Catholics, Witches and New Age
By J. Grant Swank Jr. (05/02/07)
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Cincinnati Region as well as Sisters of Providence, St. Mary of the Woods and Sisters of St. Frances in Indiana, Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Sisters of the Precious Blood, St. Mary of the Springs, St. William Church, Franciscan Sisters of Mary and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration sponsored as "patrons" the "Earth Spirit Rising" conclave in Louisville, Kentucky.
"Friends" of the conference included Sisters of St. Joseph of LaGrange, Illinois, Sisters of St. Joseph of Wheeling, West Virginia, the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University and The Well, Sisters of St. Joseph at LaGrange, Wisconsin.
This is another example of the infiltration of New Age teachings throughout Catholicism, per Spirit Daily.com, a Roman Catholic site exposing heresies.
A popular witch, "Starhawk," was featured. The accent was regarding Earth as a "living organism."
"The New Age long has been seen in ecological movements that incorporate paganism by means of ‘Mother Earth’ (as opposed to defending it as God's Creation). Christians argue that only God Himself has the ultimate answers -- and that while protecting the environment is crucial to the good Christian, introducing pagan notions (particularly nature spirits, and especially witchcraft) is contrary to the doctrines of Catholicism -- and condemned in the Bible."
When Christians remain loyal solely to the Bible as divine revelation, then such infiltrations do not exist. Constant Bible research on the part of both laity and clergy absent false teachings. When the Bible is ignored for human conjuring, then demonic doctrines take over.
Churches that adhere only to the Bible as the Word of God, not adding to or subtracting from, are the most reliable depositories of Christian theology. It is the same with seminaries; where humanly manufactured doctrines are permitted, the divine revelation is put aside.
One of the long-standing examples of such apostasy is Harvard Divinity School, an arch theologically liberal seminary known worldwide. Atheism and agnosticism are more popular at HDS than biblical Christianity.
"Meantime, in Fort Myers, Florida, protests erupted during March when a conservative Catholic named Lori Bohan -- long a participant in Marian activities -- confronted a yoga teacher at Blessed Pope John XXIII Church there. The yoga sessions were being held inside a chapel in full view of those worshipping in the church itself.
"While mainly used in the West to ‘stretch and strengthen muscles, control stress, and find peace,’ yoga, notes one wary Christian website, is from the Sanskrit word Yug, meaning union’ with the Divine higher ‘self’). The involvement of self or God as an impersonal universal energy is a prime tenet of the New Age.
"Moreover mantras used in the meditative practice often invoke pagan spirits by name, and deliverance ministries warn that methods used to clear or ‘blank’ the mind can offer a vacant home for spirits."
The Bible teaches that demons can house in willing minds and human spirits when the Holy Spirit is not honored as the Supreme Guest. The Holy Spirit is a "jealous God," per the Bible. God will not tolerate other gods in competition with His rightful supreme standing. The first of the Ten Commandments states that believers are to have no other gods but the God of the Bible.
Yoga is an open New Age vessel for demonic infiltration. One does not need yoga to find release from stress and anxiety. For centuries the Bible has invited souls to release stress and anxiety through daily prayer directly to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then delivers such prayers to our Mediator / Advocate Christ. Christ then delivers such prayers to the First Person of the Trinity, the Father. The godhead — the Trinity — is waiting for our communication.
That is the biblical route for praying, not yoga or any other form in competition with the biblical counsel concerning petitioning the divine. Yet yoga is particularly popular in both Protestant and Catholic circles. It is considered posh to be a part of a yoga gathering.
Biblically attuned Christians realize that all of this is nothing other than a substitute for traditional biblically based prayer. In some cases, it is a dangerous invitation for demonic spirits to quietly infiltrate the human spirit. Demonic spirits are not always barbaric in their presence. They can be quite suave and harmless appearing.
"The same problems accompany reiki -- an energy ‘healing’ method that is popular in New Age circles and now also at dozens of retreat centers operated by Catholic nuns who likewise view it as a neutral method and have integrated it with Christianity, as we have previously reported.
"Proponents of reiki believe that there are ‘vibrational’ fields around humans that influence our well-being -- energies that surround and interpenetrate. It is similar to the Eastern concept of ‘ki’ or ‘chi’ energy that many non-Christians in Asia believe flows around the human form as sort of an aura."
All of this is totally unnecessary to the biblical believer who communicates directly to the God of the Bible. God is only a prayer away. God needs no apparatus or alternative means by which to find Him. God is there. God is present, whether invited or not. God is accessible for conversation as soon as the human spirit reaches out to Him.
It is shameful that areas within Christendom are opening up their gatherings to that which is contrary to God’s Word, especially so when lead by so-called spiritual leaders such as nuns, priests and pastors. Divine judgment in condemnation will settle upon such persons for leading others astray.
Satan has always attempted in every generation to do everything demonically possible to keep persons from discovering the eternal truths in Scripture. Those aware of this must continue to lift up the Bible as the sole divine revelation — complete in itself with no need to detour into alternative means of communicating with the divine.
Those caught up in New Age teachings must be prayed for earnestly by genuine Christian believers.
"Other practices such as the enneagram and labyrinths have gained widespread use in Catholic retreat centers.
"Says a viewer from Austin, Texas: ‘During one CRHP [Christ Renews His Parish] retreat (on a full October moon), the men were 'encouraged' to spend time in the 'maze.' A secret plan had been set up to get all former CRHP members who still had their candles to bring them to the maze so that we could 'light the way' of the men on retreat.
"’When I spoke my piece regarding my boycott of anything that would detract from Christ's Presence in the chapel (where I planned to spend multiple hours in prayer), the torrent of hate and anger was unstoppable."
Is that not evidence enough that the unbiblical means were not from the peaceful God but the demonic presence?
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