PAGAN CATHOLICS

BY Lenora Grimaud

The “New Age Cult” is a modern-day form of paganism. One of the hallmarks of paganism is that they take all of the “leftovers”—the food that people normally throw out—from all the religions and philosophies of the world and mix it together. What you end up with is “slop,” or garbage. It turns to maggots inside of you. When God gave the Hebrews “manna” in the desert, he told them to only take what they needed for each day, not to save it or store it up, or it would turn to maggots. “Moses said to them, ‘No one must keep any of it for tomorrow.’ But some would not listen to Moses and kept part of it for the following day, and it bred maggots and smelt foul; and Moses was angry with them.” (Ex. 16:19-20).

Catholics who drift from one denomination to another, taking a little from each one and not making a commitment to the teachings of the Church, are like “Pagan Catholics.” In this sense, Protestantism is like paganism—the people are not rooted in, or committed to the “One True Church”—the Apostolic Catholic Church—the Church built on the Apostles, with Jesus as the corner stone, holding it all together. This has resulted in thousands of denominations because they could not agree on what Scripture was really saying. Making a commitment of fidelity to one Church makes us accountable to the teachings and guidelines of that Church, which can be stifling, at times, but it also protects us from attacks from the enemy and false teaching—from becoming a church unto ourselves.

Catholics need to stay rooted in the Catholic Church, and to know what she teaches. They may have an “ecumenical spirit,” which is very noble and good, and a very important ministry in the Church. But, if they do not remain faithful to the teachings of the Church, they will separate themselves from the Church and become like the “blind leading the blind.” They become like “Lone Rangers,” and none of us are spiritual enough to take on that kind of mission. We become like a piece of drift-wood, carried along a stream, when we should be like trees, firmly planted in rich soil. If we do not become rooted we will continually be battered by confusion, doubts, and attacks from the enemy; and may even lose our faith in the end. We are each, only a part of the body of believers, and interdependent with the rest of the body. Even St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles and pagans, had to continually check that he was of one mind with the other Apostles, and preaching the same Gospel. (Gal. 2:2). God wants to reunite all Christians into one body, the “body of Christ,” not to synchronize them and have them merely co-existing along side of each other.

The Catholic Church recommends that Catholics involved in ministry, especially prophecy and teaching, have a good spiritual director who can help them test what they receive against the Word of God, as interpreted by the Catholic Church. This was necessary for all the Saints—and God is calling all of us to be Saints. Some sources that I recommend in regards to Church teaching, which can be accessed on the internet, are:

St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology (Scott Hahn)
EWTN.com
Catholic Culture
Catholic Answer
Parish World.net
The Vatican
Encyclopedia of the Catholic Church

These web sites have extensive libraries, with thousands of articles that can be down-loaded. All of these web sites are in union with the Pope and faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church.