Why Did YOU Get This Ulcerative Colitis?

In my last blog post, I wrote on how a person gets Ulcerative Colitis.  In this blog entry, I would like to deal with another question which purposely I left out to answer. All the more this question irritates me more than any other enquiries: Why did YOU get this disease? Connected with the same inquiry, I would like to deal with another sick question, how did I deal with satanic charismatics on my sick bed?

For my surprise, I find the answer already with the questioner.  Unfortunately I got this question mainly from charismatic preachers or followers of charismatic retreats.  Their number is no small in our Catholic Church today.  Unfortunately, newly converted charismatic preachers and their followers are hell bent on telling you why you get either terminal diseases or autoimmune diseases or any other such bad things happen to you.  The charismatic preachers and their followers have known to hear the voices of God, angels and saints instantly and directly.  These charismatics have ready made answers for you and for your problems with ready made judgements to pronounce on you.  For them, Bible tells everything and gives all the answers.  Without getting into historical-grammatical method of exegesis or going back to the original languages of our sacred scriptures, or going back to the exegesis and teachings of the Early Fathers of the Church, (I spent a number of years studying in two European Universities and one US University) the recently mushroomed charismatics of our church in India make no less effort in telling you how bad guy you have been and God has showed you your rightful place through his friend Satan. Often they come to you as three friends of prophet Job of the Old Testament in different times with varied musings and how you have hurt God, your Creator. 

Unfortunately, the first person who began to tell others and finally told me directly a year ago after attending the National Charismatic Convention in Mangalore, about the root cause of my disease is my own close relative.  Firstly, according to this charismatic, I got the dreaded Ulcerative Colitis disease because of my past sins especially when I spent 16 years of my life with the family.  I joined the Jesuits to be a priest at the age of 18.  Unfortunately, my close relative could not voice out what are those my past sins which are so treacherous to get a such heinous wrath from God.  Secondly, my close relative went on to narrate how he was revealed by the preachers at the National Renewal Program at the Rosario Cathedral that the whole world is in the hands of Satan.  Earlier he had such a revelation from Mulki Charismatic Retreat Centre.  Unfortunately, according to him, I have been badly caught by this Satan and as a result I have this disease and moreover it’s not getting healed for my bad luck, because the whole world is under the power of Satan!  Further, my relative went on to narrate that sickness comes because the person is not praying, not reciting rosary, not going for confessions, not respecting the elders and one’s parents!  The list is endless.  I have been a priest in good standing for the last 12 years and am in the 26th year of my religious life and a member of the Society of Jesus out of which I spent 15 years abroad as a missionary especially in Moscow and Siberia of Russia! (I suppose during my life in Sibera where temperatures go below minus 40 degree celsius - known for gulags and place of punishment during the Soviet times - should have been a earthly purgatory for my childhood sins and their reparations). 

A few months later of my close relative's revelation over my ill health, I received a guest who happened to be a recent convert to charismatic faith, a student of my Jesuit friend and relative who came to see his guru who was in his last stages of life as a result of terminal cancer.  My Jesuit friend asked me in advance whether I’m ready to welcome his student who is now a charismatic witness-giver but wants to prayer over him and on me.  I agreed out of courtesy as my Jesuit friend was my next room neighbour.  Well, this charismatic witness-giver went on giving me passages after passages from the Bible mainly from the Old Testament how Satan is active and why he has surrounded me with this disease.  This charismatic witness giver tried his level best to convince me that this sickness that I have is because of unforgiveness and active presence of devil in the world.  He gave me a number of passages to read and exercises to do on a notebook.  This poor creature spent with me more than 90 minutes, which gave me a glimpse of how charismatic preachers try to fool the simple catholics of today in India and take them for ransom as hostages for nothing.  Even though, I attended a moderate charismatic retreat preached by a Jesuit from Bombay for our province men in 1990’s which in fact, I liked it then the present experience was simply unforgivable for its scandalous outlook.  However, in an another charismatic retreat where we the Jesuit scholastics from Dharwad were asked compulsorily to be volunteers during my college studies, I had questioned myself why our Christian God is so deaf when the whole congregation of people assembled in St Joseph’s Church grounds Dharwad screamed, and shouted praises and alleluia’s in a university town which would reach my university college KCD.  I had found myself an answer then in the Kannada saying "Jana Marulo, Jatre Marulo" when my student friends from the college asked one after another.  Undoubtedly, the academic vigour of Dharwad had made me then an absolute alien to the charismatic shoutings at the church grounds of Dharwad and made any impression on me at all.

A couple of months ago, my British priest friend who came to work with me on a particular project met an another lay charismatic preacher who seems to be having healing powers brought to see me.  As ulceration in my colon was increasing I was confined to my bed and room.  After a few minutes of chatting, prayers were conducted over me by this lay charismatic preacher along with his another lay friend whom I found certainly in some restlessness and went on say “Amen” to his guru's chantings and my priest friend.  As a devout catholic, I said "yes" and willingness to heal then and there.  Towards the end of the prayer, the charismatic preacher said "you are healed" completely.  I said how is it possible so quickly, and their mutterings were answered.  And it was  because of my faith came the reply.  After which they left and I was back to my normal symptoms of ulcerative colitis!  Mercifully, this time, I did not hear from the charismatics’ favourite word ‘Satan’ instead I heard “binding”!

I have received not a few messages, internet links from many of my charismatic acquaintances on preaching by the charismatic preachers in the last three years.  Always with a note of thanks I have always asked them, do you know what kind of disease I suffer from.  Hardly any of my acquaintances or charismatic preachers inquired about my disease and how I am coping with. In sum, for these charismatics any sickness is the direct result of satanic force or unforgiveness.  I found in none of them a sense of reason, critique in dealing with these existential issues, let alone a general good knowledge of our finite, mortal, sickly bodies which are constrained by time and space and prone to infirmities.  The idea of devil or Satan has stuck in their minds so much, sometimes I strongly feel that devil is standing up in them, all he needs is the two horns!  Just like a child which longs and speaks about chocolates, so too the charismatic preachers think and meditate on Satan.  That is why they are so judgemental and their every conversation begins with Satan and ends on Satan alone. When will these charismatics learn fides quaerens intellectum dictum of St Anselm? Faith seeking understanding/intelligence or faith that does intellectually intelligible or reasonable.  When will these charismatics take out from their mind and mouth once and for all the word "Satan", "sin" and begin speaking on and about God, His love, compassion, mercy, benevolence and grace? I wish these charismatics first begin to read Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels which explicate so vividly theodicy and get to the bottom of the sense of evil in our human world.  Secondly, along with Bible begin to read the theological writings of St Bonaventure, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Adolf von Harnack, theologians of Nouvelle théologie and the 20th century theologians. Hopefully, this would be only way to stop the filthy intelligence being vomited by the charismatics of our catholic church and stop the nonsense in describing the sense of evil in the life of the person and in society.

Unfortunately, until now I have not seen or heard a person of charismatic spirituality either proclaimed by our Holy Church Saint, or on the way to sanctity.  I only know their rates when you call them for retreats in schools, communities and parishes and how offertory bags they open at the end of the retreat when they have mesmerized simple folks minds with sin, Satan, guilt and wrath of God.  I wish to see the charismatic preachers and witness givers men and women of holiness, justice and peace.  And my humble request to these lay charismatic preachers and their followers is that sick and infirm basically need acceptance, compassion, encouragement and moreover silence.  Silence at the mystery of life and death moreover sickness itself.  Thus, people of God understand that sickness or infirmity is a way to holiness and sanctity.  Sickness and infirmity are neither a curse from God nor a possession of Satan but a very much part and parcel of human life on this earth which is short lived.  As Friedrich Nietzsche said we are all unfinished realities.  St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus puts it so beautifully: “If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint.  And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity.”

- Olvin Veigas 

06 Oct 2018