Divine mercy prayer QUESTION from Loretta Lagoon on April 22, 2002 Dear Brother:
I recently redevoted my life to Catholicism, this past January, after having wandered away with a vengeance. Since that time, I became a devotee of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and have concurrently been experiencing a lot of trials. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and had two psychotic breaks. Both of these were very involved with spirituality, and in the end, I believe I was tricked repeatedly by evil spirits into believing that bad was good, and good was bad. If that does not point to evil spirits, I don't know what does.
In any case, I am wondering if it is possible that this prayer is so powerful that it attracts evil spirits? I am almost afraid to say this prayer now. While I was resting at home with my mom, she practiced reiki over me, and did guided imagery and hypnosis. But these things came after the fact, although the spiritual activity continued then, as it still does now.
Would God be encouraging me to give up certain foods, and to feel that my every move had spiritual significance? It is all very stress producing, and so I reject it. But it makes me worry that I am rejecting God (if I don't go to adore the Eucharist, for example) or that if He only wants me to give up junk food, I am being selfish not to. I don't want to be a Saint, just a good mother and proper Catholic. Any advice?
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on May 19, 2002 Dear Mrs. Lagoon:
Please continue the Divine Mercy devotion. It is a wonderful devotion and one that will bring you closer to God.
We need to remember that the evil one does not like it when we do things that mature us in Christ. He will do anything to keep us from growing closer to God.
That is the reason why the evil one may bother us more when we are doing spiritual things.
The fear you feel is not of God. Satan wants you to feel fear in order to keep you from prayer. You must have courage and continue to pray in spite of it all.
You also need to avoid anything that allows the devil to get his hooks on you. I do not mean to offend you concerning your mother's practices, but the practice of Reiki is not of God and will open doors for the devil. Although there are some forms of guided imagery and hypnosis that can be useful, I seriously doubt your mother is qualified to use them on you. Further if she is using Reiki that pretty well proves that while you mother is well-intentioned she does not know what she is doing and is using techniques not of God.
You need to renounce any involvment in Reiki and in any and all other occultic and New Age practices. There are prayers in the Spiritual Warfare Catalog linked below that may be useful for your.
You are correct to reject the notion of giving up certain foods and the like. God has told us in the Bible that all food is good for us and St. Paul warns us about those who insist that only certain foods MUST be consumed and others not. I am not speaking of personal preferences for one food over another, but an almost religious fanaticism that one CANNOT eat certain foods.
You can eat whatever foods are to your liking.
The feeling that every move has spiritual significance may be a side-effect of the bi-polar disease or the beginnings of a scrupulosity. Again you are correct to reject these notions.
To reject these notions is NOT rejecting God. In fact, your rejecting these notions tell me that you are listening to the inner small voice of the Holy Spirit within you. Congratulations are listening to the Holy Spirit.
As for Eucharistic Adoration, you are not rejecting God by not going to Adoration, but I HIGHLY encourage you to do so. I would recommend that you go before the Eucharist in the Tabernacle as often as you can to Adore our Lord and to tell him your troubles and feeling. Then just sit there quietly and let God talk to you.
Finally, of course you want to be a saint. You better be. Only saints go to heaven. We are not all going to be Saints with a capital S but we are all to live the Christ-life as best as we can, perservere unto the end, and die in a state of grace. That is what makes a saint.
We will pray for you. God loves you. Do not let the evil one rob you of your peace with Christ. Hang in there.
God Bless.

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