AE writes: "A friend of ours came to visit us last weekend. Her husband noticed that we had a moon and the sun facing each other (made of clay . . .) hanging on the center of our shed in our back yard. He told me that it is bad. He told me a little bit about the portal. What else are portals? Today, father Ed was talking about portals, but it is not clear to me.”
A new book claims that if you’re not asking fairies for help, gazing at the sky to regain your peace, saging your house and throwing the windows open twice a day, your Spirituality Quotient (SQ) is probably very low!
CO writes: “I recently attended a Catholic women’s retreat. There was a speaker there that referred to “Sophia, as the feminine face of God”. I am a cradle Catholic and this is something I have never heard of and it made me uncomfortable for the rest of the day. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the New Testament are all masculine. Nothing else was mentioned about this until the end of the day during a sending forth prayer ritual in which Sophia, Wisdom of God was thanked 3 times (“for your continual invitation to relationship with the Holy One, for showing yourself in our experiences today and for your presence in this circle”). This bothered me also so I did not say the prayer aloud as we were instructed. . .
As the world moves further away from its moorings in Christianity, growing numbers of today’s youth are turning to a newly created version of Satanism they claim is more about self-actualization and personal fulfillment than worship of the devil. But is this just another diabolical deception?
Christmas is supposed to be a time of “peace on earth” and, thankfully, it still is, but this joyful season has its detractors - such as those who promulgate the idea that Christmas was founded on a pagan feast. Is this true?
While it’s true that the Druids once believed holly had magical powers, the use of this ancient evergreen on special occasions does not derive from any group in particular.
KV writes: "Is it ok for me as a Catholic Christian to give gifts with pictures of Santa Claus on them? … I am concerned that I would be promoting pagan worship if I gave gifts with Santa images on them. Is this the case, or am I being too scrupulous?”
Believe it or not, the idea that Christmas trees were condemned in the Bible is a very common criticism of this beloved tradition. But is there any merit to this claim?