Church Teachings
Pranic Healing, safe, dangerous or what?
Lately there has been mention of a so called New Age Guru Grand Master (not of the Knights of Malta!) coming to Malta to “bring” “Pranic Healing” to Malta, in a church at Paceville (what place does this have in a church I do not know).
His website claims that “Pranic Healing is a highly developed and tested system of energy energy medicine that utilizes prana to balance, harmonize and transform the body’s energy processes. Prana is a Sanskrit word that means life-force. This invisible bio-energy or vital energy keeps the body alive and maintains a state of good health. In acupuncture, the Chinese refer to this subtle energy as Chi. It is also called Ruah or the Breath of Life in the Old Testament.”
This claim is incorrect. First of all this claims that the Holy Spirit (Ruach Qodesh in hebrew) is just an impersonal “life-force” or cosmic energy.
As Christians we know the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, not an “IT”, the third person of the Holy Trinity. We have just celebrated the feast of Pentecost today. Let us get to know the Holy Spirit in our life, Christ can heal everything wrong in us, rather than meddle with dangerous energies which can imbalance our life and have dangerous side-effects. Some people are attracted to healing like pranic because they feel a revulsion from religion and sometimes those of us in the church fail to help them or show them real love. I am not saying that these persons are bad persons or anything of the sort.
In his book “Praying for Healing”, Fr Benedict Heron writes that many Christians go to spiritual healing (like pranic healing) in the New Age Movement, and this frequently leads “to disasters and the loss of their Christian faith”. Some people go there as there is no serious Christian healing ministry in their parish. People need to be told that Jesus still heals today, in answer to prayer. The Church does not simply regard non-Christian religions and things linked with them as being demonic or wrong, but points out the various real dangers which may be involved when one is not centred on Christ. Fr Heron writes about a Catholic man who went to an Eastern Guru in London for healing. After paying him a large sum of money for some object of Eastern piety, which was supposed to help him heal (according to the so-called Guru), this person ended up caught up in some spiritual bondage. Another woman, a Catholic, went to spiritualists to get her back healed and ended up, ten years later (ten years of visits to spiritualists), with mental instability problems (and her back was still bad) and suicidal tendencies.
As Fr Heron says, we really need to renew the healing ministry of prayer in the Catholic Church, in fidelity to the New Testament and the Catholic Church’s tradition, so more Catholics will seek healing in His Church rather than elsewhere.
On Saturday 29th May 2010 I invite you to attend the Healing Service which will be held at Attard…
Pope to priests: Go forth and blog – washingtonpost.com
Pope Benedict XV, whose own presence on the Internet has grown in recent years, is urging priests to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and to engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures. ‘The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web,’ but priests are ‘challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources,’ says the Pope. The message from the Pope, prepared for the World Day of Communications, suggests such possibilities as images, videos, animated features, blogs, and Web sites and adds that young priests should become familiar with new media while still in seminary, though the Pope stresses that the use of new technologies must reflect theological and spiritual principles. Many priests and top prelates already interact with the faithful online, and one of Benedict’s advisers has his own Facebook profile. So does the archbishop of Los Angeles.
The Pope adds, ‘I renew the invitation to make astute use of the unique possibilities offered by modern communications. May the Lord make all of you enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel in the new “agorà” which the current media are opening up.
Source: Pope to priests: Go forth and blog – washingtonpost.com.
Church Press Release About the feast of Halloween
The Church in Malta issued a press release about Halloween, a feast claimed to be of (or mixed up with) pagan origins or elements (in Maltese). You can find it here (pdf) or below in text form:
Kummissjoni Djocesana Okkult u Satinizmu
c/o Kurja ta’ L-Arcisqof
Furjana
Press Release
Il-Kummissjoni Djocesana intalbet taghti l-parir taghha minn diversi genituri u Youth Centres dwar jekk ic-celebrazzjoni tal-festa tal-Halloween hijiex kompatibbli jew le ma’ min jixtieq jiehu bis-serjetà l-impenn tas-sejha nisranija tieghu.
Filwaqt li l-Kummissjoni taghraf li spiss hemm persuni zghar u kbar li jiccelebraw b’mod newtrali din il-festa biss biex ikollhom okkazjoni biex jorganizzaw celebrazzjoni jew party b’differenza li tkisser ir-rutina tal-hajja ta’ kuljum, din l-istess Kummissjoni tinnota li:
Il-festa hekk imsejha ta’ ‘Halloween’ hija ta’ origini pagana u ssib l-gheruq taghha fi twemmin mhux imdawwal mill-misteru ta’ Gesu’Kristu, l-Iben ta’ Alla maghmul bniedem, li bil-mewt u l-qawmien tieghu fdiena u joffrielna hajja gdida, issa u anke wara li nghaddu mill-passagg tal-mewt. Anke jekk hemm min izomm li din hija biss celebrazzjoni antika tal-bidu tax-xitwa, ma’ din il-festa ntrabtu diversi tradizzjonijiet superstizzjuzi u tradizzjonijiet ohra li ghandhom x’jaqsmu aktar mad-dinja ta’ l-ispiritizmu u l-okkult fis-sens l-aktar wiesa’ tieghu. Tradizzjonijiet li fil-fatt ma jaqblux ma’ dak li n-nisrani jemmen fid-dawl ta’ Gesu’ Kristu.
Ghal din ir-raguni, ghal min jixtieq jiehu bis-serjetà is-sejha nisranija tieghu, il-Kummissjoni jidhrilha li ma jixraqx li gruppi kattolici jiccelebraw din il-festa. Anke jekk dan jaghmluh b’mod superficjali u minnghajr l-ebda intenzjoni hazina, xorta wahda l-istess celebrazzjoni ssir sinjal ta’ ftuh lejn kultura neo-pagana u tlaqqim fil-kultura ta’ l-okkult, komuni hafna fi zminijietna.
Ikun aktar jixraq li wiehed jifhem ghaliex din ic-celebrazzjoni mhijiex kompattibbli mat-twemmin nisrani u jivvaluta mill-gdid il-wirt nisrani li fih tfakkarna kontinwament il-Knisja. Fl-1 ta’ Novembru in-nisrani huwa msejjah jiccelebra l-festa tal-Qaddisin kollha, dawk li l-Papa Benedittu XVI, liz-zghzazgh migbura f’Cologne, sejhilhom “ir-rivoluzzjonarji veri tas-socjetajiet taghna”. L-ghada, imbaghad, issir it-Tifkira tal-Fidili Mejtin kollha: permezz ta’ Kristu nitolbu ghall-gheziez mejtin taghna u ahna stess nircievu l-gid li jwassal it-talb taghhom ghalina. Zewg tifkiriet li jfakkruna fl-ghaqda tal-Knijsa ta’ l-art ma’ dik tas-sema.
Ikun sabih jekk l-okkazjoni ta’ dawn il-jumejn taghti lok biex wiehed jiccelebra l-fidi tieghu, u fuq l-ezempji tal-qaddisin, jifhem li ghan-nisrani, il-ferh veru jinsab f’relazzjoni ta’ hbiberija vera u hajja ma’ Kristu Gesu’, il-Feddej tal-bniedem.
5ta’ Ottubru 2005
P. Marcello Ghirlando OFM
Segretarju tal-Kummissjoni
Could This Be the cause for the many Separations in the Maltese Islands?
Contributed article:
From experience within local families, parents are entitled to offer their help in the education of their children especially in the environment of the Catholic or Christian faith.
But do we live in accordance to a Catholic / Christian life, keeping with the Gospel and especially with God’s commandments, so as to get enriched in any other form of teaching, that is the love of God and neighbor? Some could use the Parish Community so as to enrich their children in catechism teachings (Refs: CCC # 2226). In my observation at local restaurants I rarely seen parents making the sign of the cross before taking their meal – Why? Are we shy to expose our selves being Catholics ?
Then I suspect that they probably do not say their daily prayers at home before meals, and I wonder how many are those that do the sign of the holy cross before starting to eat, before they go to sleep. It’s also most important for our children to be helped and to teach them as to say their night prayers, morning prayer, and prayer before meals too.
The reading of the word of God is also an important factor as this does strengthen one’s marriage in future (CCC # 2205). This applies also to both parents, so as to pass what they may have learned to their children, so that they too would have a solid foundation for a better life in the future. But are we actually encouraging our children to do these things? And what about newly married couples are they aware of these duties and do they do them themselves too?
Recently we meet a newlywed couple and when I asked them about the ten commandments and which are those that they have to observe and obey. such as the 4th; 6th and the 9th. They started looking at each other as they forgot them all (Deut 5:6-21). Well the 4th is that they have to honor their father and mother at all times and what ever their out come had been or was before or after marriage. Then the 6th was that they should not commit adultery and that the 9th commandment was that we shall not covet our neighbor’s wife.
One of them replied, well if my wife goes out with another person [see 6th commandment] do you expect me to say, “have you enjoyed the evening, but don’t I try to find another partner to live with and separate from my wife as quickly as possible”
Well, my reply was that first of all, she had broken the 6th commandment, and should have repented and went for confession. Then her husband was in duty bound to forgive her and if he was the cause to this, to regulate his attitude. So these are what is missing in our Catholic society, lack of understanding, knowledge of the commandment and lack the knowledge that we have to forgive and forget the grievance of others.
I do understand, that it would have been very hard to forgive after that experience, but that is our faith. If one cannot live by our Christian faith, then he/she is not following the footsteps of Christ and cannot be called a Christian.
In the beginnings I mentioned catechism teachings (Refs: CCC # 2226) of religion to our Children, and this point is most important, because, this is the basement focal point of our religion. Unless we give a solid formation to our children from an early stage, and until they are well in their teen years too, because they have to be continuously updated and helped so that they would then can practice these while giving or pass this knowledge to their children in future.
Miss Claire Tyler, the chief executive of RELATE, stated that the relationship in counseling “must be done so as to help these fragile relationship of our modern times if one is prepared to survive these marriage difficult years.” Are we in Malta preparing our couples in such marriage-counselling relationship courses as recommended ? Neither does one recommend getting married while too young and such courses would help. Therefore, it’s about time to start such counseling in our country.
But I ask did our fore-fathers and mothers learned enough to be able as to pass this knowledge to their children. If not, then that was the cause of this situation – Could it have been the lack of proper formation from an early stage up to when they are well over the teens, maybe courting with a partner? If you are a true Christian or Catholic, do thing that such a knowledge, could it have been useful? What are your opinion on this matter, do you agree, or you think that religion is now not a necessity of these years?
John J