Conclusion
New Age practices
Because Satan is not subject to human conditions, he posses “unimaginable possibilities to harm people”.
He can infest houses with strange sounds and sights. He can also possess man “directly on the body and indirectly on the soul,” according to Fr. Adolf Faroni in The Likes and Dislikes of The Devil.
The devil can do whatever he wishes with the person he possessed. If not cured, through exorcism, the possessed person is reduced “almost to the state of a beast,” with his brains and bodily functions affected and will that constantly deteriorates psycho physiologically.
When confronted with problems or sickness, Satan can influence man to believe that God is unfair to allow him to experience such difficulties. It is during deep state of depression that man commits suicide.
It is the characteristic of the devil to “cause gnawing anxiety and deep sadness and set up obstacles for men to ponder wisely about their states of being,” Saint Ignatius of Loyola said.
Peter, addressing the Christians, emphasized: “Be alert, be on watch, your agony, the devil roams around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him,” according to 1 Peter 5:8-9.
Peter is aware that when trust in God wavers and dies in the heart, man is likely to abuse his freedom and disobey God’s commandments. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness, said the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).
Fr. Francis Syquia, director of Manila Office of Exorcism, in his book, Exorcism Encounters with the Paranormal and the Occult, has cautioned the young and those inclined to New Age practices not to delve in the “power, mystery and thrills of the world of occult, which is intimately tied up with the demonic.”
Some of the different practices and instruments of the New Age Movement are: “angel guides, angelic channeling, astral projection, astrology, aura work, automatic handwriting, amulets, channeling, crystal healing, crystal divination, crystal balls, dousing, fortune telling, out-of-body work, past-life regression therapy, psychic development, psychic healing, rebirthing, shamanism, Silva mind control, soul travel, Ouija board, spellcraft, spirit of the glass, spirit guides, spiritualism, spiritism, transcendental meditation, séances, tarot cards, trance mediums, trance work and Wicca [witchcraft].”
Moira Noonan, in Ransomed From Darkness, asserted that “demons would play whatever roles they were asked to.”
Father Syquia said demons know “who has strong psychic abilities, and would try to lure those persons into their realm through the practice of the occult.”
Saint Michael, the Archangel
Because of the thin line that divides the paranormal and parapsychology, many unknowing readers become enmeshed in New Age practices. Thus, curious seekers of excitement should remember that New Age practices are “demonic, deceptive, dreadful and disastrous” to spirituality.
Church literature is replete with the drawings of an angel whispering on one ear and the devil on the other ear.
How true it is for God to assign to each person a guardian angel to “enlighten and protect, direct and govern” him. He can then avoid temptation with divine help through his good angel.
This reality is based on the Shepherd of Erma written between 140 and 155.
Fr. Robert Faricy, SJ, professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and an expert in spiritual warfare cautions that “the naiveté of priests and other pastoral workers” on the wiles of the devil can be dangerous.
In Deliverance from Evil Spirits, Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR, and Randall J. Curner attribute “many of the problems blamed on physical, hormonal, psychological and environmental factors” to evil spirits’ doings.
“Part of the difficulty of resisting demonic attacks,” according to Fr. Benedict Heron, OSB, in I Saw Satan Fall, is due to the fact that most of the demonic attacks are “not recognized as such, even by many Christians.”
Because the battle against Satan, which is the main task of Saint Michael the Archangel, is still being waged today, people are encouraged to pray always the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel:
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle,
be our safeguard, against the
wickedness and snares of the devil
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray
And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
By the power of God,
Bind into hell Satan and all
The other evil spirits
Who prowl about the world
Seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
****
Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
1 comment
What is your take on ordained priests like Father Gabriel Mejia, recipient of the 2008 Archbishop Romoer prize, becoming a Transcendental Meditation teacher and https://www.claret.org/en/news/03-01-2010/gabriel-mejia-cmf-archbishop-romero-prize-2008 and teaching all the children in the 50 orphanages he runs TM? See website of Hogares Claret for more info. https://www.fundacionhogaresclaret.org/~claret/index.php/intranetclaret/item/445-hogares-claret-en-cundinamarca-estrena-salón-para-la-meditación-trascendental
I should add that Father Mejia also has all the older children learn the TM “levitation” technique, Yogic Flying, as shown in this video of “levitating” boy scouts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6daNyp884Po and he certainly doesn’t try to hide that he is teaching “levitation” to his charges as that webpage specifically links to a video on “VUELO YOGUICO”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkh7hYpSbCg
What is your take on Father Francisco Qquenta Huahuasoncco (https://diariocorreo.pe/edicion/arequipa/director-de-colegio-san-pedro-pascual-buscamos-la-humanizacion-de-los-alumnos-614409/) director of El colegio mercedario San Pedro Pascual (a Roman Catholic school), who has all his students learn TM? https://www.facebook.com/INSTITUTOMAHARISHIDELPERU/videos/10155188156161492/
The TM organization in Peru claims that 50 schools in Peru are now teaching TM and even Yogic FLying (MT-Sidhis) on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/INSTITUTOMAHARISHIDELPERU/
What is your take on the Stritch School of Medicine at the Jesuit-run Loyola University offering Transcendental Meditation instruction to all medical students (for reasons explained in the links on their webpage)? https://ssom.luc.edu/meditation/
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My explanation is simple: these techniques (including levitation) are highly effective in combating PTSD and lesser-stresses, and children in many South American schools are suffering from PTSD. Likewise, medical school is extremely stressful, so students benefit from meditation practice.
The very definition of “enlightenment” as taught by the TM people, is merely that one’s nervous system becomes low-stress enough that stress-related memories don’t interfere with your ability to handle your current situation in life and this is appreciated internally as a “pure” sense-of-self — an “I am” — that isn’t associated with such memories and thoughts. All such practices are meant to do is rest the body or accustom the body to remain active while the brain is in such a deep state of rest, so that this no-stress “I am” can emerge.