Jesus came to this world to heal us from every illness and free us from every bondage. ‘He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Lk 4:18-19). The Church teaches us that devil, the personification of evil is a real entity; he attacks the children of God in different ways, inflicting injuries in their soul, mind, and body.
Any person who takes up the call for preaching the good news cannot turn a blind eye to the works of devil. Jesus has cast out evil spirits from many persons as we read in Mk 1:21-26, Mk 5:1-13, and Mk 9:14-27. While commissioning the disciples for proclaiming the good news, Jesus gave them the authority to cast out demons. ‘And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons….’ (Mk 16:17). This authority to cast out demons was passed from the Apostles to their successors through the laying of hands.
A handful of committed Priests of the Holy Catholic Church spread across the world are actively involved in this vital ministry. Rev. Fr. Dominic is prominent among them. All of Rev. Father’s retreats and conventions are essentially Healing and Deliverance sessions. In fact the major thrust of his programs are Healing and Deliverance. It is no surprise that Jesus does amazing miracles through the hands of his chosen servant. Here the healing hand of Jesus is revealed and evil spirits run away at the very presence of the Lord.
The healing power of Jesus continues even after twenty centuries through the uninterrupted laying of hands that started with the apostles. In this way the anointing given to them are passed through generations. In history we can see a number of saints like St. Anthony of Padua and St. Benedict exercising the power to cast out demons.
Healing from diseases happen in a person when he comes out of sin and is freed from the influence of the evil. Thousands of miraculous healings happen during the sessions of Grace Anointing Ministry.
It is not a priest in his individual capacity working miracles. A priest, exercising his power of anointing in full submission to the apostolic authority of the Church, is endowed with the power and authority over all kinds of evil spirits that cause damages at both spiritual and physical levels. Deliverance is not something new. Jesus did it with his own power. Apostles did it with the power delegated to them by Jesus. Paul was so gifted that ‘when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them’ (Acts 19:11). Apostles passed this authority over evil spirits to their successors with the laying of their hands and this uninterrupted chain of conveying the anointing is what makes a priest stand against the devil and cast him out. But to exercise this power over evil spirits, personal holiness and an unshakeable faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ is a must.
Rev. Fr. Dominic Valanmanal is one among the top priests in the Universal Catholic Church who has taken up exorcism and deliverance ministries as his major mission. It is again Grace, and Grace alone, that sustains the ministry of Rev. Fr. Dominic and helps him recapture thousands of God’s children from the precipice of hell where they were held captive by the devil.
