Superstition
by VP
Posted on Sunday May 18, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons
"There are some sinful practices forbidden in these words which it is well to consider to-day, beside fortune-telling and the observing of dreams and omens. These are the use of charms, and the consulting of spirits, or seeking of the truth from the dead.
First, then, with regard to charms, amulets, and the like. Christians are unfortunately to be found, even at the present day, who use, in a superstitious way, and it may be for sinful purposes, things which can have no natural power to accomplish the end desired, but must derive any efficacy which they can be supposed to have from the devil, whose aid is therefore implicitly invoked by those who possess such things. Let every one, then, understand that the use of these charms and amulets, though it might be even for a good object, as the preservation of one's life, is a great sin, and will bring a curse instead of a blessing on any one who perseveres in it. If any one, then, has any such object which he has been told will keep him from danger, give him success in his undertakings, or anything of that kind, let him cast it aside or burn it up without delay. Doubly sinful, of course, is it to keep or use such objects with the hope of working harm to others, or of exciting evil passions in them; and the sin will in no case be avoided by the absurd character of the things employed in this way.
"But how," it may be asked, "about holy things, such as relics, medals, Agnus Dei, gospels, scapulars, and the like? Surely you would not call it superstitious or sinful in any way to keep or wear such things as these, or to think that they might do us some good, not only spiritually but even in the temporal order?" No, you are right about this. It is not sinful even to ask for miracles by the aid of things like those, which are either sacred by their nature or by the blessing of the Church. And the reason why it is not sinful is very plain. It is because God is invoked by means of them, and that any favors which are obtained by them will be for His honor and glory. Still that this should be so, they must be used with piety and devotion. To wear a scapular, for instance, simply as a sort of charm, without any desire or intention of honoring the Blessed Virgin by it, or to invoke her aid to escape from sin, would be not only useless but highly displeasing to her Divine Son. Almost every one feels this; few dare to profane holy objects of this kind by such. use of them; those who have really given themselves up to the devil seldom try to protect themselves in his service by such means.
Well now, to pass to the other subject, that of consulting spirits, or seeking, as the Jewish law has it, the truth from the dead. You see it is no new thing, this spiritism, though the rapping and table-tipping business is rather a new form of it in these days. It has been and is still very common among us, though it may be losing ground somewhat lately. But I do not think that Catholics have at any time been much interested in it compared with some other people. With regard to the next life, we have our faith to instruct us and are not inclined so much as others to ask the spirit-rappers to give us information. But still many Catholics have gone to their meetings, and would have little scruple in going now, just, as they say, from curiosity. They think there is nothing in it; that it is only a more or less clever piece of jugglery. Now, in this they should understand that they are likely to be greatly mistaken. Jugglery and trickery it is sometimes, no doubt; but there is the gravest reason to suspect that in many cases the spirits actually have a hand in the matter. Not, it is true, the spirits of the departed who are invoked, but evil and lying spirits who personate them, and wish by information seeming to come from them to weaken or destroy our belief in the truth of revelation. It is, then, no joking matter, but a very serious and dangerous one, to put one's self in the power and under the influence of these spirits from hell; and this is what one who goes to these spiritual seances, as they are called, may probably do. Remember, then, to have nothing to do with them if you value your immortal soul." Fourth Sunday after Easter Five Minute Sermons by the Paulist Fathers
Resources:
Bishops’ new guidelines condemn Reiki therapy as ‘superstition’ (CNA)
Guidelines for evaluating Reiki and Alternative Therapy (USCCB)
Reiki, not for Catholics. Not now, not ever by Mary Ellen Barrett (Amazing Catechists)
Yoga Isn’t an Exercise, it’s a Spiritual Practice: Why Catholics Shouldn’t Practice Yoga. Jenny Dubay (Missio Dei)
Demonic Possession from Yoga, Reiki, and the New Age with Adam Blai (Divine Intimacy Radio)
Q. Crystal Energy and Healing Stones? My Catholic Life! A journey of personal conversion!
Can Shamanism Be Compatible With Christianity? (Women of Grace)
‘Intergenerational healing’ has no basis in Catholic doctrine, Spanish bishops affirm (World Report)
Superstition! Healing Your Family Tree (Australian theologian, Fr Peter Joseph)
Korean Bishops Condemn 'Family Tree' Healing Practice (2007, UCANews)
Pleasure in serving God
by VP
Posted on Sunday May 11, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons
Bernhard Plockhorst
(1825–1907)
"Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice."— Phil. iv. 4.
"It has often been noticed, my dear brethren, and we every day come across examples of it, that when things are going well men think very little about God and about the practice of their religious duties. We may almost say that, as things are at present, most men will not perform their duty to God unless they are driven to do so by something unpleasant and hard to bear. It is when a man is taken ill that he sends for a priest and makes his confession and receives the Sacraments; as soon, however, as he gets well it is only too probable that he will return to his old ways.
Now, this shows that the service of God is felt by a great many to be a heavy burden and yoke. And I am sorry to say that this feeling is not confined to those whose passions and low propensities are so strong as to hold them down for a great part of their lives in slavery and subjection to sin and vice. Many even of those who have freed themselves for the most part from this degrading bondage seem far from the possession of that spirit of holy joy with which every one trying to serve God should be filled. Many even of these seem to find the yoke of the Lord a heavy one: and if they do not cast it off, it is chiefly because they are afraid to do so.
Now, I am not going to say a word against the service of God which springs from the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.” The fear of God is not merely good-it is necessary for salvation. But it is only the beginning, not the perfection of wisdom. Moreover, it should not be the habitual dominant and constant motive of our religious life it should serve as a motive to fall back upon when higher motives are not felt. As St. Ignatius says: We should ask of God the grace to fear Him, so that if and when through our faults we grow forgetful of God's love, the fear of punishment may hold us back from offending Him. In other words, we ought, as a rule, to be serving God from love and holy joy rather than from fear and dread.
This is the teaching of the Holy Scripture, and especially of the great Apostle our patron, St. Paul. The text is but a sample of similar injunctions which might be found in every one of his Epistles "Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice." Do not be always looking upon the service of God as a heavy burden and yoke to which you must be driven as a fear of punishment, but let that service fill your souls at all times with delight and satisfaction. This is what St. Paul enjoins. Why is it not so with us? Why should it be so?
Well, there are ten thousand reasons why the service of God should be delightful and satisfactory; but I can refer to one only this morning— one, however, of which I think that we can all feel the force. As a rule, the man who is carrying on a profitable and successful business is, so long as everything goes well, tolerably happy. You don't see him going about with a long face, and although he may grumble a little, as most men do, you can see that he does not mean it. Now, if this is the case in the midst of the uncertainties which are inseparable from all human transactions, what ought to be the satisfaction and contentment of a man who has seriously taken in hand the one necessary business? For how does the case stand with such a man? The man who has seriously taken in hand the business of saving his own soul must succeed - for him there is no such thing as failure. So long as he is willing he must be prosperous. And why? Because he has Almighty God as a partner. And God is ready to give him what I hope it is not irreverent to call unlimited credit. In this life he pours into his soul His heavenly grace, and this grace gives to all his actions a value which gives him a right to an eternal recompense. No action from morning to night, from week's end to week's end, but may be made profitable and fruitful, if done with a right intention, and, of course, if there is nothing sinful in it. This is the position in which any and every man may be placed and may remain if he so wills, and of the sense and judgment of a man who is not satisfied by such terms I have but a poor opinion." (Third Sunday after Easter - Five-minute Sermons from the Paulist Fathers)
Bearing Injustice
by VP
Posted on Sunday May 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons
Let Him Be Crucified (Qu'il soit crucifié) - James Tissot
'Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly."—I. St. Peter ii. 22.
ONE of the hardest trials, my dear brethren, to which we can be exposed; indeed, perhaps the hardest one of all, is to be condemned unjustly. And the condemnation need not be pronounced in court, and published to the world. It need not even be given by public opinion; no, there may be only a few who share in it, perhaps only one, and that may be one whose judgment is not of much weight; still, to be falsely judged, to be accused of what we have not done, to have even our motives misinterpreted, is a pretty heavy cross to bear. How often will you hear people alleging as a reason for a permanent breach of friendship with someone, that one has belied them? It is of little use to point out that the person who is or seems to be a false accuser, may really not intend to be guilty of falsehood, nor be conscious of rash judgment, but may in his or her heart actually believe the charge, and feel not only justified, but even under an obligation of conscience in making it, and thus be guiltless before God. No, the sting is perhaps even greater, that he should believe a thing about us that we feel is not true, and could not be.
Nor is it enough to say that there are many things which we ought to be judged guilty of, but are not; and that so we can afford to take some punishment that we do not deserve, as we escape a good deal that we do. No, we say to ourselves: "I would not mind it so much if it were true; I would rather take the burden of all the many wrong things that I have done, than of one that I have not." Perhaps that would not really be the fact, but we feel as if it were.
I think, then, that to find a real cure for our heartache about matters of this kind, we must take the one which St. Peter gives us in this Epistle of today. We must take refuge under the shadow of the cross of Him who, as the Apostle says, suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. The Cross of Christ is the only remedy in the last resort for all the pain and misery of the world, as well as for its sins; and we may as well come to it at once as wait till other consolations have failed.
Let us, then, lay to heart our Lord's example in this matter, as St. Peter tells us; let us keep it always by us, to be ready for use at the first moment. Let us consider how slight and insignificant are all the false judgments that can be made about us, miserable sinners that we are, compared with that which was passed on Him, the Saint of saints; on Him who was not merely holy, but holiness itself, the source of all sanctity, the Giver of every virtue that we can have. Let us consider how He was reckoned with the malefactors, how He was condemned not merely to death, but to the shameful death of a criminal; and how not merely one or two, but the crowds of His own people, whom He had come to save, turned against Him and believed all the false charges which His accusers made.
And let us not imagine that, being in truth God, His human nature was made insensible to all this outrageous injustice by its essential sanctity, or by the homage of the angels, or of those on earth who really knew and loved Him and remained faithful to Him. No; it was no more rendered in this way insensible to the pain of the false charges than it was to the sharp piercing of the nails driven through His hands and feet. Indeed, that He could much better have borne. His infinite purity and sensitiveness to sin only made these suspicions and accusations of it the more intolerable; physical suffering was little in comparison.
Yet, as the Apostle says, in this He did not defend Himself. He was willing to drink this bitter chalice to the dregs. When He was reviled, He reviled not again. He neither cleared Himself, which He could easily have done, nor took the poor remedy which we sinners are too apt to take, of accusing His accusers.
Let us then, when thus tried in our poor way, ask Him to give us the grace to do as He did, and even, if it be possible, to rest for a time at least under accusations which we might remove, when the honor of God is not concerned. And let us remember not to be guilty of rash judgment in our turn, but make, as He did, every possible excuse for those who belie us; let us believe that, so far as they are wrong, they know not what they do. And, lastly, let us take the greater pains to abstain from uncharitable thoughts or words about our neighbors, thus exposing them to a trial which we have found so hard to bear." 2nd Sunday after Easter - Five minute Sermons by the Paulist Fathers.
