“With good reason, we sometimes sense — more or less consciously — disturbing elements of the culture of death embraced by the New Age, beginning with its rejection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Saviour of humanity,” the booklet released Sept. 18 says.
Though COLF acknowledges the New Age has many guises, among them astrology, yoga, magic, chakras and hypnotism, at their root is a belief that the self is already one with the “great All of the universe.”
“All is God. I am God,” sums up the view that COLF compares to the promise made by the serpent in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve that if they eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they will become like God.
Activities like yoga and meditation that may seem harmless and healthful are often “vehicles for doctrines that are foreign to Christianity,” the document says, quoting YouCat, the youth catechism. The booklet also warns against Reiki, Freemasonry and theosophy.
The booklet offers a crash course in apologetics, contrasting Catholic views about God, Christ and the human person with New Age views.
“The New Age speaks of the Cosmic Christ, of the Christ Energy who was incarnated in several teachers (Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad, Jesus of Nazareth). He is a pattern, an avatar, who can appear in different people at different times.”
In contrast, Jesus Christ is “God made man,” the Lord and King of all the Creation — of the visible and invisible world,” COLF says. “He is the definitive Word of God who reveals Himself to humanity. There will never be another one.”
The document also covers salvation, prayer and the end times, including New Age beliefs in a one world government.
COLF exhorts families to continue the process of faith formation that begins with the baptism of their children.
“In asking to have our children baptized, we know that we are offering them the privilege of walking in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth — the Son of God made man.
“If they want, they can always count on His presence at their side and can rely on the truth that He came to reveal to all His brothers and sisters in humanity,” COLF says. “Yet today, many baptized people allow themselves to be tempted by the mysterious practices of the New Age. Attracted by gnosticism, which before long replaces their faith, they commit to seeking enlightenment, believing that they have found in hidden (esoteric) knowledge the truth about themselves.”
New Age teaching can also tempt followers to seek powers through the occult, the booklet warns. Those powers, sought through channelling or other means, invoke malevolent spirits that could enslave people because they do not come from God.
COLF notes how the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches against any practice of magic, divination or sorcery. Those who find themselves caught up in the occult can avail themselves of the sacrament of Reconciliation to find freedom, the booklet says.
New Age has made big inroads in youth culture, COLF says, pointing to the esoteric, “Illuminati” and satanic symbols in rock videos, on CD covers along with the promotion of sexually explicit images, COLF writes. Even younger children are being confronted with the occult in the form of ouija boards and books focusing on magic spells such as the Harry Potter series, COLF points out.
In order to counter these influences, COLF urges parents to listen, to “invite young people to share their problems, doubts and suffering with us; then provide upfront information about the devil, the occult, spiritism, Eastern cults and exorcism; and finally, bring them to or back to God — gradually, without pressuring them.
“It is first within our families that new generations can discover, each day, thanks to the living faith of their parents, that the Lord Jesus, vanquisher of evil and death, is the only Saviour of the world, and their only master, that His word is steadfast and his presence real.”
Copies of the booklet can be downloaded or ordered via www.colf.ca.