Julia Zahra
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
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Dear Catholic Exchange:
My dearest sister has become involved in some “New Age” experiences lately. We were raised by very strong Catholic parents, but she is in search of “fairness” in her religious experience — she questions that only Christians can be saved in the end, as there are many good people who are Buddist or Muslim, etc.
In her searches, she has come across a gentleman who can reach spirits and can tell her all about her family, both present and past. He says there is no devil, just our worldly interpretation of evil. He tells her that there is reincarnation, etc. She is also involved in Reiki and is learning the technique to become a healer (which, by the way, her seer friend told her that I am a healer).
What he has her doing is praying the rosary, she has started a Mom's in touch group, does heart to heart “sending Love” to people, etc. So, as I look upon his influences on her, although her thinking is distorted, she is moving to a more loving individual than she previously was. Although I am very leery about the activities she is engaged in, her behavior is so positive it confuses me!
Shelly Schmidt
Dear Mrs. Schmidt,
Peace in Christ!
Your sister appears to be a little confused about what the Church teaches regarding the salvation of non-Christians. Although Christ is the only way to salvation, those who do not know Him through no fault of their own, may be saved by Him if they respond to the graces they have been offered throughout their lives. For a complete explanation of this teaching, please see our Faith Facts Without the Church There is No Salvation, Hell: The Self-Exclusion from God, and Baptism of Desire.
The Church teaches that reincarnation is false. Reincarnation would require men to die at least twice, but Scripture says, “It is appointed for men to die once” (Heb. 9:27). Thus, the Catholic Church teaches:
Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When “the single course of our earthly life” is completed, we shall not return to other earthly lives: “It is appointed for men to die once.” There is no “reincarnation” after death (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1013).
Reincarnation has never been an accepted belief in Judaism and Christianity, which have a linear view of history and an inherent, profound belief in a personal God who knows us and loves all men as individual persons. In keeping with their Jewish roots, Christians believe that all men will be resurrected with the bodies they now have (e.g., Catechism, no. 1017). Reincarnation is therefore also at odds with the Catholic belief in the “resurrection of the body.” In other words, the body you now have, the body that will be reunited with your spirit and glorified in the resurrection, is an intrinsic part of you as a complete human person. You are not merely a soul or a spirit that can move from one body to another, but a unity of body, soul and spirit never meant to be divided forever after we die. Most religions that believe in reincarnation or the transmigration of souls have a very negative view of the body. At best, they see the body as illusion, at worst, as an evil prison. Jews and Christians believe, on the contrary, that the body is one of God’s very good creations, and that it is a blessing to have the promise of the body’s resurrection.
Satan’s existence is very real. God created Satan, along with the other angels. Satan is pure spirit in substance and in purpose was to be a servant of God. He was originally called Lucifer (Latin for “light-bringing”) and was a great archangel. Despite his high office, he and some other angels rebelled against God. They made their choice in full understanding that it would be forever. They chose eternal enmity toward God rather than glory in His service. As a result, they were cast from heaven to another realm we call Hell. From the fall of the angels came the evil that entered the world and caused the fall of Adam and Eve. Lucifer came to be called “Satan” (Hebrew “adversary”) and all of the bad angels “devils” (Greek “enemies”) and “demons” (Latin “evil spirits”).
This is the Judeo-Christian tradition and as such is susceptible to interpretation as allegory — conveying particular truth about the nature and origin of evil. However, Church teaching — explicitly and consistently that God created a being that was once good and then became evil — makes impossible the conclusion that Satan is not a person.
Satan and the fall of the angels are taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 391-95, 2851. For more about angels in general, see the Catechism, nos. 328-36.
I am also sending you some of our Faith Facts on Reiki, The New Age Movement, and Hold Fast What Is Good: On Borrowing Forms of Meditation from Eastern Religions. They may help you answer your sister’s questions and you can share them with her if you think she would benefit from them.
If she has continued to pray the Rosary, this is a wonderful thing! Encourage her to continue this practice and keep praying that Our Lady will help your sister return to her Son and His Church. I know that it may be confusing that her behavior is so positive when she has gotten mixed up in such erroneous beliefs but she probably feels that she has discovered something really wonderful and may never have had a strong grasp of the Catholic faith in the first place. Praying for her and helping her to rediscover the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith can both lead her to understand that whatever partial truths she may have found in her New Age experiences are most fully realized in the Catholic Church.
United in the Faith,
