After-Death Communication?

[mikew262]

Sir Knight:

Using “Mediums” is an offense against the first commandment and according to your own definition, that is a mortal sin.

Using Mediums in no way violates the 1st commandment. The 1st commandment deals with worshipping false gods. Nobody is worshipping a false god in dealing with a Medium. Try again.

 

[Ianjo99]

Actually we use 100 percent of our brains. The whole 10/20 percent thing was misquoted by someone and has since been proven false.

snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm

faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pdf/tenper.pdf

 

[mikew262]

Ianjo99:

Actually we use 100 percent of our brains. The whole 10/20 percent thing was misquoted by someone and has since been proven false.

snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm

faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pdf/tenper.pdf

Well, ok, you could be right on that, based on your links. However, I still stand by the basic premise that some gifted people may have the ability to communicate with the dead. I don’t know how it happens, but I think it’s out there and not necessarily evil.

 

[coyote]

OK. So what was happening when Joseph and Daniel were intrepreting dreams?

 

[Sir_Knight]

mikew262:

Using Mediums in no way violates the 1st commandment. The 1st commandment deals with worshipping false gods. Nobody is worshipping a false god in dealing with a Medium. Try again.

You try again. Rev. Msgr. John B. Szymanski disagrees with you about it being an offense against the first commandment and so does the very Rev. James Alberione, S.S.P, S.T.D.. Should I take your word for it or that of a priest who is chartered with forgiving sins (I would hope that he knows whether the sins that he is forgiving are mortal or not) and that of a bishop – a successor to the Apostles?

 

[mikew262]

Sir Knight:

You try again. Rev. Msgr. John B. Szymanski disagrees with you about it being an offense against the first commandment and so does the very Rev. James Alberione, S.S.P, S.T.D.. Should I take your word for it or that of a priest who is chartered with forgiving sins (I would hope that he knows whether the sins that he is forgiving are mortal or not) and that of a bishop – a successor to the Apostles?

I suppose I could continue to rebutt this, and I do have an opinion on what these 2 priests said, but I don’t want to get suspended by the forum operators, so I’ll cease and desist.

You are obviously a very devout Catholic (probably more devout than I) and follow the “letter of the law”, which I praise you for. However, I tend to question sometimes, church law that I happen to disagree with, maybe that’s wrong, but that’s me. If I am wrong, I hope God will let me know somehow.

I need to end now, so I can get ready for church.

 

[the_undertaker]

After death communication does happen, it has happened too many times to too many people that it cannot be explained. My wife died 5 months ago and I have had numerous things that suggest that she is my angel in the sky and watches over me. I have had lights being turned on mysteriously, pulling on the back of my shirt when no one is there. These have come more frequently now that I am about to undergo two surgeries. I am being told everything is alright, not to worry. The Church does not dispute this, let me quote

ROME - One of the most authoritative spokesmen of the Roman Catholic Church has raised eyebrows among the faithful by declaring that the Church believes in the feasibility of communication with the dead.
The Rev. Gino Concetti, chief theological commentator for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, denied he was signaling any change in approach. But he agreed that his remarks might come as a jolt to many believers.
He said the Church remained opposed to the raising of spirits, but added: “Communication is possible between those who live on this earth and those who live in a state of eternal repose, in heaven or purgatory. It may even be that God lets our loved ones send us messages to guide us at certain moments in our life.”
His comments were first made in support of an American theologian, the Rev. John Neuhaus. Neuhaus had described how a friend had seen a ghost. He said there were various explanations, but “the important thing is not to deny such things a priority.”

The Good Lord is allowing messages to me in my time of need.
this type of communication happens to too many people to be explained away as natural phenomina.

Concetti said the new Catholic catechism specifically endorsed the view that the dead could intercede on earth and quotes the dying St. Dominic telling his brothers: “Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life.”

 

[Mintaka]

The major question here is not whether the dead do sometimes communicate in various ways (certainly saints and people in Purgatory sometimes do). It’s not even whether it is okay for us to communicate with them, outside of normal means like apparitions or the Communion of saints, which are normal because we’re all part of the Body of Christ and can pray for each other and be one with Him. (The Church has always said that it is wrong to attempt to compel or summon or channel the dead, or to attempt to use divination to force or invite communication with the dead. It’s just not right.)

What’s important is this.

The approach described by the original poster is a textbook example of a classic con game. You can read about similar things in factual accounts of spiritualism con games, or fictional versions in many mystery novels. Traditionally, the con artist would approach someone he knew or saw to be grieving, and would either elicit details through “cold reading” (guesswork and non-committal statements combined with observation, which allows one to come up with plausible comments that the victim jumps to fill in further) or by simple research (Internet and newspaper obituaries, mainly, although nowadays you can see somebody’s whole extended family and life history on Facebook and webpages) as well as through investigation and chatting beforehand (for example, with other people in the hair salon, who might easily have told her or a confederate the whole sad story of the deaths on previous hair salon visits).

Even people who believe in mediums and the like are usually aware of these classic cons. They’re pretty basic stuff and yet cruelly effective with people who grieve. Faking ectoplasm or spectral instruments or table tapping and turning has gone out of style since the 1800’s and early 1900’s, but the simple setup of a mark for a spiritualist con game has not.

 

[thistle]

This is a 9 year old dormant thread. We are not to resurrect old threads. You should start a new thread even if you wish to discuss the same topic.

 

[michaelhager]

This has the potential for being dangerous stuff. Your mother should talk to a good priest about this.

As opposed to a bad priest?

I agree. There doesn’t seem to be any prohibition against those who have passed contacting us, after all, there are recorded instances in the scriptures about the passed on visiting earth. Matthew 17:3 “And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.” or consider Mary appearing at Fatima or Guadalupe.

So clearly the deceased CAN visit us and communicate with us. The only problem is with us trying to contact the spirit world through divination, sorcery or other magic not of the Church…

We contact the spirit world daily through our prayers either directly to God or to Christ or through the mediation of Mary and the Saints. And when we pray, it should be for the spirits of our passed loved ones, or for the healing of those left on earth. We can ask for anything we want, and if we listen hard enough with a prayerful spirit, we might hear an answer.

.

 

[Randy_Carson]

My sister of 39 years passed away in February of this year. I was very sad at this loss, but after her many painful years battling two separate bouts with cancer and other physical aliments, I was also grateful to God for giving her rest. My parents though, were understandably more hurt by this than I, she was their only daughter. Their grief has lasted longer than I would like but I understand that these things take time. I am very concerned about some reports that a relative recently gave to my mother. This relative said that she encountered a stranger in a hair salon that claimed to have heard from my sister. This relative said that the stranger knew my sisters name and the name of this relative’s small child. The relative then goes on to tell my mother that her small child (3 years old) has been visited by my sister in dreams on a regular basis. Needless to say, this is very exciting to my mother who is still grieving the loss of her daughter. What is the Catholic position after death communication?

I see nothing in this that is a problem…as far as you have explained it.

MANY saints were visited by souls from heaven, purgatory and hell. In fact, last night I finished reading a fascinated book on this subject:

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