Monday, February 18, 2008

Quote Of The Day: Fr. Dan Dubroy

“We’re raising a generation of New Age kids”

Fr. Dan Dubroy at an Ottawa Theology on Tap get together Feb. 5, 2008
Link (here)

2 comments:

Marco da Vinha said...

The New Age video was interesting, though I think the priest was too agresive against meditation and "eastern mysticism". Ignatian spirituality relys, in part, on meditation (if I'm not mistaken). Orthodox hesychast is also a form of meditation. I think where Christian meditation differs from other forms of meditation is that it's not so much trying to achieve inner awareness, but rather trying to discern God's plan for us.

But then, that's just my 2 cents...

Unknown said...

I was surprised to read that Father Dan Dubroy included Homeopathy in his list of New Age practices. I wonder how Mother Teresa would react to that! Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity operated four homeopathic dispensaries to serve the poor, opening the first one in Calcutta in 1950. It is indeed a contradiction that the Church has Mother Teresa on the fast track for Canonization if her practice of Homeopathy is regarded as New Age!
In his recent book ”Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy” Dana Ullman lists Popes Leo XII, Gregory XVI, Pius IX, Pius XII, & Paul VI as users of homeopathy. The British Royal Family’s physicians have been homeopaths since Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth is said to carry a homeopathic kit with her on her travels.
In his writing,”The History of Homeopathy in the Russian Empire”, Alexander Kotok M.D., concludes “In comparing the role of the Russian clergy with that of Europe and America, it should be mentioned that no religious confession or denomination was of specific importance. Homeopathy was supported by the Orthodox clergy in the Russian Empire, by the Catholic clergy in France and in some Catholic regions of Russia, like the Kingdom of Poland, and by the Protestant clergy in Great Britain and in the United States.” (Before World War I)
The famous Catholic homeopath from Argentina, Dr. Francisco Xavier Eizayaga M.D. in his book “Treatise on Homeopathic Medicine”(1991) p.45. says of Dr. Samuel Friedrich Christian Hahnemann, (1755-1843) the founder of Homeopathy, “His profoundly religious spirit was totally unsympathetic to all these occultist beliefs and ideologies which have greatly harmed the scientific prestige and good reputation of Homeopathic Medicine.”
Dr. Hahnemann himself affirms his belief in God in many of his writings. For example “It is only thus that God, the Preserver of mankind, could reveal His wisdom and goodness in reference to the cure of disease.....” par 17 (b) Organon.
The Catholic Encyclopedia 1913/History of Medicine, includes Dr. Samuel Hahnemann and Homeopathy in its discussion of Medical Systems in the Eighteenth Century. It makes no mention of Homeopathy being occult or new age.
Homeopathy is derived from two Greek words "homoeos" meaning similar and "pathos" meaning suffering. Translated literally, it means "similar suffering". It is based on the principle that “Like cures like”. Homeopathy cures symptoms of an illness with a minute amount of a substance that is capable of causing similar symptoms. This substance (herbs, metals, toxins etc.) has been diluted and succussed to make a homeopathic remedy. Homeopathic remedies are made by pharmacies throughout the world and are widely available in drugstores & health food stores. Most Naturopathic doctors prescribe homeopathic remedies. Many of your readers have probably taken a homeopathic remedy made by Boiron or Dolisos Pharmacies, in combinations for teething or colic or cramps. A common homeopathic remedy is Oscillococcinum for flu.
In the early 1990’s, as an R.N., I became a homeopath after adopting a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome which allopathic medicine was unable to deal with. I thank God for the great gift He has given humanity with homeopathic medicine.
Years ago, a Catholic woman who had been very interested in homeopathy was told by a priest that it was occult and from the Devil. She exclaimed “It must be from the Devil because of the amazing way it cures!” How sad (and blasphemous) that she thought the Devil’s cures are more powerful than those of our loving God!
From the Vatican Website: JESUS CHRIST THE BEARER OF THE WATER OF LIFE A Christian reflection on the “New Age” 6.2. Practical steps
First of all, it is worth saying once again that not everyone or everything in the broad sweep of New Age is linked to the theories of the movement in the same ways. Likewise, the label itself is often misapplied or extended to phenomena which can be categorised in other ways. The term New Age has even been abused to demonise people and practices. It is essential to see whether phenomena linked to this movement, however loosely, reflect or conflict with a Christian vision of God, the human person and the world. The mere use of the term New Age in itself means little, if anything. The relationship of the person, group, practice or commodity to the central tenets of Christianity is what counts.
Sincerely,
Diane