Minimum Christianity - The Art of Getting By

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.
Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father.
For which of these are you trying to stone me?"
The Jews answered him,
"We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.
You, a man, are making yourself God."
Jesus answered them,
"Is it not written in your law, 'I said, 'You are gods"'? 
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside,
can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 
If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Then they tried again to arrest him;
but he escaped from their power.

He went back across the Jordan
to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. 
Many came to him and said,
"John performed no sign,
but everything John said about this man was true."
And many there began to believe in him.

Jesus has done it now.  He has called Himself the Son of God and this in the eyes of the Pharisees is blasphemy.  Jesus does not retreat, He explains and His explanation gets Him in deeper in trouble as the temple gangs see it.  They try to arrest Him but he escapes from their grasp. He left the temple and went back over the Jordan River where the ordinary people saw and many believed. 

In this modern age, we try to get by with the minimum.  We try to minimize the amount of taxes we pay, the effort we need to make to get the job done and sometimes we even apply the getting by rules to our Christian obligations.  Now, Please keep in mind, I am not judging anyone here, I am just making an observation.  Every week, I notice some people arrive at the church after mass has started and it seems that the very same people are the ones that leave right after communion.  Perhaps there is a good reason for this to happen once in a while and yes, at least they are at church but I have to wonder where their heart is.  Are they coming to mass because they have to?  Are they leaving early to get a better booth at the IHOP? 

Some of us have lost the meaning of why we go to church every week.  We are one vast family consisting of all the Christians that have ever been that have attained heaven, those awaiting purification in Purgatory, and those of us still slugging it out here on earth.  All of us together for the Body of Christ, the Communion of Saints, we are all one body and one spirit in Christ.  The Church is the Bride of Christ!  We come together because staying apart is too painful.  We have to be with one another and to bolster each other's faith. A timid, half-hearted spiritual life, while better than nothing, is just so sad because of what you miss by being so luke-warm.  Next time you are in Church, look around you.  These are the people you will see and be with in heaven.  We are not temporary friends and neighbors, not at all.  We are going to be together in the joy of heaven together.  The old rabbi counseled his congregation and told them, "When you come to temple walk with joy and vigor and happiness because you are coming to God's house.  When you leave, walk slowly as if sad to depart." 

So, come on, next Sunday, be there on time, get the kids ready a few minutes earlier if you have to.  When you are there look at the front of the Church, see that lamp over the Tabernacle?  That's a reminder that you are not in a train or bus station but that you are in the House of God and Jesus Himself is with us.  When you receive communion, remember, it is not just "Jesus and Me"  it is "Jesus and Me and the Communion of Saints" that are all together.  And for heaven's sake, (no pun intended) come back to your place after communion and recognize who it is you have received into your body.  It is not just bread and wine, it is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ in you when you receive.  How can an IHOP pancake compare with this?  Five minutes with Christ will not make your breakfast that much later.  Spend a few moments speaking with Jesus.  My gosh, you cannot get any closer to God this side of heaven. 

Okay, so I am done preaching for today.  I remind myself that when I go to Mass this week that I will bring with me a new spiritual way of thinking.  I will remember that I am connected to every person in the church, the wider, worldwide church, and with those that have left this world and who either reside with God in heaven or in Purgatory.  I will remember that all of these are my brothers and sisters and that we all have one Father, and that Father is God. 

(Insert commercial for the poor souls in purgatory here...remember to ask people to pray for them and to remember that one day they might be in purgatory themselves. )

Who Is Jesus?

Jesus said to the Jews:                                                                               
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death." 
So the Jews said to him,
"Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.'
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? 
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?" 
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, 'He is our God.'
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word. 
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad."  So the Jews said to him,
"You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM."
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

Jesus gave them what they wanted but they refused to believe what He said.  Jesus spills the apple juice when He tells them that "before Abraham came to be, I AM."  To His listeners, he had committed a great crime, that of blasphemy and they picked up rocks to stone him to death.  He walked away.  

Our world today hardly believes that Jesus is Lord.  We can see it in the way our world operates.  This being the time set aside for the mid-term elections, I am surprised to see how many candidates have surrendered to immorality and have made it part of their platform.  For example, in Illinois, where I live, the newly vetted democratic candidate for governor attained the nomination by being loudly and proudly pro-abortion.  I shake my head in confusion about what is going on in this country.  It seems we can either have a pro-life party in power and have an idiot as president or we can have a pro-abortion party in power and have saner people in power that find nothing wrong with killing babies.  I think that we are victims of the same malady that the Jews had with Jesus in that we do not recognize Him for who He is. 

Who is Jesus to you?  Be honest.  Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?  Do you believe that He came into this world to save us from our sins?  Do you believe that He gave us His Word to guide us?  Do you believe it when Jesus says that before Abraham came to be "I AM?"  Well, if you believe these things, how is it that we have abortion in this world and your voice does not condemn it?  Why is it so hard for you to follow what Christ demands of us?  Who is Jesus to you?  You need to decide before even one more hour in your life passes and you have to act on that information today.  

Truth or Consequences

King Nebuchadnezzar said:
"Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?"
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
"There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up."

King Nebuchadnezzar's face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
"Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?"
"Assuredly, O king," they answered.
"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God." 
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god except for their own God."

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Our villain in this story us, King Nebuchadnezzar, who for purposes of ease in writing and reading, we will call Nebie, is a good example of this old saying. He had plenty of power which is evident because of the fact that all but three people bowed down to his golden god. These three stubborn (as Nebie saw them) men just would not listen.  Nebie made them a deal that he thought that they could not refuse.  Worship the statue or be thrown into a furnace.  The three refused, deciding to trust God instead.  Nebie was beside himself and commanded that the flames in the furnace be made seven times hotter than normal.  This was done and the three were bound hand and foot and tossed into the raging flames.  A bit later it was discovered that the three were walking around in the fire, unharmed, with a fourth person.  Nebie realized then that the God of the three young men was infinitely powerful because the men would disobey the royal command and their God would prove Himself by keeping the three young men safe. 

Today, all of us are called to worship alien gods.  Wealth, power, luxury are three of the oldest known to man but today we are also invited to worship technology which, no matter how complex it gets, is basically the worship of the logical arrangement of zero's and ones.   I am afraid that the smartphone is taking the place of face to face and person to person communication.  It also is interfering with our relationship to God.  How so?  The smartphone can blind us to what is actually going on around us.  The world is being squeezed into smaller and smaller packages of chips and wires and display screens.  Our faces get buried in our phones every chance we get.  We lose sight of the people around us, the homeless (who most likely do not have a smartphone) and the sick, the suffering, and the starving children are not as much fun to watch as a YouTube dancing kitten.  I am not against technology, heck, you're reading my ranting in a blog which shows that I participate in the electronic world.  I just call us to look up and about once or twice a day and see the real world around us. The electronic world is fascinating and surely technology can and does contribute to the betterment of life in many different areas.  I just caution to not fall down and worship technology as a pseudo-god.  

Finally, the three young men in our story demonstrated unfailing loyalty to God.  They would rather give themselves up to a gruesome death than to worship an idol.  What idols do you worship?  What is taking the place of God in your life today?  Are you finding time to pray? Are you finding five minutes to look at the Bible?  Does the television occupy all of your time?  What will you say to God when you stand before him after you spend fifty, sixty, seventy or eighty years on earth?  Would you be able to tell Him, looking at Him straight in the eye and say, "I didn't have time to read your book?"

Please remember to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory today.  They need your help. 

Let's Crucify Our Sins!

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come."
So the Jews said,
"He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
He said to them, "You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?"
Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world."
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
"When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me. 
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him."
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

There are two key sets of words in today’s gospel reading.  They are “I AM” and “lift up.”  Let’s take a look at both of them.

In the Old Testament, “I AM” refers the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. The term is used in the Gospel of John twenty-four times.  Jesus in effect is telling them exactly who He is, He is Yahweh, the God of their fathers.  In this instance, the crowd does not react to the saying perhaps because Jesus seemingly tempers it with the next concept of Him not doing anything on His own but only what the Father taught Him. He uses a rather strange term here when he says that He will be “lifted up.”  This was an idiom for the act of crucifixion.  One was lifted up on a cross to be executed in such a shameful manner would hardly be what “I AM” would choose to do, or would He?  St. John is showing the Cross as our redemption, an altar of sacrifice, and the glory of Jesus, the obedient son, sitting forever in glory at the right hand of the Father.  So, the cross is shown as a paradox.  It is both an instrument of death and the throne of glory as it is the symbol of the victory of Jesus against the powers of sin and death.

As we get closer and closer to the Tridium, we should look harder at ourselves and ruthlessly and shamelessly determine where it is we fall short of being the type of person God wants us to be. If you let this whole Lenten season go by and you do not look at yourself honestly and determine where your sins lie then you have wasted forty days and forty nights in the desert and are the most pitiful of fools. What is it you fear about the confessional? Is the priest going to think ill of you when you confess the horrible things that are in your past?  My friend, your priest has heard it all.  There is nothing that you will confess that will shock or surprise him.  Remember where he sits can be likened to the very throne of God because it is to God that you confess and the priest merely acts in persona Christi and through the words of absolution dispenses the mercy of God.

This is a time where mercy is being poured out by our loving Creator.  No sin is too great to obtain His forgiveness for.  But then why can’t I go directly to God to obtain this great forgiveness?  Why does a priest have to get between me and God?  To this, I remind you that when we sin, even the smallest of sins, are offenses against the dignity of God.  Our sins, no matter how private they may be, also affect the entire Church for we make up the Body of Christ. So our sins affect not just the dignity of God but they bruise the relationship we have with one another as well.  The reason we have to go to confession is that Christ wills it so.  He said to the Apostles, “Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven and those that you retain, they are retained.”  The priest who has the authority of the Church to forgive must hear what the sin is and then he must exercise the authority to dispense the forgiveness of God.

This is a time of great mercy and it puts all of us under a great obligation.  We must accept the mercy of God, who willingly is extending it at this time or we commit the only sin that cannot be forgiven and that is the ultimate rejection of God.  Wake up!  God loves you so much that He died for you on the Cross.  Crucify your sinfulness, lift it up and you will be forgiven.  Please don’t let Mercy slip away from you, it is our last chance. 

Pray, Pray, Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. They are your relatives and friends that have gone before you.  I would like to think that they went directly to heaven but what if they didn’t?  They need our prayers.  Don’t let your love for them end at the lip of the grave.  Pray for them today. 

St Joseph and the Holy Family

Each year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
"Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety."
And he said to them,
"Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them.

Today is the feast day of St. Joseph.  What we know about Joseph is not a whole lot.  In the Bible he never speaks, we know that he is considered a just man and that he was a carpenter by trade.  I believe that being a carpenter would have made Joseph an intelligent man able to wrestle with the mathematics of his trade.  He was a man with a kind heart and I believe he loved Mary very much.  He was very much hurt when she left for three months and came back home three months pregnant.  He could have denounced her to the temple and she would have been stoned as an adulterer.  He chose instead to pay for her to leave the town, to have her baby elsewhere, and to never come back.  At least that is what he planned.  Mary was visited in person by an angel.  Joseph did not get an angel, he received a dream.  The dream told him, the circumstances of Mary's pregnancy and he took her into the home he had been preparing for her and they were wed.  Both he and Mary were related to the noble family of David, the greatest King Israel ever had and so their child would be of the house of David. 

The baby was born in Bethlehem, the town of David, and the king of the area, a man called Herod, was paranoid and suspected everyone of being after his throne.  The Romans said of Herod that it was safer to be Herod's pig than to be Herod's son.  When the wise men told the king that a child had been born that was to be king of Israel, well, Herod feigned interest and asked them to bring word of where he could find the child so that he could worship too.  Well, Joseph received another dream that told him to take his wife and child to Egypt because Herod had designs on the life of the boy.  So without further ado, he loaded up his wife and son and all their possessions and they went off to Egypt where they lived until an angel told them that it was safe to return. Meanwhile, back in Bethlehem, soldiers dispatched by Herod came and killed all boy babies two years of age and younger in order to protect his throne. 

It is Joseph that would have taught his young son his trade and he would have introduced him to the religion and the worship of Yahweh.  Remember that although both human and divine, Jesus would have to experience what it was like to be a human being.  He would learn a trade and His religion from His father.  Jesus, for His part, after the incident where he stayed behind in the temple, became obedient to His parents. 

Joseph believed in the mission that he was given.  He understood that the boy he was raising was to be the Messiah that Israel had been waiting for.  He also understood that his wife was both mother and a virgin.  He believed that the Holy Spirit was the true father of the child and Joseph remained chaste and celibate and did not have sexual relations with her. 

Joseph did not live to see what end was in store for Jesus.  It is believed that he died before Jesus began his public ministry which is why as the only son Jesus gave the care of Mary, his mother, over to John the Apostle.  Although the voice of Joseph is silent in the Bible, the way he lived his life and the way he tended his family speaks volumes about how we should be when it comes to our family.

The section below is courtesy of Church Pop   
Visit them at Church Pop  Com - Click Here

He is the patron of the Universal Church, a happy death, families, fathers, expectant mothers, travelers, immigrants, craftsmen, engineers, and workers. He’s also the patron of the Americas, Canada, China, Croatia, Mexico, Korea, Austria, Belgium, Peru, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

In your devotional life, don’t forget about St. Joseph!

He has one of the most important roles in salvation history: husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, foster-father of Jesus himself, guardian of the Holy Family. But because Scripture doesn’t tell us very much about him – he isn’t even quoted once – it’s easy to forget about him.

But don’t! He’s a powerful intercessor.

Here are Some little-known prayers to St. Joseph every Catholic should know:

Memorare to St. Joseph

Remember, O most chaste Spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought your intercession was left unassisted. Full of confidence in your power, I fly unto you and beg your protection.

Despise not, O foster-father of the Redeemer, my humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.

The 7 Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph

Sorrows:

1) The Doubts of St. Joseph
2) The Poverty of Jesus’ Birth
3) The Circumcision
4) The Prophecy of Simeon
5) The Flight into Egypt
6) The Return to Nazareth
7) The Loss of the Child Jesus

Joys:

1) Told of the Incarnation
2) Angels Adore the Infant Jesus
3) Holy Name of Jesus
4) Effects of the Redemption
5) The overthrow of the Idols in Egypt
6) Life with Jesus & Mary
7) Jesus Found in the Temple

For a holy death

O, Blessed Joseph, you gave your last breath in the loving embrace of Jesus and Mary. When the seal of death shall close my life, come with Jesus and Mary to aid me. Obtain for me this solace for that hour, to die with their holy arms around me.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I commend my soul, living and dying, into your sacred arms. Amen.

A prayer for workers

Blessed St. Joseph, patron of all working people, obtain for me the grace to labor in a spirit of penance for the atonement of my many sins. Help me to be conscientious in my work so that I may give as full a measure as I have received.

May I labor in a spirit of thankfulness and joy, ever mindful of all the gifts I have received from God that enable me to perform these tasks. Permit me to work in peace, patience, and moderation, keeping in mind the account I must one day give of time lost, talents unused, good omitted, and vanity of success, so fatal to the work of God. Glorious St. Joseph, may my labors be all for Jesus, all through Mary, and all after your holy example in life and in death. Amen.

A prayer for protection

St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss his fine head for me, and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen.

A prayer for parents

O glorious St. Joseph, to you God committed the care of His only begotten Son amid the many dangers of this world. We come to you and ask you to take under your special protection the children God has given us. Through holy baptism, they became children of God and members of His holy Church. We consecrate them to you today, that through this consecration they may become your foster children. Guard them, guide their steps in life, form their hearts after the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

St. Joseph, who felt the tribulation and worry of a parent when the child Jesus was lost, protect our dear children for time and eternity. May you be their father and counselor. Let them, like Jesus, grow in age as well as in wisdom and grace before God and men. Preserve them from the corruption of his world, and give us the grace one day to be united with them in Heaven forever. Amen.

THE POOR SOULS IN PURGATORY NEED YOUR PRAYERS.  PURGATORY IS A REAL PLACE AND MILLIONS OF SOULS LIVE THERE WAITING WHILE THEY ARE PURGED OF ATTACHMENT TO SIN AND BECOME PURIFIED SO THAT THEY CAN ENTER HEAVEN.  YOUR PRAYERS HELP THEM AND LESSEN THE TIME THAT THEY SPEND.  ALTHOUGH THEY ARE IN PAIN, THEY DESIRE TO SEE GOD BUT CANNOT, THEY ARE IN A STATE OF COMPLETE JOY BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY WILL SOMEDAY SEE HIM.  PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM, THEY WILL BE GRATEFUL TO YOU FOREVER AND REMEMBER PLEASE,  

WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, YOU MIGHT BE TOMORROW! 

Time Grows Short & A Lesson In Glory

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you, 
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 
it remains just a grain of wheat; 
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, 
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
'Father, save me from this hour'?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name."
Then a voice came from heaven, 
"I have glorified it and will glorify it again."
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; 
but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
Jesus answered and said, 
"This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world; 
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth, 
I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

The wind swirls the sand as we walk along the desert path. The silence of the desert is oppressive as is the loneliness. But the end of our journey is in sight.  For our Savior too, the road has been long and arduous.  He stands this day in the shadow of the cross and He knows it.  But we are confused by the words our Lord speaks. He speaks of death and dying.  The words "lifted up" had a very special meaning in the vernacular.  It meant a person would be placed on a crucifix to die.  Even at this point, Jesus was not shying away from the cross. In fact, he embraces it. He tells us all of the good that will come from his death.  The devil will be driven out and all will be drawn to Him because of the Cross.  

Jesus was fully human. He had the free will to either accept the Father's demand or to refuse it.  For Him, the choice was one of love and He accepted the Cross for us.  In His obedience, Christ received the Glory due to Him and through His obedience, he canceled out our disobedience. 

On our Lenten journey through the desert, we have seen many things. We have seen ourselves as we are and not as we think we are and the reality has sobered us and has made us look for ways to better ourselves, ways to make our inside self, align more perfectly with the person we know we can be.  When we become holy as our Heavenly Father is holy, it is then that we glorify Him with our lives and participate fully in the Cross of Christ. 

Please remember to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory. They are desperate for our prayer and our care.   

Sunday Edition #3 Astrology - What Sign Are You

SUNDAY EDITION #3

Astrology – What Sign Are You?

Almost every newspaper has it and you can find whole magazines dedicated to Astrology on your newsstand.  When you meet someone new these days they may start the conversation questioning you about your sign.  We all know what they mean, they want to know which constellation was prominent in the sky on the day you were born.  For me, being born in early November, it was the constellation Scorpio. But, then again, if I had been born in let’s say Australia, another constellation would have been looking over me as I was born.  I don’t know which constellation that is, but I know it would not be Scorpio.  That brings me to my first objection to the belief system espoused by the believers in astrology, the constellations that are said to be controlling factors in our life can only be seen north of the equator.  Fully half of the earth is not covered by the constellations said to control our fate.  Secondly, the astrological charts are divided up into twelve equal portions, one portion for each month. This makes for a pretty display but it is not true to reality.  Not all constellations are made equal.  Some are larger and some are smaller.  So someone said to be born under the control of one constellation may, in fact, have been born when another was actually overhead.  It is not a scientific system.

Some people, even some Christians, place real faith in horoscopes.  For non-believers the practice fills a need for a belief in something other than self and can be used to explain the successes and failures of life, “the stars were or were not aligned.” 

Believers in astrology will tell how they have all of the characteristics of their “star sign.”  In many cases this is due to self-fulfilling prophecy, they align their actions to what they believe is expected of them.  Some of the so-called characteristics are just the normal variants of human nature and the fact that they line up with the star sign is just coincidence.

The Church minces no words over her thoughts on the pseudo-science of astrology.  In her Catechism she says “All forms of divination are to be rejected; recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to ‘unveil’ the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.” (CCC 22116)

In short, the belief in horoscopes is an offense against the first commandment.  The ancient world believed that the stars were gods and goddesses.

The New Age movement has reinvigorated many pagan beliefs and has ascribed them to the beginning of a new age, the Age of Aquarius where humanity takes control of the earth and its destiny with humanity becoming conscious of truth and some people who experience this will be recognized as leaders. Also, religion will be considered offensive, that it will be a new Dark Age.

But, I hear you saying, there is no harm in reading the silly horoscopes that we find in the newspaper is there?  Unfortunately, many people feel that way.  Let me ask you a question.  It would not be too dangerous to just crack a door open where a hungry bear is waiting on the other side to get in and eat you, I mean just a crack.  Open the door once and bear might not notice.  Do it again and still, he might see but be surprised and not be ready for you. The third time, you crack the door open and the bear comes tearing in and you are invited to lunch with him.  Why open the door to the devil by reading these little bits of nonsense.  The effect of reading these “harmless” predictions of your future will make you insensitive to the other novel New Age thinking that is invading your spiritual life.  Heaven help us on the day you read your horoscope that predicts you will be coming into some money and low and behold at lunchtime you find a twenty dollar bill on the floor! This coincidence places a wedge in the wall of your spiritual defenses. Taken to its end, on that day the crack in the door of your soul becomes terminally wide and you do not have the strength to resist and the enemy overcomes your defenses and bursts into your soul and you are his.  I am NOT exaggerating.

I will leave you with what the  Church Fathers say about this subject For this section I thank Catholic Answers (I have added the emphasis):

 Athanasius

"They [astrologers] have fabricated books which they call books of [astrological] tables, in which they show stars, to which they have given the names of saints. And therein of a truth they have inflicted on themselves a double reproach, those who have written such books, because they have perfected themselves in a lying and contemptible science [astrology], and as to the ignorant and simple, they have led them astray by evil thoughts concerning the right faith established in truth and upright in the presence of God" (Easter Letter 39:1 [A.D. 367]). 

John Chrysostom

"Let us show forth by our actions all excellencies of conduct, and kindle abundantly the fire of virtue. For ‘you are lights,’ he [Paul] says, ‘shining in the midst of the world’ [Phil. 2:15]. . . . And in fact a deep night oppresses the whole world. This is what we have to dispel and dissolve. It is night not among heretics and among Greeks only, but also in the multitude on our side, in respect of doctrines and of life. For many [Catholics] entirely disbelieve the resurrection; many fortify themselves with the horoscope; many adhere to superstitious observances, and to omens, and auguries, and presages" (Homilies on First Corinthians 4:11 [A.D. 392]). 

Hippolytus

"How impotent [the astrologers’] system is for comparing the forms and dispositions of men with names of stars! For we know that those originally conversant with such investigations have called the stars by names given reference to propriety of signification and facility for future recognition. But what similarity is there of these [constellations] with the likeness of animals, or what community of nature are regards conduct and energy, that one should allege that a person born in Leo should be irascible [like a lion] and that one born in Virgo moderate [like a virgin] or one born in Cancer wicked [like a crab]?" (Refutation of All Heresies 4:37 [A.D. 228]). 

"It has been easily made evident to all that the heresy of the Peratae is altered in name only from the [art] of the astrologers. And the rest of the books of these contain the same method, if it were agreeable to anyone to wade through them all" (ibid. 5:10). 

Lactantius

“Demons are the enemies and harassers of men, and on this account [the sorcerer Hermes] Trismegistus calls them wicked angels; so far was he from being ignorant that from heavenly beings they were corrupted, and began to be earthly. These were the inventors of astrology, and of soothsaying, and divination, and those productions which are called oracles, and necromancy, and the art of magic, and whatever other evil practices these men exercise, either openly or in secret" (Divine Institutes 2:16–17 [A.D. 307]). 

St.Augustine

"Now I had also repudiated the lying divination and impious absurdities of the astrologers . . . [and] I turned my thoughts to those that are born twins, who generally come out of the womb so near one to another that the small distance of time between them (however much force [astrologers] may contend that it has in the nature of things) cannot be noted by human observation or be expressed in those [planetary] figures which the astrologer is to examine that he may pronounce the truth. Nor can they be true; for looking into the same figures he must have foretold the same of Esau and Jacob, whereas the same did not happen to them. He must therefore speak falsely, or if truly, then, looking into the same figures he must not speak the same things. Not then by art but by chance would he speak truly" (Confessions 7:6:8–10 [A.D. 400]). 

"To whom then must we make an answer first—to the heretics or to the astrologers? For both come from the serpent, and desire to corrupt the Church’s virginity of heart, which she holds in undefiled faith" (Homilies on John 8:10 [A.D. 416]). 

“Every man twists for himself a rope by his sins. . . . Who makes a long rope? He who adds sin to sin. . . . One has committed a theft. So that he may not be found out to have committed it, he seeks the astrologer [to prove his innocence]. It was enough to have committed the theft. Why will you add sin to sin? Behold! Two sins [are] committed! When you are forbidden to go to the astrologer, you revile the bishop. Behold! Three sins! When you hear it said of you, ‘Cast him forth from the Church,’ you say, ‘I will go to the party of Donatus [the Donatist schism].’ Behold! You add a fourth sin. The rope is growing. Be afraid of the rope. It is good for you to be corrected here, when you are scourged with it, that it may not be said of you at the last, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him forth into outer darkness’ [Matt. 22:13]. For ‘with the cords of his own sins everyone is bound’ [Prov. 5:22]" (ibid., 10:5).