Dear Parishioners,

A materialist or an atheist might dismiss all religious ideas by calling them superstitious. They act like there is no evidence for the faith and our culture tends to put all religious belief into the realm of private thought. To a certain extent, the Church agrees that superstition is not a good thing because it violates the first commandment. Here is what the catechism has to say about this topic:

“Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.” (CCC 2111)

Superstition is said to be the lowest form of religion because while it contains many aspects of religious practices (like belief in the supernatural and your actions having spiritual consequence), it focuses on manipulating God or spirits or other beings into doing one’s own will. With superstition, it is not about becoming more holy or doing God’s will. It’s about getting what you want. Superstition comes in many forms and is often associated with new age practice like Reiki and Manifestation as well as less organized practices like throwing salt over your shoulder. They are especially dangerous to the faith because it is a fundamental change in how we relate to God.

It is no wonder why they are so popular. Our faith demands that we change because we know we are sinners who need to be sanctified. Superstitious practices do not demand that you change but offer a way to change the world. Control feels good and the great demands of love often does not. However, it is through the love of Christ that we live the fullness of life.

Some people might still even then call the Catholic Church superstitious. To be fair, there are some things some Catholics do that can be superstitious like burying St. Joseph’s statue upside down to sell a house or believing that saying a St. Jude Novena will always grant what you ask for or believe in someone who claims to be a prophet because they say what you want to hear. These are obviously irrational attempts to manipulate God. However, I would not call everything we do superstitious because it is based on what God has revealed, and Church teaching. However, I do not have enough space to get more specific at this time. So, that will have to wait for next week.

God Bless!

Fr. Carter