hi i'm father chris aylar and welcome to ask amerian this week ronnie from columbia missouri
asks what is church teaching on ufos and ghosts do they exist well ronnie those are two big topics so
i'll hold off on the ufos for a future episode but let's talk about ghosts do they really exist yes
but then who are they well the church teaches surprisingly they're not the demons or the devils
they are actually human spirits without bodies you know ghost comes from the old english word
related to the german geist meaning spirit and polter means rumble and geist meaning spirit
put them together the word poltergeist means rumbling spirit so the they are real they are
how do we know this they're in the bible uh we know about saul going to endor to call
up the ghost of the prophet samuel uh we know of judas maccabees who met the ghost of an uh anyas
from the high who was the high priest in a vision and the disciples even thought jesus himself was
a ghost in matthew 14. there jesus didn't say a ghost did not exist he simply said he wasn't one
so most agree there are ghosts and there are three kinds one from each of the places of the afterlife
so we have ghosts possibly that come as souls from purgatory they could be a damned soul from hell
surprisingly or even a saint from heaven and they only appear when god allows it for example
a soul in purgatory may come to us to ask us for prayers for them
to help relieve their suffering a soul in heaven may appear to us to let us know that
they are okay and not to worry about them that they're in heaven with god and sometimes god
may even have a soul from hell to appear to us as a wake-up call to change our life
to avoid the same fate as them you know cameraman giuseppe's favorite movie even involved a ghost
okay but often non-catholics criticize us because the they say the bible forbids talking to the dead
and when we conjure up the dead when we pray to saints
no the bible forbids necromancy okay or invoking the dead and that's not what catholics do
because the church through canonization of saints has guaranteed that these saints in heaven
are alive in christ and not dead yes the bible says not to invoke the dead
but praying to the saints is not doing that because the saints are very much alive in heaven
you know the disciples saw moses with jesus on mount tabor in the transfiguration and moses
certainly had died but he was alive and jesus communicated with him you know the dead would be
who would the dead be then the dead who we don't communicate with would be the souls of the damned
and we catholics don't pray to the damned that's satanism so what the bible is for forbidding
uh generally are the techniques used to summon up departed human beings or other spirits and
then controlling it controlling them and the situation examples include ouija boards
crystal balls seances mediums and all that kind of stuff this is what people wrongly think when
we catholics are praying for the dead or learning about the saints or asking for their intercession
to try to discover the future through things like palm reading or tarot cards or fortune telling
or to try to control the future through black magic or witchcraft or sorcery that's not allowed
by the catholic church that violates the first commandment and deuteronomy chapter 18 again
something the church forbids the bible is not however forbidding holy conversation between
those in this life and the holy ones and the next it is only forbidding attempts to manipulate the
supernatural realm to obtain forbidden power or knowledge to be like god to control the future
that's what adam and eve wanted in the garden to be knowledgeable like god this is all in the
catechism 21 16 it says that this is forbidden prayer to the saints though is entirely different
there is no attempt to conjure up the dead who are damned there is no attempt to seek forbidden
knowledge when we pray we aren't conjuring we are communicating with our own body with the own
body of christ you know saints are part of the body of christ we're part of the body of christ
so it's kind of like you communicating with your hand you tell your hand to pick up that pen
the saints are present to us like our hand is present to us in the same body and hell isn't
part of the body of christ and so that's what we're talking about by not conjuring the dead of
the damned and all that is done when we do it in an honor to god we are honoring god's friends and
asking the saints for their prayers now the sin is of of necromancy is not just speaking to the dead
it is also the attempt through occult practices to contact and communicate with a deceased
person in a way that brings that person back from the dead by your power not god's power
i think we can all see the problem with that so speaking to a saint or to a deceased relative
through prayer is not necromancy because christian prayer relies upon jesus
as the intercessor between god the father and man to facilitate that conversation remember
jesus is the only way to the father but there are many ways to jesus
in fact one reason why it is a sin and to use a median to go as a go-between to the
dead is that it is a denial of christ as that one mediator that paul mentions in first timothy two
when we pray to the saints it is all through jesus the new testament also addresses this issue you
know saint paul condemned sorcery in galatians 5. and in acts of the apostle saint peter rebuked
simon magus a magician who wanted to buy the powers of the holy spirit to make himself more
powerful again that's the problem this is an attempt to usurp the power of god
again something we catholics don't do um so is all magic then forbidden i just mentioned the magician
no not actually stage magic is totally different that's more entertainment in fact saint don bosco
used to do stage magic the magic we're talking about here is magic as controlling and that is
what is condemned but if telling the future then somebody might ask father you said tongue the
future is bad then why isn't prophecy banned well it is good when it is a charism or a gift of god
a particular concern would be something when it involves stuff like witchcraft which involves both
unraveling the future as well as trying to control it through placing curses all right it is wrong
because witchcraft involves producing certain effects which are beyond your natural power but
done through the assistance of powers other than god like the occult it involves a pact sometimes
with the devil or imploring some evil spirits for help this is what's wrong that's why witchcraft
includes rights to awaken the dead or arouse passion in a person or bring disaster upon an
enemy this is what is forbidden in the bible not asking for help from a good saint satanism
that in particular also is a problem because it gives homage to the prince of darkness and
they even have black masses which parodies are mass but commit sacrilegious and blasphemous
actions remember if spirits appear to you in a good holy and uninvoked way unexpected way
that is usually a gift from god but commanding them to come to you is different and controlling
them that is why an a ouija board or a saiyans is wrong so if you ever see a ghost the best thing
to do is to pray for them and remember leave the heavy lifting to the priests the ladies should not
attempt to engage in spiritual warfare reserved for priests like exorcisms and things like that
and with other things like harry potter be careful because although the church has never officially
officially condemned it you have to be weary because if your children have a natural curiosity
it could lead them into the occult seeking some kind of wizardry power that is not of
god so thank you ronnie may god bless you all the father the son and the holy spirit amen