Obsessions

Is it possible to be obsessed with something that is good and holy? Yes; the Pharisees did it in the first century and Jesus said they were going to Hell for it. We often think that obsessions are only associated with evil things, but that is not true. In fact, according to many exorcists, the devil enjoys making faithful people become obsessed with holy things in order to keep them from focusing on the Lord.

Imagine this: what if you were obsessed with saying the rosary? So obsessed that you stopped working, you stopped taking care of yourself, and you stopped going to Mass; that would be an evil obsession with a good thing. Most would not go that far, but even a small obsession can destroy a soul.

What about being obsessed with religious and theological reading material? If someone were to become obsessed with reading Catholic blogs to the point of where it kept him from trusting God, then it would be an evil obsession. Or, what if someone were to become obsessed with going to confession? This person was so terrified of missing something in his spirituality that he decided to go to confession every day of the week. This is what we call the sin of scrupulosity.

Any obsession is bad. It does not need to be an obsession over a bad thing. The reason these religious obsessions are so bad is because only God deserves our total worship and focus. If we are obsessing about something it means that we are granting a level of devotion that is only supposed to be given to God. Each of us should spend some time thinking about where our devotions are at; and make sure that we use our devotions to bring us closer to the One Who alone deserves our whole heart: Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.