By Cristiane Saint
The Shalom Catholic Community in London received a visit from the Father Antonio Fortea, an exorcist known worldwide in the angelology and demonology fields. Initially, he discussed about the religious book of Job.
He approached Job story from an exorcist perspective, unveiling a new understanding of suffer in the life of Job.”Job didn´t prayer, but he was always protected. This is our first lesson, we do not need to worry about protecting from the evil. His power is not free on the Earth. God doesn’t want us to fear the devil. There is no verse in the Bible where God teaches us to be afraid.”
“I have seen in many cases of exorcisms the demons comments about the existence of a wall that stops them from getting through in order to reach the person. Who determines this limit is God. For Him it only takes an order and suffering ceases, then everything returns to normal and restores.” Thus God allowed Job to be tempted. That is the difference between learning to suffer in God and to be in despair.
According to the priest, Job was attacked gradually in several areas of his life. Firstly, in the material realm, family life, affecting his wife and children and finally his own health. However, Job suffered alone and waited on God. The father added, “in light of the Gospel, we know that some people, even being good, will only receive a reward in heaven. Satan, in Job’s life was, in a sense, an instrument of sanctification. Job had many blessings from God, but at some point, God through suffering, opens a new opportunity for him to grow even more qualitatively. Job received the resurrection while he was still on Earth. There is no evil in the world that cannot lead to a greater sanctification. When God allows a terrible evil is because He has prepared a greater good.
In a second explanation about exorcism, Father Fortea explains about the peak of Christ’s crucifixion. “Believe me, there was no demon in no other place on earth. Each one of them were there, surrounding the Cross, tempting Christ. They could not bear to imagine the victory of the Cross. God crucified. They could nearly feel the taste of victory. It was the most exciting moment for the Hell, this was the moment of darkness. When Christ cried out on the cross ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ He felt the same loneliness of Job, however, His vision and mind was blurred by the darkness around Him. When Jesus died on the cross there was a deep silence among the demons. At the moment, they reasoned that if God gave no forgiveness to The One who was righteous and had no sin in life, what then would be made of them that are evil? Thus, at that exact instant they understood that they would be condemned forever.”
He concluded, “We must fight against evil. In this fight we will be sanctified. We can do the work of God on this earth and do good can mean two things: helping others through acts of charity or fighting the work of evil.”
Padre Antonio Fortea is the author of several books on demonology in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian such as Exorcística, Summa Daemoniaca, Memorias de un Exorcista and others.
