Father Knows Best — Episode 18: Yoga, Marian apparitions, and bells at Mass

Episode #18 of Father Knows Best sponsored by St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, NE, features Father Mark Stoll answering questions about yoga, confirmation of Marian apparitions, and the use of bells at Mass during the consecration. Tune in so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts, souls and minds and become illuminated, informed, and inspired. 

Please send your questions to Fr. Mark at fatherknowsbestshow@yahoo.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I'm Father Mark Stowe, priest of the Diocese City, with you today. And joining me again this evening is Tim Sudine, Executive Director of Sioux Line Catholic Radio, presenting some of the questions I've received from you. Again, Tim, how are you doing this week?

SPEAKER_01 0:14

I am doing wonderful. It's always exciting for me to learn more about my faith through the answers that you give, and I really do look forward to this every week.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Okay, good, because last week you said it was like almost every week. Now it's every week. Excellent.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

See, it's improving. As long as it's improving, that's all that matters.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Awesome. Thank you, Tim, for being here. Appreciate it. And of course, we have Ann here on the control bar, as I producer, to help us sound good. And so let's dive into our questions that we've I've received. So, what's our first question?

SPEAKER_01 0:42

This is a very interesting one. Julie from Sioux City sent this request. Please explain the dangers of yoga for Christians.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Very good. Thank you, Julie. And obviously, she is aware of the dangers of yoga, but again, sometimes we need to remind this. I've heard this again talked about like on uh on um Jeanette Bankovitz, uh Jeanette Williams's show and other shows. But again, it's always good to dive a little deeper into this. Again, what are the dangers of yoga for Christians? I want to point out too, whenever I do a uh research for this, I always have a number of resources, and I just want to give a few of these resources I use for this before I get in and dive into all the responses. So in 1989, the Congregational Doctrine of Faith issued a letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian meditation. And then in 1992, of course, the Catechism of the Catholic Church was uh published, and again has good some good information there. In 2003, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue issued a document that says Jesus Christ, the bearer of water of life, a Christian reflection on the new age. And then we have an American Dominican priest in 2013 wrote an article called On Authentic Renewal of Catholic Spirituality. And then the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, again, that's an office at the Vatican in 2014, wrote a document called Dialogue and Truth and Charity. And of course, always there's the scriptures. And again, I'm specifically, I want to look at commandment number three. Third commandment says, You shall have no other gods before me. So those are some of the resources I use to research this uh request on yoga. So Catechism Catholic Church, paragraph 2117, says the following I'm gonna quote. It's a bit of a little bit of a long quote. It says here, all practices of magic or sorcery by which one attempts to tame occult powers so as to place them at one service and have a supernatural power over others, even if it were for the sake of restoring their health, are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices. The church, for her part, warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's uh credulity. So, again, in short, just in Catechism Catholic Church, again, I'm sure it seems that they're they're going back to the third commandment. When it comes to yoga, yoga is an Eastern meditative and physical practice that is rooted in Hindu spirituality. And Hindu spirituality is not Christian spirituality, and there's the issue. And so the Catholic Church teaches and warns that yoga presents several dangers of spiritual, uh, several spiritual dangers to Christians, primarily through the risk of what's called, pronounce this right, syncretism. And syncretism is what we call the blending of Christian with non-Christian elements. And when we start blending Christian faith and non-Christian elements, we can dilute, even deform authentic doctrine and prayer. This is the danger. And so while there's physical exercises like stretching, which can be seemed normal and natural, yoga's methods often aim at a psychophysical states or what we call natural mysticism, rather than a union with the training God through Christ. This, of course, type of practice then leads to confusion between techniques and supernatural grace. There's also risks, of course, that are heightened when yoga is yoga is offered at Catholic settings, such as retreat centers. We've heard this being done. And it may, using yoga at Catholic retreat centers, may inadvertently prioritize wellness over evangelization. The Congregation on the Doctrine of Faith, again, an office in the Vatican, it's actually the previous name of it that's been changed recently, but explicitly cautions against fusing Christian meditation with Eastern methods like yoga. Again, when we fuse Christian meditation and Eastern methods like yoga, we can generate this experience that mimic Catholic mysticism, but it's actually rooted in non-Christian, what we call absolutes. And so there's this confusion between, for example, here in what we would call Catholic Christian faith and Buddhist theory. And then which then leads to an issue of trying to distinguish the human ability for natural mysticism with the supernatural supernatural mystical experience that is granted by grace and by living the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Yoga again, it includes these Eastern practices they call centering prayer, tai chi, transcendental meditation. Again, it all re risks reducing prayer, Christian prayer, to simply to a technique. It's about kind of detaching the soul from God through this what we call self-generated states. Again, it's this is the problem. In addition, we see that there's some neutral borrowings, you know, like transcendental meditation, which does parallel yoga's meditative aspects, but that can commit to Christians unknowingly moving into another religion. You know, despite there's claims like neutrality. No, this is not going to affect your Christian spirituality. But when we get involved in that, it starts moving us in the wrong direction. This is kind of a form of relativism. Again, that's when interreligious contexts lead to this uh synchronousism, this blending of these doctrines and practices. So again, yoga's focus is too on bodily postures, on breathing, on energy flows that can produce this sensation of calm, of light, of warmth, and which participants can actually mistake in for the Holy Spirit's constellations. So again, Holy Spirit comes first, and again, we get involved in yoga, we're going to confuse what's actually going on. Again, some physical exercises automatically produce this feeling of quiet and relaxation, pleasuring sensations, perhaps even a phenomenon of light and warmth, which again resemble spiritual well-being, but again, it just becomes an erroneous view of conceiving spiritual life. So there's a temptation then for Catholics, you know, towards moving towards what we call myths over sound doctrine, uh, deforming the faith, you know, through culture rather than Christian evangelization. So when we when we kind of summarize here, when it comes to yoga, what we see, especially if it's church-sponsored, we are risking the following scandal, which basically we're trying to legitimatize non-Christian practices alongside traditional practices such as spiritual lectures. We risk what I call diversion from conversion. Again, we're bypassing the need for repentance and purity of heart, which is essential for seeing God to other things that are not Christian. We are risking association with the occult. Again, this is even includes Riki and this, if I pronounce this right, Shakara energy. Again, it's basically kind of echoing magic or divination, again, violation of the third commandment. There's also an issue of what we call pastoral oversight failure. We know that there are local bishops, even pastors who must ensure programs align with the Catholic principles and reject incompatible um events and things. And sometimes, you know, bishops and priests can be unaware of this and kind of overlook these things. So there's a number of risks scandal, diversion, association with a cult, and again, pastoral oversight failure. Again, the Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly condemns practices invoking the powers which is contrary to religion, even for health. And even Pope John Paul VI in 1965, in the document from Vatican II on the relation of the church to non-re Catholic or non-Christian religions, states that recognition of truth in other religions does not justify promoting their practices over preaching Christ. And so, what let's look, what are some alternative alternatives to yoga? Christian prayer. We spend time in prayer, praying the Holy Spirit, through Christ, to the Father. We're relying on the sacraments, on the scriptures. We're working with traditional nutrition, excuse me, traditions such as the very sacramental, such as the rosary or ignation exercises. Those are some of the Christian things we have, resources we have, that can foster true Christian spirituality. And again, we can also look at this physical wellness that can be pursued in a charitable way that is distinguished from spiritual growth. So, again, in summary, when it comes to yoga, yoga endangers Christians by fostering synchroitism, which again blending, confusing the natural idol elements and natural tradition techniques with uh divine grace, and also shifts the focus away from Christocentric prayer to the self-reliant wellness. We as Catholics, as Christians, we are to hear the church-approved spiritualities for general growth. And let me put it another way yoga may look like a sheep, but it's actually a wolf in sheep's clothing. So again, be very aware of yoga. I hope this answers your request.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

It does. You know, one of the items that we have within the Catholic Church, you can have at any chapel or church, is just a quiet meditation in adoration. Exactly. That's an important answer to the question.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

There's so many wonderful resources that we can use that uh we don't need to go into other practices. That is correct. So if just tuning in, you're listening to Father Knowles Best here on Sue and Catholic Radio, as I bring to you some of the questions that have been presented to me. I'm joined with Tim Sadween, who's presenting your questions. And so let's look, dive into another question.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Betty from Sioux City asked, Do you know what the Vatican's requirements are before an apparition is confirmed and blessed by the Catholic Church? Example. Just wondering why Majigori has not been confirmed and blessed by the Church now.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

Very good. Thank you for that question. It's a wonderful question. Again, I've heard that question asked many times. There have, of course, have been many, many apparitions by the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of course other saints. And now just some of the saints have actually made apparitions, including St. Michael, the Archangel, Saint Joseph, St. Anne, the mother, Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Teresa with Child Jesus. Some of the Holy Apostles have made apparitions, Padre Peel, St. Dominic Salvio, and Saint Chapelle. We've also, of course, have had Jesus made appearances, such as to St. Margaret Mary Alqui and Saint Faustina. But some of the most famous apparitions, of course, are the Blessed Virgin Mary. And a few of those include Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico, 1531, Our Lady of the Miraculous Metal, Paris, 1830, Our Lady of La Salette in France, 1846, Our Lady of Lourdes in France, 1858, Our Lady of Pontemain in France, 1871, Our Lady of Fantamon, Portugal, 1917, Our Lady of Bahrain in Belgium in 1932, and many, many more. So when we talk about these apparitions, these are all what we call private revelations. And private revelations are an appearance to a narrow audience, maybe to one or two, maybe three people, very small group. Public revelations are what we find in sacred scripture and tradition that is being, you know, that is held as binding to the entire church. And so it's binding to all throughout history, directed to everyone in the church. Again, sacred scriptures are public revelations. In the 1700s, Pope Benedict XIV observed that the church accepts these revelations, these private revelations, as only probable and added, it follows that anyone may, without injury to the Catholic Church or Catholic faith, give no heed to these private revelations. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI explained, ecclesial approval for a private revelation essentially means that its message contains nothing contrary to faith and morals. It is licit to make it public, and the faithful authorized to give it their prudent adhesion. A private revelation can introduce new emphasis, give rise to new forms of piety, or deepen older ones. It can have a certain prophetic character and can be a valuable aid for better understanding and living the gospel at a certain time. Consequently, it should not be taken lightly, treated lightly. It can help, excuse me, it is a help which is pro-offered, but it's not obligatory. So for a private revelation such as Majigori, in order to it be approved, an investigation by the church, and even we sometimes bring in secular officials, people that have no connection to church to investigate what's going on, an investigation is required. And this investigation is done after the operation has ceased. And this investigation requires what we're called moral certitude, which means there's at least a great probability to the existence of this revelation. There's an evaluation done of the personal qualities of the person or persons involved, such as mental balance, honesty, moral life, sincerity, obedience to church authority, willingness to practice the faith in a normal way, etc. etc. So we want to look at the people that see this vision, this apparition, you know, are they stable, mentally stable, morally stable, spiritually stable? There's also an evaluation done of the content of the revelation itself. You know, do the apparitions and what's being shared conform what the church has taught for years, or is there some disagreement about faith and morals? Is this appearance free of what we call theological errors? The revelation also needs to result in what we call healthy devotion and spiritual fruits in people's lives, such as greater prayer, greater conversion of heart, and even works of charity. And so, for example, the apparitions of Guadalupe, Fatima, Lourdes, and others that I mentioned earlier have all been approved as private revelations. Again, we can accept them as we want. We don't have to, we're not obligatory to accept them, but they've been approved that these are legitimate, they did happen. However, there are private revelations that have not been approved of this time for several reasons. And some of them include glaring errors regarding the facts, doctrinal errors attributed to God, blessed the Virgin Mary, or to the Holy Spirit. There may be a pursuit of financial gain in relationship to this alleged event. Maybe there's even some grave immoral acts committed by the person and those associated with the person at the time of the event, or psychological disorders, or tendencies apart of the person and persons involved. And so I'll give you two examples of two apparitions that have not been approved at this point for various reasons. They include in 1948, an alleged appearance of Mary, known as the Matrix of all grace in the Philippines. And then between 1948 and 1959 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, there was an appearance, alleged appearance of Our Lady of All Nations. I won't get into the reason why they had not been approved. But some of these apparitions have not been approved because either the investigation hasn't been opened or is it still in progress. There is an investigation, excuse me, there is an appearance that the investigation has not begun yet. 1945 in the Bronx, New York City, appearance known as A Lady of the Universe. The investigation has not been opened. And so they haven't done anything with that one yet. There's also one called A Lady of Sophani, if I can pronounce that right. Happened in Syria between 1982 and 83. Again, I'm not quite sure where that investigation is at. Let's go to Majigori. That appearance, alleged apparitions began in 1981 and continues. Yes, there has been some investigations done, but again, that operation is continuing. And so that investigation will not be closed until that operation ceases. So that's of course happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And so it's still continuing. In fact, it's been gone for 49 years. In this case, as with several other cases of other operations, the Holy See or the local ordinary, the bishop, has chosen either not to open or has definitely concluded that investigation into the supernatural character of apparitions. You know, we need to wait a little bit to look at that. This gets a little complicated, I guess. But again, they're waiting for Marjorie for the apparitions to conclude so they can make a definitive decision. And so when an approval is made, it's made by way of some explicit decree, or maybe even by an implicit means by some authorization of like a liturgical veneration. But so let me kind of put this kind of in plain terms of how this investigation works. Let's compare what's going on in Majigori. Um, in one sense, it's kind of a good but not a real perfect comparison, to a plane crash. A plane crashes, it's very, very mysterious. We have no idea what caused it. There's all kinds of maybe possibilities. So an investigation begins and may take months or even years for it to be to be concluded. And they're gonna look at maintenance records, they're gonna talk to survivors, they're gonna talk to witnesses, they're gonna study the traffic control records, and the investigation is gonna continue because there's some inconsistency in the data and records. And again, it may continue for years until conclusion is reached. Again, in the case of Majigori, the event is still happening, still occurring. The investigation is continuing, it's an ongoing study. And again, while the church has proclaimed official church pilgrimages are approved, um, again, they haven't come to a you know solid uh conclusion because it's an ongoing. But with all apparitions, it's up to the local bishop to authorize an investigation, to authorize devotion. Um again, it's all based on the initial assessment. Again, permission needs to be made, you know, distinguished for final approval. It's all about recognizing the event. Is it a supernatural origin? Um, again, it may take years or centuries. And I just give an example. There was an appearance of Our Lady of Laos, I believe is the is the uh apparition. Um that was uh devotion was begun in the diocese of that where the operation took place in 1665, and it did not receive formal recognition until 2008. So again, some of these take time. So again, in summary, in the case of Majiguri, the event is still occurring and the investigation is continuing. And until the operation ceases and the investigation is concluded, uh, you know, we'll see what happens, but it's you know it may take years for this to uh to take place. Only God knows when that'll be done. I hope that answers your question.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

It does. You know, for the local people who really want to know more about Fatima, Lords, and our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of Peace, has wonderful statues related to each of those apparitions.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Exactly. Sounds great. So we got about four minutes left here. I think we can handle the next question.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Okay. Let's do that. Kathy asked this question via email. Why do some priests not ring the bells at Mass during the consecration of bread and wine?

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Again, very good question. And again, the very simple answer for this is why bells are not rung by at some masses, by some priests or parishes during the Eucharistic prayer after the consecration of bread and wine is due to the personal preference of the priest or the custom of the parish or the locality. I want to point out that the ringing of the bells at concrete at consecration during mass is not obligatory. It's permitted as an optional local custom to signal key moments to the faithful. And where we find this again is in the general instruction of the Roman Missal, paragraph 150. It's again, it's that big book that the priest uses for. All the prayers of Mass, and there's instructions for how masses ought to be offered. It says here, quote, a little before the consecration, if appropriate, a minister rings a small bell as a signal to the faithful. The minister also rings a small bell at each elevation by the priest according to local custom. So again, keyword there, the altar server may ring a bell, if appropriate, a little bit before the consecration. And that happens when the priest places his hands over the bread and wine, calls down the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine. Again, local custom, if he when he raises, elevates the host, and then he elevates the chalice. And again, it's permissive language, means when appropriate, according to local custom. It allows for variations based on tradition, setting, passive discretion. And so again, this may even happen too if, for example, there's no service at the Mass, the bells won't be used. Maybe there's regions that don't regions of the world that don't have this practice. It can be admitted entirely. But the bells there serve as a devotional aid to foster tension or reverence among the assembly, but they're not an essential part of the rite. Priests may choose or not choose to ring the bells. Again, based on local custom, tradition, no server present, pastor judgment, even historical. Again, there's variations that take place. And I didn't rem uh I found this out in doing research. Before 1970, there was a varying custom that even torches were used during the elevations until the bells replaced the torches. So again, this is not a fixed requirement. We also, if you remember, after Vatican II, the Roman Missal emphasized audible, distinct pronunciation of the Eucharistic prayer itself by the priest, including the words of consecration. Before Vatican II, Eucharistic prayer was often prayed very silently, you couldn't even hear the priest. And so then when the host was elevated, again the priest's back was to the people, that's when the bells are rung, so you could, you know, look up. It's like that's okay. The bread has been consecrated, the wine has been consecrated. But now, you know, with the period in the Norverse Oro, the priest is facing the people, you can see what's going on, you can hear what the priest is saying, and so there's kind of reduced um need for this, you know, audio signal, but it still can't be used. So when the bells are used, they would be rung, you know, if it's the custom of the parish. One ring when the priest places his hands over the bread and wine, three rings when he elevates the bread now become the body of Christ, three rings when he elevates the chalice, and also there's a custom too that there be one ring made of the of the bell when the priest receives from the chalice right for a holy communion. But in summary, omitting the bells upholds what we call liturgical norms as they enhance but do not constitute or are not necessary for the sacred mystery of the Eucharist. And so, even though there are maybe many priests and deacons and laity that appreciate the use of bells during Mass, again, they're not obligatory. Hope that answers your question. I think that's a very good answer. And I think that might come close to finishing our show for this evening. I think we're going to run out of time here, so I think we wrap up. So thank you again for listening and tuning in to Student Catholic Radio as we offer both national and local programs, including Faith and Action, Joanne Fox, Dardineer, Fred and Kira, Live Plan, Catholic Ministry Professionals, Divine Mercy Chaplet, and Sunday Morning Mass. Please check out our Facebook pages for Sudan Catholic Radio and for Father Knows Best for more information about this show, including more information about the questions and answers I've addressed, and even more information about things I have not addressed yet on this show. Again, really appreciate you tuning in. As we wrap up, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in and sharing your thought-provoking questions. Your curiosity and engagement make the show possible, and we are always inspired by the incredible range of topics you bring to the table. We hope that you have found the answers both informative and enlightening, and that you will carry some of the new insights with you as you go about your week. And if your question was not answered, this show, you may hear the answer next week. If you missed this episode, would like to re-listen to other episodes, please visit our website, SudanCatholic Radio.com, and visit the program drop programs drop menu and click on local programs and find this episode and other episodes of local of Father Knows Best and other local programs. Again, if you have any questions, please send your questions to me at Father Knows Best Show at Yahoo.com or mail them to Father Knows Best, Suean Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. And thank you to our sponsor, St. Augustine Indian Mission, Winnebago. Please join us again next Wednesday at 9 p.m. for another round of questions and answers. Until then, stay curious, stay faithful, keep your light shining, and keep those questions coming. For now, I'm Father Mark Stowe, your host, signing off, wishing you a great week ahead. May my God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.