We have to ask ourselves what possible reason there could be to recite in church this episode from St. Matthew’s Gospel - to sing it, for goodness sake! - an episode in which a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus because, she says, her daughter is tormented by a demon. Because, to start with, most of us do not believe in demons, except in the figurative or metaphorical sense. And the story, short as it is, gets worse from there. Jesus coldly ignores the woman’s pleas; his disciples rudely ask him to “send her away.” And, in what seems to be one of Jesus’ worst moments in all the Gospels, he insults the woman, calling her a dog, perhaps more by inference than directly, but the inference is unavoidable. As I say, we have to ask ourselves why we read this stuff out loud anymore, and whether we can expect people to take it seriously, or to take us seriously when we do.
The mention of the demon connected some dots in my mind this week when I read about the recent death of William Friedkin, who was the director of the 1973 film “The Exorcist.” I’m not a fan of horror films, and I’m not sure I have ever watched “the Exorcist” all the way through. But I took note of several commentators this past week who pointed out that the film is more than a horror movie. It’s actually a film about faith and religion. In fact, Friedkin, who was Jewish, but, agnostic, I am told, said that the movie is actually about “the mystery of faith,” taking a phrase right out of the eucharistic liturgy.
The main religious character in the film is Fr. Karras, who is not only a Jesuit priest, he is also a psychiatrist. And the plot of the film follows an arc that moves from the insistently therapeutic treatment of the troubled girl to the terrifyingly awkward possibility that she is possessed by an evil spirit, or by the devil himself. And possession would be a situation for which an explicitly religious solution (and old-fashioned religion, at that) - an exorcism - is the only possible help.
I suppose it’s possible to see the film as a story of conflict between good and evil (Friedkin said it is), but it’s not really presented that way. Because good and evil are not engaged as mere generalities in the film. The evil in the story is actually an Evil one, who has at least a few names. And the good in the story is actually a Holy and Blessed One, who has a Name, and a history, and a church, and priests, and entire liturgies of prayers that may be directed to him in his Name. And the question the film explores is not precisely whether good will triumph over evil (although that question, too, is implied). More to the point, it asks whether there is any merit to the out-moded and antiquated, explicitly religious and spiritual approach of the exorcism, after the failure of the therapeutic model to bring any peace to the tormented young girl. A recent article in the NY Times says that the question at the heart fo the film is this: “Is religion an expression of a transcendent moral and metaphysical order? Or is it just another way of pursuing ideals of compassion and social justice….?”* Good question, I say. Good question!
Well into the film, Fr. Karras is still certain that the girl’s problem (Regan is her name) can be diagnosed as a psychosis. It’s all in her head. But when Regan’s mother challenges him to say that he knows “for a fact” that an exorcism will do no good, Fr. Karras admits, “Well, there’s little in this world that I know for a fact.” Honest, but telling.
Enter the exorcist, Fr. Merrin. Old-fashioned Fr. Merrin believes in the transcendent moral and metaphysical order. He does not for a moment think that the child’s problems are all in her head. He takes the demonic possession seriously, and he takes the demon seriously, too. And he does so without dismissing the importance of the psychological realm.
This is the warning Fr. Merrin offers to Fr. Karras about the demon as they are about to enter the room of the possessed child together for the first time: “He’s a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us; but he will mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological…. And powerful. So don’t listen. Remember that, do not listen.” The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us.
They got their demons; we got ours. But they all lie.
Fifty years after “The Exorcist” came out, it’s telling that in many ways the same questions pester us. Is religion an expression of a transcendent moral and metaphysical order? Or is it just another way of pursuing ideals of compassion and social justice….? And when we come to church and hear about a woman who thinks her daughter is possessed by a demon, I don’t think the best approach for us is to compare and contrast the different world views over the past two millennia, and track the development of therapeutic and diagnostic insights we have gained since the first century. Because to do so is to miss the point.
The film does not dismiss the value of good, therapeutic, psychiatric care. Nor does the Christian faith dismiss these excellent resources. These are gifts that were not available to the people that Jesus ministered to all those centuries ago, but they are very much available to us now, by the grace of God. And we should use them. Believing in the Gospel does not require us to dismiss the good and marvelous gifts we receive at the hands of talented doctors and therapists. Nor should those doctors and therapists be so eager to dismiss the insights of a transcendent and metaphysical order.
And the question that lies somewhere near the heart of “The Exorcist” is the same question that lies somewhere near the heart of the story of the Canaanite woman. It is not a question of whether or not you believe in demons - you may or you may not, I suppose; I’m not ready to stake a claim on this matter. No, it’s not a question of whether or not you believe in demons. It’s a question of whether or not you believe in Jesus.
The more I live with the story of the Canaanite woman - which rubs me the wrong way because of what Jesus says to the woman, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” - the more I live with it, the more I see that it is entirely possible that the only reason Jesus gave voice to those ugly thoughts is because he knew that that’s exactly what all his disciples were thinking. So Jesus gave voice to the possibility that this woman, or any woman, or any person, should not be cared for, accepted, or helped because of her gender, or because of her ethnicity, or because of something we might call her race, or because of where she lived.
Maybe (I hope this is true), maybe Jesus is setting up the Canaanite woman to give her reply because he already knows of her faith. But whether he did so or not, the fact remains that on the Gospel’s own terms, the demon is sent out of the woman’s daughter; the girl is healed, explicitly not because of her identity, but because of her mother’s faith. “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”
The good news of this episode does not depend on whether or not she or you or I believe in demons. It only depends on whether or not we believe in Jesus! And the good news of this piece of the Gospel does not depend on the Canaanite woman’s - or anyone’s - gender, ethnicity, race, or any other aspect of her identity. The good news depends only on faith, and on the loving and unfailing grace of Jesus.
St. Mathew tells us that as a result of the faith of her mother, and the powerful grace of Jesus, the daughter of the Canaanite woman was “healed instantly.” In “The Exorcist,” the decisive moment in the process of the exorcism comes when the two priests declare over and over that “the power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!” The demon begins to falter, not because the two priests have found the right incantation, but because they have at last come to a synchronized distillation of their faith in Jesus, which is more than the demon can withstand. And in reaching this moment, which takes place both in the real world and on a transcendent and metaphysical plane, the mystery of faith begins to vanquish evil. And although it will cost both priests their lives, the girl, Regan, will be saved.
Shortly before the final confrontation with the demon, the two priests speak outside the room, and Fr. Karras asks, “What’s going on in there? What is it? If that’s the Devil, why this girl? It makes no sense.”
To which Fr. Merrin replies, “I think the point is to make us despair - to see ourselves as animal and ugly - to reject the possibility that God could ever love us.”
The demon is a liar. He lies to confuse us. The attack is often psychological, and it’s powerful, making us despair, tempting us to reject the possibility that God could ever love us.
I don’t know that I am ready, myself, to profess a belief in demons. But I know all too well that I have heard within my own soul, more times than I can count, the voice of one who lies to me, who lies to confuse me, to make me despair, and to reject the possibility that God could ever love me. And it’s psychological. And it’s powerful, whether or not I believe in demons. So I should not listen. I suspect that you have heard such lies, too. Remember that, do not listen.
And I do believe that there is a transcendent moral and metaphysical order to which we all have access. And I am here today, with joy in my heart, and a song on my lips, not because I know whether or not there are demons in the world, and I have defeated them. I am here today with rejoicing because I believe in Jesus. And I know that he loves me, and I know that he loves you. And knowing that is more than enough good news for me! Which is why, I guess it makes sense, after all, to tell this old story of demons, and ethnic suspicion, and of faith in Jesus, from an episode of the Gospel that I thought I could very well do without; and in telling the story, to give thanks for that great and wonderful mystery of faith!
Preached by Fr. Sean Mullen
20 August 2023
Saint Mark’s, Locust Street, Philadelphia
*Matthew Walter in the NY Times, 12 August 2023, “The Ultimate Horror Movie Is Really About Heaven and Hell”
