Did you have a good Hallowe'en?
For many people
the association of All Saintstide
and the Occult
is too uncomfortable.
They have a point.
Some people take Hallowe'en
as an excuse
to be unpleasantly morbid
in what they wear
and in what they do.
Telling a good ghost story
reminds us that
there is a world beyond our vision
and that the soul
continues its existence after death.
The problem comes
when people seek
to use the "spirits of the dead"
to gain information
or to do their bidding.
That's clearly prohibited
by Holy Scripture.
But there is something
very tantalising about
the idea of magic
and the Occult.
It appalls us
and fascinates us,
thrills us
and disgusts us
at the same time?
Why?
[PAUSE]
Let's be clear.
What do we mean by "occult"?
The word literally means "hidden"
or secret,
and it refers to the belief
that our real world
is surrounded by a hidden world.
Now here you might worry.
We believe in a hidden world.
We believe in Heaven and Hell
and the Third State between.
We believe in a hidden God,
and our sacraments
are outward signs
of hidden grace,
aren't they?
Is Christianity an occult religion?
Wow!
That is a deeply uncomfortable
thing to say!
But before we start to worry,
there is something more.
There is something
profoundly different
about Christianity
and the truly Occult.
It is the Lord's Prayer.
[PAUSE]
The Occult is dangerous
because its central idea
is to use what is hidden
to do your will.
That's the central idea:
do what you will
is the whole law
for those who follow the Occult.
Put simply
the Occult law is
"My Kingdom come.
My will be done."
As Christians know
it's God's will be done.
We see exactly that in
Christ the King Sunday
and that He promises
Eternal Life
to those who serve Him
in Love.
We see exactly that
He fulfils His promises
in All Saintstide.
To those who prefer the Occult,
we Christians are saps,
victims and brainwashed
because we prefer to serve
the will of God
than serve our own wills.
But serving our own wills
separates us
from becoming aware of God
in our lives.
[PAUSE]
The sad thing is
that many people
turn to Spiritualism
as a result of the First World War
trying to deal with
the intense grief
at the immense loss of life
of so many soldiers
in seeking to serve
their countries.
Ironically,
the soldiers give up
their wills to serve
unlike the mediums
who seek to control
their spirits at their bidding
to cash in on the grief
of the bereaved.
[PAUSE]
What we do today
in remembering
the dead servicemen and women
is the opposite of the Occult.
We generate their memory
by giving up our wills
in the Great Silence
to their memory
and thanking God
for their sacrifice.
And, rather than
manipulate the dead
to comfort the bereaved
we seek to bring
the bereaved to God
by giving up ourselves
to their pain
in sorrow, prayer and compassion.
St Paul is very clear:
we follow Christ
because He is the King
and has command
of the whole universe
much to the dismay
of the Occultists.
If we truly want
to reverse the influence
of the Occult
then we pray the Lord's Prayer
and put it into action.
No comments:
Post a Comment