Good morning Father, 

I have a friend who often turns to a medium who will put him in communication with a “soul” of the afterlife, a “guide” that helps him gain insights into his personal matters. 

He says he feels at peace because the spirit guide (let’s call him that) invites him to pray, and this makes him feel at ease. I am familiar with the verse from the Bible, Leviticus 19:31.

Personally, I wonder if the devil (if it is him) would invite people to pray to God, in order to allure someone and disguise himself.

I believe so, but I would like your opinion.

Thank you

The priest’s reply

Dear friend,

1. Any attempt to contact the dead directly in order to guide one’s personal affairs is severely condemned by God.

This attempt is technically called divination.

2. Divination is the attempt to predict the future or discover hidden things by improper means, that is, means that are not desired by God.

Sacred Scripture condemns it without exception: “There must never be anyone among you who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire of sacrifice, who practises divination, who is soothsayer, augur or sorcerer, weaver of spells, consulter of ghosts or mediums, or necromancer. For anyone who does these things is detestable to Yahweh your God; it is because of these detestable practices that Yahweh your God is driving out these nations before you.” (Deut. 18:10-12).

And: “I do not want you to share with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well; you cannot have a share at the Lord’s table and the demons’ table as well. Do we really want to arouse the Lord’s jealousy; are we stronger than he is?” (1 Cor. 10:20-22).

Here, “jealousy” does not mean that God fears competition from demons.

Rather, he wants man to trust him completely and not be deceived by his adversary.

3. Coming to your specific case: the fact that the soul your friend came into contact with (assuming it is a soul, because it’s likely a demon instead) invited him to pray is not in itself an explicitly good sign: Sacred Scripture says that “There is nothing astonishing in this; even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14).

If the devil presented himself as a devil, everyone would flee from him. Instead, he more often disguises himself as an angel of light, inviting us to pray, generating a certain zeal, pronouncing speeches that even the most talented preachers could not express.

And he does all this to deceive, to cause us to fall.

4. The first fall he causes is disobedience to God, who has so strictly forbidden these practices in Sacred Scripture.

And so, without knowing it, we naively place ourselves in the hands of the one whom Sacred Scripture calls the enemy (1 Peter 5:8), the opponent (2 Thessalonians 2:4), the accuser (Matthew 5:25).

There is nothing worse, because when we open the door to our adversary or tormentor, he, as the Lord said, “comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” (Jn 10:10)

5. For this reason, the Catechism of the Catholic Church condemns such practices without hesitation, saying: “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 2116).

6. Therefore, urge your friend with all your strength to stop such practices.

Indeed, in order for him to free himself from the hands of his adversary, where he naively placed himself, exhort him to go to confession as soon as possible.

Sacramental confession is the first form of liberation and exorcism.

I wish you all the best, I bless you, and I remember you in my prayers.

Father Angelo

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