Is it ok to participate in new age practices like tarot cards, reiki sessions, or the use of crystals? Fr. Josh shares what the Church teaches when it comes to new age practices. He also describes the harm that can come from participating in these practices. In response to these practices, Fr. Josh shares what the Church recommends to combat the evil in our world.

Snippet from the Show
These practices have the capacity and potential to open us up to things that are not good for us or our community.

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Shownotes

Glory Story (1:52)

Listener Question (4:52)

Fr. Josh, I found out that a parishioner at my church owns a new age shop in our small in Louisiana that provides tarot card readings, reiki sessions, energy aura photography and it sells sage and crystals. What should I do? Is this ok? This person goes to church.

Saint Story: Blessed Bartolo Longo (24:26)

Bartolo Longo was born in southern Italy to a faithful Catholic family. Unfortunately, when Bartolo entered university, he began to adopt the ideas of the anti-church, anti-pope movement. Listening to these ideas, he developed a real hatred for the pope, priests, and the Church.

Amidst this upheaval in his life, he began to engage with mediums which was the beginning of his involvement in the occult. From there, it wasn’t long before he was actively engaged with Satanism. He eventually became a satanic priest.

Throughout this time, Bartolo’s family prayed for him and tried to speak with him. He did not respond to his family attempts for some time. Eventually, he was confronted by a strong Catholic professor who spoke bluntly with him about the dangers of what he was doing. The professor finally convinced him to meet with a Dominican priest. After three weeks of talking with this Dominican priest, Bartolo received absolution and returned to the Catholic Church.

For the remainder of his life, Bartolo did all he could to do penance and give himself totally to God. He made a promise of celibacy and became a third-order Dominican. He developed a strong devotion to the Rosary and worked hard to share the importance of the Rosary to all. He instigated the building of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Pompeii. He also founded schools, orphanages, and print shops. He wrote extensively on the Rosary and it was his writings that inspired St. John Paul II to form the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.

Bartolo Long was beatified in 1980 by St. John Paul II.

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Resources

• Submit your questions and feedback to Fr. Josh by filling out a form at www.ascensionpress.com/askfatherjosh
• Broken and Blessed by Fr. Josh Johnson
• Pocket Guide to Adoration by Fr. Josh Johnson
• Pocket Guide to Reconciliation by Fr. Josh Johnson & Fr. Mike Schmitz
• Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings.

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Meet Fr. Josh Johnson

While Fr. Josh was raised Catholic, he didn’t like the Church growing up. Then, one day in adoration, he fell in love with Jesus and received the call to become a priest.

Now, Fr. Josh is the Vocations Director of the Diocese of Baton Rouge in Louisiana. He is a presenter in four of Ascension’s programs: Altaration, YOU: Life, Love, and the Theology of the Body, The 99, and Connected: Catholic Social Teaching for This Generation, as well as the author of Broken and Blessed: An Invitation to My Generation, Pocket Guide to Adoration, and co-author of Pocket Guide to Reconciliation.