LM writes: “Is it possible for the devil to read my mind?”
Absolutely not.
According to the late exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth, only God, who is omniscient, knows the thoughts of man.
“Although a spiritual creature, the demon does not understand what is in our mind and in our heart; he can only surmise it through observing our behavior,” we read in the book, An Exorcist Explains the Demonic.
However, it’s not very hard for the devil to surmise our thoughts through observation because of his keen intelligence.
“If a young person smokes marijuana, for example, [the demon] can deduce that I the future he will also use stronger drugs,” Father says. “In a word: from what we read, see, say, and experience, and from the companions we choose, even from our glances – from all this he can discern where he will tempt us and at which particular moment. And that is what he does.”
In other word, the devil is always watching what we do, listening to what we say, observing the way we feel about this or that.
This is why Father Amorth warns us to take seriously the precautions St. Paul gives us in the first letter of St. Peter: “Brothers and sisters, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Father continues: “My interpretation of this passage, on which various biblicists are agreed, sounds like this: ‘Brothers and sisters, be vigilant. The devil wanders around each one of you, searching where to devour’.”
He emphasizes the word where because of its importance. “The devil looks in each person precisely for his weak point and ‘works’ on it, creating his next sinful occasions, those that he has commissioned for him. It will be the targeted person himself, who in his liberty, will commit the sin, after having been well ‘cooked’ by Satan’s temptation.”
But what about our guardian angels? Can they read our minds?
Only if you allow it. As Dr. Peter Kreeft writes in his book, Angels and Demons, you can “will to reveal your thoughts and your secrets to your Guardian Angel by talking to him, as you would talk (pray) to a human saint in heaven or a friend on earth.”
But beware! According to the famed exorcist Father Jose Antonio Fortea in the book, Interview with an Exorcist, “if one directs his mind and will to a saint, an angel, or a demon, they can hear us.”
Lacking our expressed consent, however, no entity can read our minds except the Lord God Himself.
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