	Monday, September 20, 2010
Question: Hello Bro. Ignatius Blessings to you and thank you so much for your encouragement via this wonderful forum. I hope your health is since I see that you have been going thru a tough year but I am encouraged by your dedication and perseverance . Brother, I just wanted to say that since June 2010, I have had so much spiritual and disheartening things happen to me that I sometimes feel so close to giving up on everthing not in a suicidal sense although it crosses my mind, it is just that the battles are so difficult and it appears to me that evil people just prosper. I mentioned to you that I am from the Caribbean and "obeah" or black magic/spellwork is so common here. I have had so many spiritual attacks from neighbours and family that Brother, I have had to literally "divorce" my elder brother, my ex husband and a close female cousin because Brother, although, I do feel guilty, these people did nothing but bring no peace into my life by manipulating me spirtually or by being jealous or some other negativity in my life. It took a long while for me to cut these people out of my life but I do feel a tinge of guilt because I am not a confrontational woman. why must it come to this Brother? I saw many strange things happen in my house and under your guidance I prayed the hedge protection prayers and say the Rosary every night as well as attend Mass weekly and the Sacraments for the past 3 months, and this has miraculously cut all these bizarre things that were happening in my house such as weird dreams and things were disappearing and inexplicable noises at night ,,, it was such a mess. i felt like i was going out of my mind .. . thank God i found this site and i religiously said the protection prayers since June 2010 and my house and my spirit is at peace including my son. The source of this was from a jealous neighbour with her spellwork against me . I dont know how she is jealous since she has put my own brother against me and i have had to cut him off from my life as well. I remember this posting and i was hunting for it on this forum for encouragement that you had said to someone. "One can forgive someone and still not like them. One can forgive someone and refuse to ever see them again. One can forgive someone and when seeing them walking down the sidewalk cross the street to avoid them." so Brother, I have been spiritually attacked so much this year that I just want to say thank you for your wonderful work and for the way your forum has personally edified me in the last few months..... but i do still feel bad that I have had to cut off so many close people God Bless Elena..
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r) Dear Elena: Thank you for your kind words and I am encouraged, especially since it has been a hard two years for me, that our apostolate has helped you so much. You ask "why must it come to this?" Well, this is what sin does. When people stray from God the virtues stray with them. To practice the virtues requires the Holy Spirit. When we reject God or live in sin the Holy Spirit cannot operate in our lives as He normally would. Thus, all sorts of division, strife, hatreds, anger, and such abound. Jesus Himself said: (Luke 12:51-53) Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." What this means is that division will be caused by Christ because Christ is the Truth and not everyone wants to hear the Truth. Even families are ripped apart, Jesus says, because family members do not wish to deal with the truth. There is no reason to feel guilty. Sometime we have to "divorce" family members who are destructive, disrespectful, abusive, or otherwise a threat to your peace in Christ. We can still love them and forgive them, but we may need to stay away from them. As you quoted: "One can forgive someone and still not like them. One can forgive someone and refuse to ever see them again. One can forgive someone and when seeing them walking down the sidewalk cross the street to avoid them." In fact to "divorce" a family member may be the most loving act we can do for them. A person is never helped if we indulge their dysfunctional behavior. Those family members need to be held accountable and to know the seriousness of their bad behavior. By "divorcing" them you are properly telling them that their behavior is so bad that you can no longer have them in your life. Hopefully, this will shock them into realizing the errors of their way and they will repent. If they do repent -- genuinely -- and persevere in that repentance, then and only then you can consider letting them back into your life. Any repentance should not be taken lightly. Those relatives need to prove their repentance over time. This is similar to trusting an alcoholic that he will stop drinking. Well, prove it over time. You are not alone in this. I get numerous requests for advice on similar manner. I am not immune to these problems either. I have had to distance myself from some relatives because of their lack of respect and abusiveness that has been going on for fifty years. As the old saying goes, enough is enough already. I am prepare to accept them back into my life should they change their ways, but if they don't that is their choice. The same goes for you. If your relatives come to their senses, praise God, but if they never do, that is their loss. Let go and let God deal with them. We are still praying for you. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Update on spiritual warfare

Elena

Monday, September 20, 2010

Question:

Hello Bro. Ignatius
Blessings to you and thank you so much for your encouragement via this wonderful forum.

I hope your health is since I see that you have been going thru a tough year but I am encouraged by your dedication and perseverance .

Brother, I just wanted to say that since June 2010, I have had so much spiritual and disheartening things happen to me that I sometimes feel so close to giving up on everthing not in a suicidal sense although it crosses my mind, it is just that the battles are so difficult and it appears to me that evil people just prosper.

I mentioned to you that I am from the Caribbean and "obeah" or black magic/spellwork is so common here. I have had so many spiritual attacks from neighbours and family that Brother, I have had to literally "divorce" my elder brother, my ex husband and a close female cousin because Brother, although, I do feel guilty, these people did nothing but bring no peace into my life by manipulating me spirtually or by being jealous or some other negativity in my life.

It took a long while for me to cut these people out of my life but I do feel a tinge of guilt because I am not a confrontational woman. why must it come to this Brother?

I saw many strange things happen in my house and under your guidance I prayed the hedge protection prayers and say the Rosary every night as well as attend Mass weekly and the Sacraments for the past 3 months, and this has miraculously cut all these bizarre things that were happening in my house such as weird dreams and things were disappearing and inexplicable noises at night ,,, it was such a mess. i felt like i was going out of my mind .. .

thank God i found this site and i religiously said the protection prayers since June 2010 and my house and my spirit is at peace including my son. The source of this was from a jealous neighbour with her spellwork against me . I dont know how she is jealous since she has put my own brother against me and i have had to cut him off from my life as well.

I remember this posting and i was hunting for it on this forum for encouragement that you had said to someone.

"One can forgive someone and still not like them. One can forgive someone and refuse to ever see them again. One can forgive someone and when seeing them walking down the sidewalk cross the street to avoid them."

so Brother, I have been spiritually attacked so much this year that I just want to say thank you for your wonderful work and for the way your forum has personally edified me in the last few months..... but i do still feel bad that I have had to cut off so many close people

God Bless
Elena..

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r)

Dear Elena:

Thank you for your kind words and I am encouraged, especially since it has been a hard two years for me, that our apostolate has helped you so much.

You ask "why must it come to this?" Well, this is what sin does. When people stray from God the virtues stray with them. To practice the virtues requires the Holy Spirit. When we reject God or live in sin the Holy Spirit cannot operate in our lives as He normally would. Thus, all sorts of division, strife, hatreds, anger, and such abound.

Jesus Himself said:

(Luke 12:51-53) Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

What this means is that division will be caused by Christ because Christ is the Truth and not everyone wants to hear the Truth. Even families are ripped apart, Jesus says, because family members do not wish to deal with the truth.

There is no reason to feel guilty. Sometime we have to "divorce" family members who are destructive, disrespectful, abusive, or otherwise a threat to your peace in Christ. We can still love them and forgive them, but we may need to stay away from them. As you quoted:

"One can forgive someone and still not like them. One can forgive someone and refuse to ever see them again. One can forgive someone and when seeing them walking down the sidewalk cross the street to avoid them."

In fact to "divorce" a family member may be the most loving act we can do for them. A person is never helped if we indulge their dysfunctional behavior. Those family members need to be held accountable and to know the seriousness of their bad behavior. By "divorcing" them you are properly telling them that their behavior is so bad that you can no longer have them in your life.

Hopefully, this will shock them into realizing the errors of their way and they will repent. If they do repent -- genuinely -- and persevere in that repentance, then and only then you can consider letting them back into your life. Any repentance should not be taken lightly. Those relatives need to prove their repentance over time. This is similar to trusting an alcoholic that he will stop drinking. Well, prove it over time.

You are not alone in this. I get numerous requests for advice on similar manner. I am not immune to these problems either. I have had to distance myself from some relatives because of their lack of respect and abusiveness that has been going on for fifty years. As the old saying goes, enough is enough already.

I am prepare to accept them back into my life should they change their ways, but if they don't that is their choice.

The same goes for you. If your relatives come to their senses, praise God, but if they never do, that is their loss. Let go and let God deal with them.

We are still praying for you.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.