True or false? (Please answer to yourself, not out loud.)

Dreams guided St. Joseph.

True or false?

Answer: false.

"But, Fr. Ray, we just heard how an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. Later on he had a dream in which an angel told him to take Jesus and his mother and flee to the land of Egypt; and then, after Herod died, an angel appeared in yet another dream to tell him to go back to his homeland."

Yes, that’s true—but it was God who was guiding Joseph, not dreams. And this is certainly something that St. Matthew wants us to understand. Notice that every time Joseph has a dream in which he’s instructed to do something, the command is always tied to a passage of Scripture. For example, in the text we heard today, Matthew says, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us’."

And so it is with the other incidents I just mentioned.

So Joseph was not guided by dreams, he was guided by God, who used dreams on certain occasions to teach him truths that he had already revealed in his word!

Why do I mention this today?

Simply because we live in a culture where the occult has become mainstream. Incredibly, in our so-called scientific and high-tech age, occult practices are growing in popularity—even among professed Christians!

For example, did you know that our local library sponsored a tarot card workshop for young people grade 7 and older on December 12^th of this year? The library calendar read: "Tarot cards for teens: Can you see into your 2002 future the ancient way?"

Do a web search when you get home, plug-in the words, "Dream interpretation," and see how many "hits" you get! On Google’s search engine the other day I got 262,000!

Can God occasionally use a dream to communicate with a person?

Yes, today’s Gospel makes that quite clear.

But if God does communicate with a person in this way, he will do so only to reinforce truths he has already revealed in his word (as was the case with St. Joseph). He’s not going to reveal to us "secret knowledge" so that we can manipulate reality—and other people—for our own selfish purposes! And that’s precisely what most occult "dream interpretation" is about—although the people involved will always tell you their doing it "for good" or "to help others."

And how about the latest guru of pop culture, John Edward? I know of Catholics who are much more devoted to him than they are to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John! This is the guy who purports to be able to contact your dead relatives. Do people know that this type of occult activity is expressly forbidden in the Bible? Listen to this passage from Deuteronomy 18: "Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the fire, nor a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner, or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord . . ."

And here’s a question to ask Mr. Edward and all those who are so gullible as to believe him: How do you know the identity of these spirits you’re contacting? Demons don’t know everything, but they do know some things. Don’t you think there are demons out there who know just enough about your dead relatives to make you think that you’ve contacted them, when in fact it’s the demons you’re interacting with? As St. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 11, Satan can very easily disguise himself as an angel of light. So why can’t a demon pretend to be your dead Uncle Bill?

What John Edward is involved with is clearly evil, and must be avoided by anyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Which brings us to the Harry Potter phenomenon. You didn’t think I’d leave this one out, did you? There’s a big debate going on right now in our society concerning the Harry Potter books, and the recently-released Potter movie. Some call it all "pure evil," and others call it "totally harmless." In this case, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

First question: Can someone read the Harry Potter books or go to see the new Potter movie and not be adversely affected?

Sure.

But it must also be acknowledged that there is a greater likelihood that a child will be drawn into the occult from reading Potter, than from reading, for example, the fictional works of J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis.

This was clarified for me a couple of months ago, when I came across an excellent and very balanced article in This Rock magazine by Steven Greydanus. He outlines 7 important differences between the wizardry in Harry Potter, and the wizardry you find in Tolkien and Lewis. For example, he says that in Tolkien and Lewis the magicians are always part of the supporting cast, they’re not the main characters of the story; there is never any mention of how they acquired their magical powers; they come from imaginary worlds very different from our own; and their physical characteristics are such that it’s not likely that young, impressionable readers will be tempted to imitate them in their magical practices.

On the other hand, Harry Potter is the main character of the story, and someone with whom a young reader can very easily identify, especially if he has a difficult home life. Harry doesn’t live in a place like "Middle Earth" or "Narnia," he lives in a fictionalized England, and the plot of the story centers around his learning magic and practicing it.

Am I saying that Catholics shouldn’t read the Harry Potter books or go to see the movie? No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m simply saying that parents need to understand the possible dangers here and guide their children accordingly.

One wise commentator put it well recently when he said that the biggest thing he worries about is not the Harry Potter books themselves—or the movie—it’s the Harry Potter "spin-offs," for example, the web sites that children can go to in order to learn how to cast spells just like Harry!

Parents need to be aware of these potential problems because—as I said earlier in my homily—the occult is becoming mainstream in our culture these days. And if adults are so easily being drawn into it, what does that say about the dangers facing our young people?