Horrible advice in the confessional. Should I report it to my Bishop?

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TempleofTheSoul

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I went to confession today and had this bad feeling about it. There were alot of obstacles in my way to getting confessed but when I finally was in the confessional I was not expecting the advice the priest gave to me.

You see, before I came back to the Church I was very heavy into the New age and the study of Eastern religions (especially Buddhism). When I came back to the Catholic Church I sometimes go through periods where I get attacked with thoughts that I don’t believe in Catholicism and have extreme dryness in prayer. Because of this I sometimes revert to the books I have on Buddhism and I am ashamed to say it, I practice Buddhist meditation.

This last period of lack of faith and dryness was tough but Christ’s mercy again came to my rescue and I made a firm decision to throw out all my books on Buddhism and statues of the Buddha that I had.

Anyway, when I confessed to the priest that I was going through this period of lack of faith and reverted to my old ways in turning to Buddhism his advice to me was to recommend that I seek out a priest that he knew who was a Zen Master who combines Zen meditation with Christian prayer. :eek: The priest he recommended I already knew about since he is well-known in my city for giving Zen retreats.

Since this happened in the confessional and we are dealing with the seal of confession would I be able to report this to my Bishop? The only reason I go to this church for confession is because it is near my home and the times for confession are convenient for me. The other church I go to for confession is much farther away and is run by the priests of the FSSP…so you know there won’t be no nonsense in the confessional.

I’d appreciate the advice of forum members on how to handle this situation.

Thanks and God bless
 
TempleofTheSoul said:
I seek out a priest that he knew who was a Zen Master who combines Zen meditation with Christian prayer.
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It sounds like he may have given you good advice. For it may be that he is trying to integrate your desire for the meditative aspects of Zen, removing the religious aspects, with the Christian aspects. Perhaps you could also look into both Meditative and Contemplative prayer as a way to further your walk with God.
 
My advise would be to get yourself [edited] into the Confessional ASAP.
 
Evan said:
It sounds like he may have given you good advice. For it may be that he is trying to integrate your desire for the meditative aspects of Zen, removing the religious aspects, with the Christian aspects. Perhaps you could also look into both Meditative and Contemplative prayer as a way to further your walk with God.
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You cannot mix God and New Age.

That is a lure that the Devil uses to attract Christians to the new age.

First you start by saying Christian prayers while doing Zen meditation, then the more you get into the Buddhism, you start incorporating more elements of Buddhism.

Now if he had recommended contemplative prayer, it would be different, but I don’t think that’s what he did.
 
corsair said:
My advise would be to get yourself [edited] into the Confessional ASAP.
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Are you saying that I need to confess again? What would the priest suggested make my confession not valid? I thought that even if the priest were in error that as long as you receive absolution then your sins are forgiven.

God bless
 
TempleofTheSoul said:
I went to confession today and had this bad feeling about it. There were alot of obstacles in my way to getting confessed but when I finally was in the confessional I was not expecting the advice the priest gave to me.

You see, before I came back to the Church I was very heavy into the New age and the study of Eastern religions (especially Buddhism). When I came back to the Catholic Church I sometimes go through periods where I get attacked with thoughts that I don’t believe in Catholicism and have extreme dryness in prayer. Because of this I sometimes revert to the books I have on Buddhism and I am ashamed to say it, I practice Buddhist meditation.

This last period of lack of faith and dryness was tough but Christ’s mercy again came to my rescue and I made a firm decision to throw out all my books on Buddhism and statues of the Buddha that I had.

Anyway, when I confessed to the priest that I was going through this period of lack of faith and reverted to my old ways in turning to Buddhism his advice to me was to recommend that I seek out a priest that he knew who was a Zen Master who combines Zen meditation with Christian prayer. :eek: The priest he recommended I already knew about since he is well-known in my city for giving Zen retreats.

Since this happened in the confessional and we are dealing with the seal of confession would I be able to report this to my Bishop? The only reason I go to this church for confession is because it is near my home and the times for confession are convenient for me. The other church I go to for confession is much farther away and is run by the priests of the FSSP…so you know there won’t be no nonsense in the confessional.

I’d appreciate the advice of forum members on how to handle this situation.

Thanks and God bless
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😦 I think it would be best to maybe go to the FSSP priests for confession. I know they are very orthodox.

God bless
 
TrueLight said:
You cannot mix God and New Age.

That is a lure that the Devil uses to attract Christians to the new age.

First you start by saying Christian prayers while doing Zen meditation, then the more you get into the Buddhism, you start incorporating more elements of Buddhism.

Now if he had recommended contemplative prayer, it would be different, but I don’t think that’s what he did.
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And yet the OP said nothing about New Age. A different topic.

Zen incorperates methods of meditation. If you have learned these methods and can apply them to Christian prayer, it may deepen your relationship with Christ.

Prior to coming to contemplative prayer, you often need to pass through a time of meditative prayer. The priest was able to talk to the OP and could possibly judge better than we can how mature he was in his faith and how well he had left behind the philosophy of Buddhism.

Do not engage in calumny (thefreedictionary.com/calumny) when you could consider the good that may come from spiritual direction. If he would remain with the Zen master priest, the spiritual growth may be greater than anything he would receive if there were no appreciation for his backgound. Each person is unique, use their uniqueness to enhance rather than degrade.
 
TempleofTheSoul said:
Are you saying that I need to confess again? What would the priest suggested make my confession not valid? I thought that even if the priest were in error that as long as you receive absolution then your sins are forgiven.

God bless
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I’m sure your confession was valid as absolution is not dependent upon advice. Still, it would be prudent to familiarize yourself with where/when you can confess to a more traditional priest.
 
Your confession and the absolution you received were valid.

The priest was just trying to be helpful and also help make you comfortable in offering some advice about visiting with a priest who could assist you by attempting to integrate your experiences in meditation with the essentials and teachings of Christianity.

Just go about your daily life.

Work on your prayer life … say a daily Rosary. Get to Mass daily if possible. Make visits to the Blessed Sacrament as often as the opportunity presents itself.

Actively work to place yourself in God’s Hands. Make up your own prayers to the effect of inviting or invoking the Holy Spirit to take charge of your life.

There is a lot of Christian meditative reading available. Check out the catalog at Ave Maria Press.

Years ago, I complained to a VERY orthodox Catholic priest that I didn’t want to get involved with an eastern religion … he said Christianity IS an eastern religion! He was trying to be little bit humorous but at the same time to get me to relax a bit.

You might also try studying the Bible using a time line … such as “The Bible Timeline - The Story of Salvation” by Jeff Cavins, Tim Gray and Sarah Christmyer. Ascension Press. 1-800-376-0520
 
TempleofTheSoul said:
I went to confession today and had this bad feeling about it. There were alot of obstacles in my way to getting confessed but when I finally was in the confessional I was not expecting the advice the priest gave to me.

You see, before I came back to the Church I was very heavy into the New age and the study of Eastern religions (especially Buddhism). When I came back to the Catholic Church I sometimes go through periods where I get attacked with thoughts that I don’t believe in Catholicism and have extreme dryness in prayer. Because of this I sometimes revert to the books I have on Buddhism and I am ashamed to say it, I practice Buddhist meditation.

This last period of lack of faith and dryness was tough but Christ’s mercy again came to my rescue and I made a firm decision to throw out all my books on Buddhism and statues of the Buddha that I had.

Anyway, when I confessed to the priest that I was going through this period of lack of faith and reverted to my old ways in turning to Buddhism his advice to me was to recommend that I seek out a priest that he knew who was a Zen Master who combines Zen meditation with Christian prayer. :eek: The priest he recommended I already knew about since he is well-known in my city for giving Zen retreats.

Since this happened in the confessional and we are dealing with the seal of confession would I be able to report this to my Bishop? The only reason I go to this church for confession is because it is near my home and the times for confession are convenient for me. The other church I go to for confession is much farther away and is run by the priests of the FSSP…so you know there won’t be no nonsense in the confessional.

I’d appreciate the advice of forum members on how to handle this situation.

Thanks and God bless
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The priest did not telll you to do anything that is contrary to Church teaching. The Church does not have a rule against using certain methods from other religions and philosophies to help one enter into prayer. The key is to use the method with the proper understanding of prayer and its goals. This requires someone who is well trained in both, the method and the theology of Christian prayer.

I don’t know the priest who is giving the retreat. He may be very good at combining an Eastern method with Christian prayer or may be horrible at it. The confessor is not telling you that he knows this priest is good or not. He’s simply saying that there is a priest who makes use of an Eastern method for prayer. The prayer remains Christian.
TempleofTheSoul said:
Are you saying that I need to confess again? What would the priest suggested make my confession not valid? I thought that even if the priest were in error that as long as you receive absolution then your sins are forgiven.

God bless
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If the priest gave you absolution, you do not need to confess again. [edited].

A more appropriate response would be “If this uncomfrotable or because this does not sound right . . . try another priest.”

[edited]

We need to be careful how we workd our advice, because we can be sewing seeds of mistrust in others. That’s nto fair to them.

You may want to ask another priest if he knows of the work done by the priest that your confessor mentioned. It’s like a medical procedure. If you’re not too sure about it, get a second opinion before you jump into it. There are some people who use Eastern methods very wisely and others use it very irresponsibly. One very spiritual person who borrowed methods from Hinduism was Mother Teresa. Who would dare say that they have a better life of prayer than hers?

On the other hand, I attended a workshop given by someone else who was going to teach Eastern methods of relaxation and concentration helpful to prayer. When the workshop was over, I left completely convinced that the presenter did not know where to draw the line and what she was presenting was a deformed blend of Christianity and Buddhism. I can’t call it Buddhism, because it was not even faithful to that. Suffice it to say that it was a mess as far as I was concerned.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Are you even allowed too? I thought the seal of confession forbade speaking of it, even to a bishop?

(I’m not sure at all, just asking, so don’t scream at me if I’m wrong)
 
I would be cautious about picking and choosing the spiritual advice you will take from a priest. If you only accept the advice you want to hear, you are not accepting advice. You are doing what you want.

It is no more valid for a “conservative” Catholic to drive across town because they don’t want “liberal” advice from a local priest than it would be for a “liberal” Catholic to drive across town to avoid “conservative” advice s/he receives.

God bless
 
JReducation said:
The priest did not telll you to do anything that is contrary to Church teaching. The Church does not have a rule against using certain methods from other religions and philosophies to help one enter into prayer. The key is to use the method with the proper understanding of prayer and its goals. This requires someone who is well trained in both, the method and the theology of Christian prayer.

I don’t know the priest who is giving the retreat. He may be very good at combining an Eastern method with Christian prayer or may be horrible at it. The confessor is not telling you that he knows this priest is good or not. He’s simply saying that there is a priest who makes use of an Eastern method for prayer. The prayer remains Christian.

If the priest gave you absolution, you do not need to confess again. It is also very inappropriate for people on these threads to jump quickly to such statements as

[edited]

We need to be careful how we workd our advice, because we can be sewing seeds of mistrust in others. That’s nto fair to them.

You may want to ask another priest if he knows of the work done by the priest that your confessor mentioned. It’s like a medical procedure. If you’re not too sure about it, get a second opinion before you jump into it. There are some people who use Eastern methods very wisely and others use it very irresponsibly. One very spiritual person who borrowed methods from Hinduism was Mother Teresa. Who would dare say that they have a better life of prayer than hers?

On the other hand, I attended a workshop given by someone else who was going to teach Eastern methods of relaxation and concentration helpful to prayer. When the workshop was over, I left completely convinced that the presenter did not know where to draw the line and what she was presenting was a deformed blend of Christianity and Buddhism. I can’t call it Buddhism, because it was not even faithful to that. Suffice it to say that it was a mess as far as I was concerned.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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It’s quite popular on these boards to bash monks like John Main (deceased, Christian Meditation), Thomas Keating (centering prayer) and even Thomas Merton who travelled to Asia to learn more about eastern monasticism. Because it isn’t “orthodox” enough, too “New Age” or whatever. It’s very unfortunate. While these methods may not be for everyone… after all we don’t all have the same charisms… it doesn’t mean that there’s no value in them. The bottom line is where it leads us. If it leads us back to Christ and faithfulness to His Church then it’s fine, IMHO.

Catholicism shouldn’t be about instilling fear.
 
Rascalking said:
Are you even allowed too? I thought the seal of confession forbade speaking of it, even to a bishop?

(I’m not sure at all, just asking, so don’t scream at me if I’m wrong)
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According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1467:
Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons, the Church declares that every priest who hears confessions is bound under very severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him. He can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents’ lives. This secret, which admits of no exceptions, is called the “sacramental seal,” because what the penitent has made known to the priest remains “sealed” by the sacrament.
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The seal of confession applies only to the priest. The penitent is free to reveal what was said in confession.
 
JReducation said:
On the other hand, I attended a workshop given by someone else who was going to teach Eastern methods of relaxation and concentration helpful to prayer. When the workshop was over, I left completely convinced that the presenter did not know where to draw the line and what she was presenting was a deformed blend of Christianity and Buddhism. I can’t call it Buddhism, because it was not even faithful to that. Suffice it to say that it was a mess as far as I was concerned.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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This is exactly what I’m afraid of.

I sometimes listen to Sharon Lee Giganti who comes on Catholic Answers and she talks about New Age philosophy and blending it with Christianity. I know Budhism is not new age, but In the past, the two have certainly been entangled.

newagedeception.com/new/

Also, for those who say one must obey, is not advice given in the confessional just advice? A priest can be wrong. He is not the OP’s spiritual director. I’m sure he had good intentions, but I don’t believe that is good advice for someone who already leans in that direction.
 
JReducation said:
The priest did not telll you to do anything that is contrary to Church teaching. The Church does not have a rule against using certain methods from other religions and philosophies to help one enter into prayer. The key is to use the method with the proper understanding of prayer and its goals. This requires someone who is well trained in both, the method and the theology of Christian prayer.

I don’t know the priest who is giving the retreat. He may be very good at combining an Eastern method with Christian prayer or may be horrible at it. The confessor is not telling you that he knows this priest is good or not. He’s simply saying that there is a priest who makes use of an Eastern method for prayer. The prayer remains Christian.
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I know the priest that was recommended to me and what his retreats entail so I don’t want partake of something that will cause me to fall away from the faith due to my previous history with Buddhism.

The priest that was recommended to me has his own website and you can look through it and judge for yourself whether any Catholic should get involved in mixing Buddhist meditation with Christian contemplative prayer.

kennedyzen.tripod.com/
If the priest gave you absolution, you do not need to confess again. It is also very inappropriate for people on these threads to jump quickly to such statements as
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That much I understand.
A more appropriate response would be “If this uncomfrotable or because this does not sound right . . . try another priest.”
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Yes. I agree with you on this.
One very spiritual person who borrowed methods from Hinduism was Mother Teresa. Who would dare say that they have a better life of prayer than hers?
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What in Hinduism did Mother Teresa borrow? I never heard of this.
Fraternally,
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Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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JM3 said:
Learn obedience and do as the priest advised.

🙂
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You don’t even know what the priest that was recommended to me teaches in mixing Zen with Christian contemplative prayer. There is no way that I am going to obey something that will cause me to pray in a way that is contrary to the faith…sorry, but I am not budging on this one bit.

God bless
 
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