Thomas Creen, MJ • Phoenix, AZ
One of the most shocking and compelling books for me is Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans by Malachi Martin. The words of a demon during one of the exorcisms made a deep impression on me.
The exorcism involved a man whose parents lived seemingly normal lives in 20th century America. His father was a taxi driver and his mother was a housewife. However, when the man was still a young boy, his father made a deal with a local house of prostitution by which he would encourage his passengers to visit the bordello in exchange for a cut of the money paid out. Later on, the man’s mother started working as a prostitute in the very same place.
The man had a lonely childhood. His parents focused mostly on their sordid trade. After he moved out and started life on his own (working at a local radio station), he got into some sinful habits. In the midst of his increasingly self-destructive lifestyle, a woman who worked with him befriended him. She noticed that he seemed disturbed. One day she invited him to dinner to meet another friend of hers who was a Catholic priest and an exorcist. The priest helped the man realize that he was possessed and eventually freed him by means of a formal exorcism.
During the exorcism, the priest asked the demon how it had managed to get to this man. The demon responded, “By corrupting his parents first.” These words show how important it is to take care of our spiritual lives—not only for our own sake, but for the sake of the people we are responsible for, especially any children.
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