A reader submitted a question about the Himalayan salt lamp, wondering if it is connected in any way to the New Age or the occult.
Photo by Maria Oswalt on UnsplashCommentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
For those of us who have been fighting in the pro-life movement for decades, we’ll never forget where we were when we heard the news that Roe v. Wade had been overturned. For me, it was a notification that popped up on my phone as I was preparing to attend Mass on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Only God could create the kind of joy that gripped my soul in that moment.
Photo by Nguyen Thu Hoai on UnsplashMany of our blogs come about as a result of readers who give us "tips" about a fad or personality that warrant more research. This is what happened with the popular books, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Thanks to that reader's tip, we unearthed a goldmine of vital information about these "warm and fuzzy" books that we all need to know about!
LG asks: "One of my friends is trying to convince me to see a person who can tell the future by scrying. I told her this is against my religion but she said this would just be for fun. Should I take her up on it?"
Photo by Brooke Cagle on UnsplashMJB writes: "Some Wiccan friends of mine were recently married in a ritual called handfasting. What exactly is this and is it Christian?"
LL writes: "How do I know if a speaker is New Age or not? There are so many of them out there, and they make some very enticing promises. How do I know who is legit and who isn't?"
Photo by Joshua Newton on UnsplashThe ability to walk across burning hot coals is known as firewalking and many a New Age motivational speaker wants us to believe that our mind has the power to enable us to do this. Does this explain why so many people at these events end up with their feet on fire while others walk away unscathed?
PC writes: "Over the weekend I had a conversation with a few people (felt like a firing squad really) where they were saying it is perfectly fine for a Catholic to also be a Buddhist. Their argument was that Buddhism is not a religion but a philosophy for interior peace and nothing is contradictory to what Jesus said and did (to me Galatians 5:22-23 debunks this issue as God sends the Holy Spirit that gives us everything; therefore, Jesus is truly the "all in all"). The lengthy part of the argument was to say that Buddhism gives the peace that Christianity does not. Of course I argued the opposite to all of this but did not make a dent. Do you know of any good resources that I can look at?"
SMJ: “My therapist recently suggested that he’d like to employ a theoretical therapy based on the polyvagal theory. However, when I looked it up online, a lot of the practitioners were very New Agey and Wikipedia called it ‘unproven’. Is this something I should get involved in?”
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