Salt of the Earth

Hello Sister, I'm not sure if I submitted my question properly or in the right place some days ago so I thought I'd give it another go. I recently obtained some salt blessed as a sacramental by a priest, and I want to know how it should be used. I can't imagine putting it in a salt shaker on the table, but I've read that some people do that. Is that proper? Or do you have other suggestions for how I might use the salt respectfully? Thanks! A faithful reader

Thanks for being a faithful reader!  Don't put your salt in a salt shaker on the table. You can do that with it, but you might get it confused with the table salt. Or maybe you could get something like this.

Given that people put their blessed salt in sandwich bags and mint tins and candy boxes, the problem isn't with the salt shaker, it's only with not realizing you're putting blessed salt on your hamburger.

It's actually okay to put blessed salt on your hamburger, by the way. As long as you know you're doing it. 

So what's the deal with blessed salt? Is it like having magic beans and a voodoo doll? No.  The salt has no power. Remember when Jesus put mud in a blind man's eye?  Did the mud heal that guy? No. Jesus did. The salt is the same way. Once it's blessed it brings with the power of Jesus through your faith in Him.

Or think of it this way: does the American flag have power? No. Yes.  It has power only through your belief in the country for which it stands. And thank goodness the Pledge of Alliance is stated with good grammar.

So what can you do with your salt?

 Drive out the those neighbors with the yard full of pit bulls who blast heavy metal all day, for one. Yes! I've heard several stories of people who sprinkled blessed salt all around their property, or down the common area of their apartment building, across their own threshold and wherever else they could think to sprinkle it, and next thing they knew the horrifying neighbors were gone.

Ward off the devil.

You can sprinkle it around the house to prevent burglary.

Put a few grains in what you eat or drink for good physical health and/or spiritual health.

You can use it in your car for safety. You could sprinkle it out the car window at a dangerous intersection.

You can use it to break bad habits, too.

Don't worry about a blessed salt mess. Your not supposed to dump salt all over, like you would with boric acid to get rid of fleas.  You just use a few grains everywhere. That way, by the time you vacuum, you won't have to worry about sucking up a lot of blessed salt in your vacuum cleaner bags and how you're going to dispose of  the bag now that it's become a blessed object.

Angels and Demons

Sister, I have a question for you: Do angels and demons, or the devil share any characteristics with God? I ask because we talk about the devil tempting us or about a guardian angel watching over us...So does that mean that they can be in many places at once and see into our hearts and know things we can't know? Thank you and thank you for your great work for the Church!

We all share characteristics with God.  We are made in His image and likeness. I don't believe that notion has gone out any windows.  Angels and devils certainly share characteristics.  God made them, too.  All devils were once angels.

In our attempt to understand the supernatural, which is beyond our understanding, we picture angels and devils as beings like us except the good ones have wings and halos and the bad ones have horns and tails wings.  The unfortunate down side of this characterization is that it makes devils look more powerful than angels.  They are so often giant and red, with massive horns and long fingernails, while angels are sweet faced Swedish looking types.  I think that is by artistic design to remind us, if not scare the devil out of us, about what we're up against.

But always remember who won the battle in the first place.  The angels won.  That should tell us who to back.  That's why I never understood these silly people who want to be Satanists and worship the devil and all that nonsense.  I understand how people make the mistake of following earthly evil, like say, Hitler, because of their misguided notions and fears.  But why would anyone want to follow the thing that lost the battle and the power in the first place in the pursuit of power on earth with the full understanding that after that's over, it all adds up to eternity in Hell?  Because if you are a follower of Satan, you do believe in an afterlife and Hell, or you couldn't believe in Satan in the first place.  So, really, how dumb can you get?

I digress.

What was the question?  Oh, yes!  the characteristics of God.

We don't know what angels and devils actually look like.  When angels appear in the Bible, they look just like us, but they are able to come and go supernaturally.  Tobias travels all over with his friend, Raphael, who happens to be an archangel.  They seem to all appear as young men (who are created in God's likeness). Abraham has some angels over for lunch.

When the devil comes to tempt Jesus in the desert, we really don't get a description of him.  We never see the demons that afflict humans through possession, we just see the ugly results.  The devil in the desert rather seems to be walking around talking to Jesus like a person, but the devil does show Jesus visions of how great it would be if Jesus would give up all the God stuff and follow Satan instead. Jesus, who has a brain in His head, says no.  That certainly would have been a coup for the devil, to have the Second Person in the Holy Trinity on his side.

But the devil is always a loser.

My point is that angels and devils, though we have seen them in rather human form, are not humans.  Angels are not human beings who have died and gone to Heaven and devils are not human beings who have died and gone to Hell.  If an angel "doesn't have his wings", he's just not that kind of angel, despite what SzuSzu's teacher said.  Angels don't even need wings to travel around, as Tobias and Abraham can attest.

As beings that God created, we assume they, too, have some of His characteristics.  What your question actually refers to is their supernatural powers, like bi-location and what geeks call 'shape-shifting', like taking on human form.  I'm not sure if they can 'see into our hearts'.  I wouldn't put it past them.  There are humans who have those powers, like Padre Pio (who could also bi-locate).

Just keep in mind that these gifts, like the gift of life itself, come from God.  The devil shows us that we always have a choice in how to use our gifts.

After the Fall

Not too long ago we were talking about fallen angels. We have a little clean up work to do on the subject.

But before we launch into that, how is everyone enjoying fall and the start of a new school year and season? I thoroughly enjoy the change of seasons, even though nothing much has changed yet. Apples are arriving at the farmer's market, at least. I am an "apple a day" girl from way back. Years ago, I would have also enjoyed the arrival of Halloween decorations and maybe even scraped up a dollar to spend on some fake cobwebs for the end of next month. I think the Halloween decorations have been at Walgreen's since the Fourth of July. I like my seasons seasonal and I do not approve.

What was I talking about. Oh, yes, the dreary world of the devil. Here we go:

On the topic of fallen angels, I was just wondering if it is true that we have all been assigned a fallen angel, much like we're assigned a guardian angel in that it always stays by your side, but instead of protecting you it is always tempting you?

You have too much time on your hands. Maybe you want to do some volunteer work or add some rosaries to your day.

No. Contrary to popular belief, God is not mean. God wants you to go to Heaven. He wants you to be a better person and to protect your soul. He sent us His Son and and whole Church and a big book to follow along. He set up a whole road map of what to think about each day to bring us closer to Him (which doesn't involve wondering if He's working over time to trip you up). He gave you your own personal angel. Sending each person their own personal temptor is just not in God's repertoire.

Don't confuse what people refer to as 'personal demons' to be quite so literal. Just because it's hard for me to resist a big piece of chocolate cake doesn't mean there is a little red thing with an arrow on his tail standing there with the plate.

Although, I think I like red cake even better than chocolate cake....still, no demon.

Now I want red cake. I'll offer it up.

Hi Sister,I really enjoy your blog. after reading your entry on demons I wanted to ask you a question that has always bothered me: why didn't God destroy the fallen angels like he destroyed the evil in Sodom and Gomorrah? Just wondering if the Church teaches anything about this. Thanks for any help you can give.Your faithful reader

You know, I never thought about this ever in my life. Here is why: God hasn't ever destroyed any of his immortal creations. Has He? I can't recall Him doing that. Maybe my desire for red cake with cream cheese frosting is clouding my memory banks. Once He has created a soul, that soul is eternal.

I suppose He could destroy it. He could have destroyed Adam and Eve and just started all over again, too. Destroying immortal souls doesn't seem to be part of His repetoire either.

To me, if you'll bear with me, the question is how disappointed God must be so much of the time because He doesn't do that and why He didn't just erase the chalkboard and start over in the hope of having what He set out to do, because we are just so very....disappointing so much of the time.

Until we aren't. And then we are so thrillingly merciful and loving against such long odds.

Whenever you feel like the world is a terrible place full of nastiness and temptation and red cake, spend a little time with the saints. You'll feel so much better and have a glimmer of understanding as to why God sticks it out with all of us.

Hot Stuff

Hi Sister! This may seem odd, but do you have any words of wisdom concerning demonology? I'm just curious as to how you would describe how demons work in the world and what sort of natural phenomena may or may not be attributed to them. Thanks!

Yes, it does seem odd. I was completely thrown by anyone asking about demonology, which means exactly, "The study of demons". That's different than the second part of your question about how demons work in the world and what sort of natural phenomena could be attributed to them.

I think I need a nap already.

Before my eyes clank shut, we can get rid of the first part and the last part of your question. I think no one should study demonology. There is such a thing because the belief in, or fear of, demons has always been a part of human history. The idea that demons are ruining one's life is as prevalent in the life of a savage living on a remote island three feet wide as it is in the parlors of the tea sipping cultured and it always has been, even before the invention of tea sipping. As a result, there is a lot to know about what humans have thought about demons, from the ancient Assyrians, Greeks, Iranians, Persians, Chinese, Israelis and all the way up to Christian culture. The Assyrians and the Iranians, in particular, had elaborate demonologies.

But it's not something you really need to look into, unless you're some kind of theology/history major and you have a test coming up on Azazael and a paper due entitled "Who Is Liltith?"

The problem with the actual study of demons is that, for our intents, the information is full of theological errors. In other words, you will be up against heathen legend vs. Christian theology. It would be very difficult to sort it all out on your own. St. Albert the Great has some advice for you: "It is taught by the demons, it teaches about the demons, and it leads to the demons."

Demons do not control natural phenomenon, so you can let that go. One might argue that the devil might have some effect on what happens because of natural phenomenon, though. We'll come back to that.

That leaves us in the middle. What's the deal with the devil?

The devil is a fallen angel. Fallen from where? Heaven. God's favorite angel, Lucifer, decided one day that he should be equal with God. This is a problem. Angels are pure spirits, all good and holy and very, very smart. But only God is God. So Lucifer's uprising backfired and all the angels that went bad with him went to Hell with him.

I have to stop here for a moment and reflect on the outlandish silliness that is "Satan worship". The whole reason that Satan is Satan is that he is not equal to God. So why are you worshipping him? Crazy. Just the other day at the grocery store I saw a lady dressed as some sort of vampire. It's August, so we know she wasn't trick or treating. This was a style choice.

Sad.

Anyhow...where was I? Generally speaking, when we say the "devil" we mean Satan (formerly known as Lucifer) and when we say "demon" we mean any of those other fallen angels. The Catholic Church teaches that Satan and his pals are alive and well and they are relentlessly trying to grab your soul. How do they work in the world? Against you, that's how.

This makes it very, very hard for us, because we really, really don't need Satan's help to sin. We are weak enough on our own. But here comes Satan and his demons to make it even harder. It's bad news. These aren't just some kind of crazy little monsters with pitch forks running around giving people flat tires so their days start off badly. These are fallen angels. They are very smart beings. Satan doesn't have to waste his time trying to get you to watch more television and not eat your vegetables. Satan can take a look at the evil in the world, that evil we perpetrate all on our own, and orchestrate it. That is his power.

So did Satan cause Hurricane Katrina? No. You'll have to ask a meteorologist what causes a hurricane. But did Satan help in the aftermath of stranded souls and carpetbagging? I'm quite certain he did.