Natural healing modalities are numerous. Many carry spiritual trappings which may not be healthy for either the practitioner nor the recipient. Even more mainstream medicine has taken on New Age trappings in recent years.

So, how do we discern? We start with prayer to the Holy Spirit for His guidance. Our conscience must also be formed appropriately. Certainly, the Bible has guidance on acceptable and unacceptable spiritual practices. But Christ promised He would not leave us to fend for ourselves. He has given us His Church to interpret for us the timeless values that will lead us to heaven and help us to avoid danger.

Let us start a discussion on the Church's documents on the New Age.

In 2003, the Pontifical Councils on Culture and on Interreligious Dialog issued a document dealing with New Age issues, called "Jesus Christ The Bearer of the Water of Life." It is a very comprehensive document. We will begin with the introductory comments and continue on through the following months. The document is here:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html

When you RSVP, please send me your email address. I will send you a PDF copy of the document so you can print it out and mark it up.

If you would like, you can join us for First Saturday Mass at St. Monica's Catholic Church in Duluth at 9:00. Directions: http://tinyurl.com/ma6epx

If there is interest, we can set up a Skype connection. You can add me as a contact on Skype (grains.of.hope). Please be sure to indicate that you are interested in this conference.