Matthew 8: 28 – 32

²⁸ When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

³⁰ Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³² He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. ³³ Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.³⁴ Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

I noted this morning, with no little bit of irony, that just as this passage from the Gospel of Matthew was being read in our church, in NYC, as well as around the country, there is another legion of spirits marching through the streets. In our post-Christian society, which is antithetical to the moral and spiritual beliefs of Christianity, what I am about to say will not be taken kindly. Nonetheless, it needs to be said:

What is taking place today in the so-called “Pride Marches” is really a legion of demons, marching in pride over their conquest of the poor souls who are trapped in the sins of homosexuality and the mental aberration of thinking that they are of a different gender than the one to which they were born.

The practice of any sin is our response to the demonic forces which seek to have us oppose God’s will for our lives and supplant it with their hatred of God. And lest you think I speak only of the more gross sins such as are on display in the Pride March in NYC,  this also equally includes those who bow down to and worship money, those who grind the faces of the poor, those who are corporate warmongers, and the hundreds of lying scoundrels that infest the halls of our Congress, telling lies to keep us in those wars for the benefit of the military/industrial complex. The only real difference is that their sins are “respectable” sins, sins done by well-dressed men in Armani suits and five hundred dollar shoes. But make no mistake, they are listening to the whispers of the evil spirits no less than those who are right now flaunting their sexual choices by marching naked down the streets of Manhattan.

Somehow, due I believe in large part to Playboy magazine, the lies of Alfred Kinsey, and the whole philosophy birthed from them, we have come to the point that sexual choices are sacrosanct. To stand today and state that any sexual activity outside the boundaries of one woman and one man in marriage for one lifetime is to invite the scorn of the world,and in some countries, arrest for a “hate crime.” This despite sixty years of hard evidence that sexual activity outside the traditional bounds of marriage is a sure invitation to STDs, depression, unwanted pregnancy and abortion, and suicide. Homosexual activity wrecks the male body and is the creator of numerous serious diseases. There is a terrible price to pay for disregarding God’s created order.

So why? Why, knowing all these facts, would a man choose to adapt to the “gay lifestyle” and practice unnatural sex? I believe that demonic influence and possession has a great deal to do with it. The activity of demonic possession takes place in three stages:

First there is temptation. This comes in the form of thoughts enticing us to do evil. These temptations have no respect of age. I honestly believe that many who claim they have known they were gay since being a child were deeply influenced by thoughts put in their minds by evil spirits. The demons convinced them that they really were gay. Suggest that they were influenced by lying spirits as children and you will get that “what planet are you from – please go back” look from people. To the non-Christian world, it is laughable to believe in evil spirits.

The second stage is obsession. Infrequent thoughts are replaced by a constant drumbeat of sexual thoughts, which leads to acting out on those thoughts and then desiring more. Many gay males I have known have admitted that there was a serious lack of bonding between them and their fathers. Demons exploit this desire for proper male intimacy and turn it in to sexual license. They twist our normal desire for passionate love into a warped desire for sex, often without love in an anonymous bathhouse.

The final stage is possession. Full control of the gay male by a demon, so that not only can the possessed not cease from the practice of homosexuality, even if in moments of reflection he realizes that something is not right, or that the diseases he has contracted are killing him, but often the practicing homosexual experiences mental health problems including depression and suicide.

Sure signs of demonic possession have these common traits we see in the Bible:

Nakedness: in the Bible, nakedness is always a sign of shame or being treated in a shameful manner. The demon-possessed are naked. After Christ frees them, they are dressed.

Mark 5: ¹⁵ And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

Note also the second characteristic – the demon-possessed are not in their right mind. It was said of the demon-possessed man that he “lived among the tombs.”  Of a young boy who was demon-possessed, it is recorded that he engaged in self-destructive behavior:

Mark 9: ¹⁸ And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. ²² And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. ²⁶ And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

Note that on the way out, the demon for one last time does harm to the body it possesses. The evil spirits hate mankind and wish us nothing but sorrow and harm.

All self-destructive behaviors – drug and alcohol addiction, addiction to sex, homosexuality, anything that destroys the mind or the body – is a sign of demonic influence and/or possession. I make no apologies for saying this, having been a victim of this myself. I not only almost destroyed myself, I I hurt a number of other people as well as myself. It was my conversion to Christ which set me free. Had God not had mercy on me, I have no doubt I would be long dead. The saddest part of this all is that the possessed become angry when you tell them that they are not free. I thought being promiscuous was freedom. It was slavery, yet I bragged to everyone that I was free “from the shackles of organized religion.” I made secret of my contempt for the Bible, Christianity, and anything which smacked of moral behavior. I was a good slave to the evil one, and he rode me with bloody spurs, almost to the point of death.

What would Jesus have us do today? Are we supposed to carry those horrible “God Hates Fags” signs and scream at the people in the parade? Those who would do so forget that A.) they are sinners every bit as much as those whose sin is homosexuality  B.) Christ Jesus loves those trapped in all kinds of sin, whether it be homosexuality or starting wars in other countries because money is your real god  and a good war is nicely profitable.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Chastity and homosexuality

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,¹⁴¹ tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”¹⁴² They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

On the way home from church this morning, I offered a prayer for the souls trapped in these sins. It is easy to judge the young men in the picture above. It is easy to engage in angry talk and hatred of those who are destroying our country by their wicked behavior. We are called by God to do that which is hard – love our enemies and pray for those who despise us.  Not easy – but marching orders from our Lord in Matthew’s Gospel  nonetheless.

Remember, God loves them and died a bloody, horrible death so that they might be free.