Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

10-01-2023Pastor's CornerVery Rev. Robert J. Deehan, VF

It’s been brought to my attention recently that some programs and workshops being offered to the general public in our community are delving into potentially spiritually dangerous areas that Catholics and all people of goodwill should avoid. They often sound interesting and harmless, sometimes billed as “fun and lighthearted.” However, whenever they involve harnessing “energy,” contacting spirits, consulting mediums/psychics, reading Tarot cards or tea leafs, caution is advised. In light of such activities taking place around us, I offer the following references from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) for your information below. As we pray to our heavenly Father in the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil,” we need to do our part to avoid the many insidious ways the spirit of evil can enter our world these days – some very subtle and others, not so subtle. In 1 Peter 5:8, we read, “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

CCC # 2115 – “God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.”

CCC # 2116 – “All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.”

CCC # 2117 – “All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others – even if this were for the sake of restoring health – are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.”

Please pass this information along to those you know who could benefit from it.

God bless you!

Fr. Bob