PARANORMAL THOUGHTS

For the past two months I have written, albeit briefly, on the end times and prophesy in general. Why? I suppose I can answer that question with one simple phrase: “something is in the air.” What is that something? Well, I just don’t know for sure but I want to take time in this reflection to share some thoughts about what I see happening and perhaps together we can scratch our proverbial spiritual heads.

SOMETHING IN THE “AIRWAVES”

You have but to turn on the television to find that some of the most popular shows on cable are shows that deal with the paranormal / supernatural. The Travel Channel has what is considered one of most popular paranormal shows called “Most Haunted”, which prides itself as being a show that gives it’s viewers nightmares. The Atlantic Paranormal Society (T.A.P.S) is the paranormal serve up on the Sci-Fi Channel and A&E has the latest in the “spook wars” with their spooksters, “Paranormal State”. Now, the first two shows are generally non-religious in their approach to the paranormal especially the T.A.P.S group; they make no bones about the fact that their investigations are done minus any religious overtones. Most Haunted interjects New Age practices such as séances and medians to make contact with the “other side”. Both shows deal with the paranormal yet each takes a different approach but both have one thing in common, they leave things alone, they don’t try to get rid of the paranormal phenomenon. The newest kid on the spook scene “Paranormal State” is a show about college students from Penn State who have formed a group to investigate and, as they advertise, fight against the phenomenon’s they investigate; they say in their introduction that: “…sometimes we are warriors…” “Paranormal State” is not afraid of using Catholic prayers and sacramentals when investigating or battling the paranormal. As a consequence they tackle some of the most insidious phenomenon’s that at times are demonic in nature and they are not ashamed to call something demonic if they believe it to be. That being said it must also be pointed out that they use not only Catholic but also pagan practices to “exorcise” evil which leads me to refrain from passing any kind of blanket approval of their actions. Nevertheless, they do attempt to confront evil when they face it. And finally, not to be outdone, the Spanish network “Azetca America” has dished – up the paranormal show “Extranormal”.

I draw your attention to these shows because I believe that this is indicative of what I believe to be “something in the air” through “something in the airwaves”. If some of the most popular shows on cable deal with paranormal phenomenon, then the conclusions I draw is that there must be an audience for this genre and that there has got to be something happening that enables four different cable channels to offer four different shows that do not overlap each other in investigations. Evil is a foot and in many cases is running rampant. If this were not so then why the interest in the paranormal, why so many shows dealing with the topic?

“SO WILL IT BE AT THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN”

Open your eyes and see what is before us because there is something in the air. In his book, “Tower of Light”, Michael H. Brown writes: “As John Paul II – who was proving to have been one of the all-time greatest secret mystics, with miraculous healings piling up and indications that he had spoken prophetic words to those who encountered him – had said, “the signs of the times indicate that we are immersed within the orbit of a great struggle between good and evil, between the affirmation and the denial of God, of His Presence in the world, and of the salvation that has its beginning and its end in Him.”” (Pg. 204). Can we be witnesses to this struggle when we turn on the television and see supernatural phenomenon being traipsed across our screen? I think so, and I believe that what we are witnessing through the secular media is confirmation of this, what else could it be? It was only recently reported that the Vatican has wanted to “flood dioceses with new exorcists”. This report has since been denied by the Vatican but what cannot be denied is an earlier report that the pontifical university Regina Apostolorum in Rome has offered a new course on the subject of diabolical possession and exorcism, a class that has seen SRO attendance. I am reminded of the vision of Pope Leo XIII, a vision that prompted him to add the prayers to St. Michael the Archangel and others after all Low Masses; it was a vision that had the devil running wild in the world for 100 years. Could those 100 years be a Biblical idiom, a supernatural ballpark figure so to speak? In short, could we still be in the middle of these idiomatic 100 or so years albeit nearing its end? Could this be the reason behind the paranormal upsurge in the world and why the secular world is taking notice? The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI warned against doomsday speculation on November 18 and urged Christians: “…have no fear for the future, even when it appears dark and gloomy.” For this reason I refrain from attaching to these events any “eschatological timetable” but there is enough happening to make one stop and think.

THERE WILL BE SIGNS IN THE SKY AND IN THE HEAVENS

In his book on the 1990 prophesy Michael H. Brown writes: “For your information, something weird happened here in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday at about 5:00 p.m.,” one businessman wrote me. “We were sitting in our living room with the shades drawn because it was another sunny day and the sun beating in through the windows is just too hot. All of sudden the sun was blocked for about tow to three seconds. It went dark – very dark, darker than it would normally be if it was just a cloud. With a cloud momentarily blocking, the rest of region would still be bright, but not this time. I thought at first it was a cloud, then I remembered there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I rushed to the window to see what was blocking the sun, but by the time I opened the shades the sun was bright again. There were no clouds. There were no planes or helicopters around and no sounds of an engine…. Something had to be stationary for a while to block the sun that long” (Pgs. 255-256). Mr. Brown notes many other occurrences in nature that point to something in the air something that the Lord Jesus Christ warned about: “…the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and powers of heaven will be shaken” (Matthew 24:29). And St. Paul wrote to the Romans: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now…” (8:19-22), a travail in nature that Jesus said: “…are the beginning of the labor pains” (Matthew 24:8). Do you see the birthing analogies running through these passages? Nature is going to “birth” something and I believe that God will use it to give the world a spiritual slap in the face a slap that may come within a very few years, a blink of the eye in prophetic time.

On August 19 of 2007 Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the importance of struggling against evil: “…the peace of Jesus is the fruit of a constant struggle against evil. The battle that Jesus has decided to fight is not against men or human powers but against the enemy of God and man, Satan” the Holy Father noted: “Christ is not looking for tired conformists, but witnesses of courageous faith, those who burn in the fire of his love.” If one is a believer in the prophesies of St. Malachy you will read that the would be “final” Pope, theoretically after this one, will be “Petrus Romanus” “who will feed his flock among many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people” Could this be the tribulations of the end times and the reason why Pope Benedict noted that, “Christ is looking for…witnesses of courageous faith…who burn in the fire of his love, is the Holy Father preparing the Church for a futuristic event that will shake the world as we know it? If so, when will it begin? It is not for us to know because it is something that is reserved for the Father alone Jesus said but we can certainly read the signs of the time.

“BE ON GUARD FOR YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL…”

As disturbing as all this may sound there is still something even more disturbing. Try this on for size: the worship of “La Santa Muerte”. This is a cult that is running rampant in Mexico and the Catholic Church, for all its’ condemnations, has had little impact on the spread of this wickedness. Just what is “La Santa Muerte”? Well as the name implies it is devotion to death, to “holy death”, which is meant to bring luck, good fortune, and supernatural powers to the adherence. “Churches” have sprung up all over Mexico especially in Mexico City with “masses” being offered on Sunday’s, “masses” that play to packed rooms. “La Santa Muerte” is the most prominent statue in these “churches” a statue of a black hooded skeleton holding a scythe in it’s left hand, a black hooded skeleton that believers call “holy death”. Just how devilish is this? Well, all I can say is that this cult continues to grow and is now spreading to the rest of central and South America and is spilling over into parts of the United States, a cult dedicated to death as a god, a god who will “answer” your needs!! In addition to this plunge into spiritual darkness, paganism is making a come back. From Stonehenge to the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico to the Mayan calendar and the Mayan pyramids which shows the Serpent god that will return “soon”, pagan beliefs and practices have made a resurgence and have made inroads into the mainstream. I watched in disbelief and with a certain degree of annoyance as the History Channel aired a program on 2/12/08 on Tibetan Buddhism and their book of the dead. Experts from universities praised this branch of Buddhism as being the most in tune of all the major religions with the human condition. The History Channel treated this belief system with a reverence that they have never, never extended to the Catholic Church, and I mean never! Why, because “Eastern Religions” are the soup de jour of the in crowd because they offer such a “fresh alternative” to the monotheistic religions of the West. There is not so much as a flinch of an eye when Richard Geer publicly acknowledges that the Dahli Lama, his holiness as he called him, is his greatest inspiration, his guiding light. Yet, a Christian is scorned and derided if he or she publicly proclaims faith in Jesus Christ! Truly we live in a time where the words of the prophet Isaiah ring true: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness into light and light into darkness” (5:20).