Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 356 – Part VI.

YOUCAT Question n. 356 -  Part VI. Is esotericism as found, for example in New Age beliefs, compatible with the Christian faith?

(Youcat answer - repeated) No. esotericism ignores the reality of God. God is a personal Being; he is love and the origin of life, not some cold cosmic energy. Man was willed and created by God, but man himself is not divine; rather, he is a creature that is wounded by sin, threatened by death, and in need of redemption. Whereas most proponents of esotericism assume that man can redeem himself, Christians believe that only Jesus Christ and God’s grace redeem them. Nor are nature and the cosmos God (pantheism). Rather, the Creator, even though he loves us immensely, is infinitely greater and unlike anything he has created.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2121) Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things (Cf. Acts 8:9-24). To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: "Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money!" (Acts 8:20). Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: "You received without pay, give without pay" (Mt 10:8; cf. already Isa 55:1). It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment. 

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Many people today practice yoga for health reasons, enroll in a meditation course so as to become more calm and collected, or attend dance workshops so as to experience their bodies in a new way. These techniques are not always harmless. Often they are vehicles for doctrines that are foreign to Christianity. No reasonable person should hold an irrational world view, in which people can tap magical powers or harness mysterious spirits and the “initiated” have a secret knowledge that is withheld from the “ignorant”. In ancient Israel, the surrounding peoples’ beliefs in gods and spirits were exposed as false. God alone is Lord; there is no god besides him. Nor is there any (magical) technique by which one can capture or charm “the divine”, force one’s wishes on the universe, or redeem oneself. Much about these esoteric beliefs and practices is superstition or occultism.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2122) The minister should ask nothing for the administration of the sacraments beyond the offerings defined by the competent authority, always being careful that the needy are not deprived of the help of the sacraments because of their poverty"(CIC, can. 848). The competent authority determines these "offerings" in accordance with the principle that the Christian people ought to contribute to the support of the Church's ministers. "The laborer deserves his food" (Mt 10:10; cf. Lk 10:7; 2 Cor 9:5-18; 1 Tim 5:17-18).       

(The next question is: Is atheism always a sin against the First Commandment?)