The New Age Movement

A Non-Christian Trend

March 17, 2018

By Lorraine Vincent

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 In our Western society, people are becoming interested in some aspects of Eastern religion. Christians are adopting methods of prayer, practices and techniques that are not Christian, that come from ancient Hindu and Buddhist religions which date back 5,000 years. It is called the New Age Movement. It started to become popular in the 1960’s.

New Age Document

To guide us in the Truth, St. John Paul II published a document on New Age on February 3, 2003. It is called Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life, A Christian reflection on the “New Age”. This comprehensive work quotes classic New Age writings, discusses common points in the New Age Movement, and presents a comparison between New Age spirituality and Christian spirituality. In the following pages I quoted some sentences from this document and highlighted some words to emphasize certain points.

This document states in Section 2.5, “New Age has become immensely popular as a loose set of beliefs, therapies and practices, which are often selected and combined at will … What is offered is often described as simply ‘spiritual’, rather than belonging to any religion, but there are much closer links to particular Eastern religions than many ‘consumers’ realize.” I was one of these ‘consumers’.

My Testimony

In the 1960’s I did not realize that my belief in my Catholic faith had gown weak. I was very naïve. I played the Ouija Board game once which was a scary experience. I found out later that I was communicating with a demon spirit in this dangerous occult game; and all the answers to my questions that I received, turned out to be lies.    We have to be careful not to consult the Evil One. Unfortunately, one thing tends to lead to another. Not good. The devil makes evil appear interesting and good. So I continued to experiment in different practices, not knowing that they were New Age. I became interested in New Age exercises and meditations. I was enticed into Transcendental Meditation (similar to Centering Prayer). I was given a mantra, a few words in a language foreign to me. It involved repeating this mantra daily for 20 minutes. I didn’t know that it was a mind emptying technique that opened me to an evil spirit. After several months of this, I began to feel uneasy and stopped that kind of meditation.

Meanwhile I had an accident and tore my back muscles.  In terrible pain and unable to bend my back, I continued to delve deeper into the New Age. Seeking a healing, I tried some holistic health practices: acupuncture, homeopathy and iridology for years. I spent about $300 a month on all this with no relief from pain and no healing. Finally years later, I went back to my original family medical physician, prayed to our one True God, received conventional medical science injections (not New Age) in my torn muscles and within a couple of days the pain was completely gone! My muscles are no longer torn.

After the Vatican’s New Age document was published in 2003, I studied it thoroughly and did a lot of research. As the years went by, I also studied our Catechism of the Catholic Church, (CCC), and read many Catholic Church documents, growing in our Catholic faith. I found out that my mantra in Transcendental Meditation was the name of a god worshipped in India. I was shocked! I did not want to pray to a foreign god or evil spirit. Then I began to write articles on the dangers of this New Age Movement, to try to help people who are searching for the Truth, not to fall into these evil practices.

Fallen Angels

It’s important to understand the Truth about the gods and spirits that we hear about in our New Age society. First of all, there are only good spirits or bad spirits. The good spirits are angels and the bad spirits (called gods) are demons. These gods/bad spirits are really the fallen angels who were cast out of Heaven by God along with their leader, Lucifer. In the beginning, when all the angels were in Heaven and worshipped God, their Creator, they were beautiful, and Lucifer was the most beautiful of all. But when Lucifer and 1/3 of all the angels rebelled against God and refused to obey and worship Him, they were cast down to earth and into Hell. God took away their angelic beauty and they became ugly evil spirits whom we call demons. Lucifer their leader became the ugliest and is now called Satan, the devil, the Evil One. They hate God; and because God created mankind and loves us, they hate us. They are wicked and devious, and try to trick people into thinking that they are nice and kind gods. Their intention is to lead us away from our loving Almighty God and our future happiness with Him in Heaven; and instead bring us down to Hell with them. They can be successful, so we must be on guard not to be led astray. We must not compromise with the devil and his demons or we will build a relationship with evil. We must reject these false gods and turn back to our one True God. God said in His First Commandment in Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (also see CCC 2084, Mt 4:10).

A Loose Set of Beliefs, Therapies and Practices

The New Age Movement is a loose set of beliefs, therapies and practices taken from the ancient Hindu and Buddhist religions which date back 5,000 years. Our society portrays these beliefs, therapies and practices as good, and most people are not aware that they come from various aspects of Hindu and Buddhist religions. Our Holy Catholic Church comes to our aid. The wonderful document on the “New Age” by St. John Paul II points out what is spiritually harmful to us and what we should avoid. I recommend that everyone read this document. It can be downloaded off your computer by typing the whole title on “Google”. The following is a brief overview of the document.

“What does New Age say about God?”

New Age spirituality does not believe in our God, the devil, sin or Hell. Therefore, New Agers cannot condemn anyone and nobody needs forgiveness. The Vatican’s document in Section 2.3.4.2. states: “There is talk of God, but it is not a personal God; the god of which New Age speaks is neither personal nor transcendent. Nor is it the Creator and sustainer of the universe, but an ‘impersonal energy’ immanent in the world, with which it forms a ‘cosmic unity’”.  Section 3.1. “New Age as spirituality”: New Agers believe, “Jesus of Nazareth is not God, but one of the many historical manifestations of the cosmic and universal Christ.” They pray to the universe and use a mind emptying technique to achieve ever greater harmony between the self and divine cosmic energy. Some New Agers think that they are Christian. But if they pray to the universe and exhibit the general New Age vocabulary and way of thinking, they are not Christian.

Reincarnation

The belief in reincarnation comes from the Hindu and Buddhist religions in India. They believe that they will have many lives; and with each new life they will get closer and closer to eventually becoming gods in the divine cosmic energy in the universe. They believe that doing a charitable work for someone damages their chakra system (personal power to connect to their deepest source of spirituality) and inhibits their cosmic energy in their next life. That is why Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, picked up dying people in ditches covered with sores and worms. Their own people would not help them, and the dying understood this and accepted their situation. I read that when St. Mother Teresa was cleaning the wounds and picking out the worms in an elderly man’s body, he looked up at her in amazement, wondering why she was doing this for him. It is sad to see that these people were opening themselves up to demon spirits who were influencing their minds and souls.

Section “2.3.4.3. What does New Age say about the world?”

“[T]he concept of matter as waves or energy rather than particles, is central to much New Age thinking. The universe is an ocean of energy … the universe is ‘spirit’ … the world itself is divine and it undergoes an evolutionary process which lead from inert matter to higher and perfect consciousness. … God and the world, soul and body, intelligence and feeling, heaven and earth are one immense vibration of energy.”

Ecological Spirituality is New Age, similar to pantheism. These New Agers worship nature. They believe that nature, the earth, is a living being, sacred, intelligent, with feelings and emotions. There are religious orders of sisters, Sisters of Earth and green sisters, in the U.S.A. and Canada, who promote this belief. The green sisters’ core principle is that, “God and the cosmos are fused” and our planet is holy. Some green sisters in Canada believe that animals are divine and intelligent with feelings; so they tell people not to eat fish or animals. People of this Spiritual Ecology might believe they are Catholic, but their beliefs are not.

Section “2.2.3. Health”—Suffering and Illness—Holistic Health Practices

Our weak human nature tends to abhor suffering. When we become ill, it is natural that we want to be made well. God can and does heal us. However, if the will of God is contrary to what we want, and we want what we want right now, we can be enticed to turn to the power of other spirits, evil spirits, for healing. We forget that our Church teaches us about redemptive suffering—how we can offer our sufferings in prayer to Jesus for the good of souls. New Age thinkers believe that suffering and illness is an imbalance in the body’s energies, and needs to be fixed. They stress ‘the self’ and their need for happiness, health and success. They aspire to heal themselves, ‘balance’ their chakra system, and get in touch with their inner or cosmic energy. Salvation is within themselves (self-salvation), and can be attained by mastering psycho-physical techniques which lead to definitive enlightenment.

The Vatican’s document states, “Alternative therapies have gained enormously in popularity because they claim to look at the whole person and are about healing rather than curing. Holistic health, as it is known concentrates on the important role that the mind plays in physical healing. The connection between the spiritual and the physical aspects of the person is said to be in the immune system or the Indian chakra system. In a New Age perspective, illness and suffering come from working against nature; when one is in tune with nature, one can expect a much healthier life… Developing our human potential will put us in touch with our inner divinity, and with those parts of our selves which have been alienated and suppressed. This is revealed above all in Altered States of Consciousness, which are induced either by drugs or by various mind-expanding techniques, particularly in the context of ‘transpersonal psychology’. The shaman is often seen as the specialist of altered states of consciousness, one who is able to mediate between the transpersonal realms of spirits and gods and the world of humans. … The source of healing is said to be within ourselves, something we reach when we are in touch with our inner energy or cosmic energy.

New Age health clinics provide a variety of holistic health practices. They offer healing techniques and practices that have no connection with medical science. The world-renowned Mayo Clinic in the U.S.A. will confirm this. They stated, “Conventional medicine values therapies that have been demonstrated through research and testing to be safe and effective.” The Mayo Clinic is uncertain of combining medical science with New Age techniques, as not enough research has been done so far. Therefore, it is wise to avoid acupuncture, psychic healing, healing by crystals, metals, music or colours, reincarnation therapies, biofeedback, kinesiology, homeopathy, iridology, and bodywork such as therapeutic touch and reiki. Yoga is another practice to avoid. Practitioners command the powers of evil spirits to enter our bodies through the needles of acupuncture, through their hands, or through the other things mentioned above.

Regarding health clinics: the only exceptions that I know of, are some massage or chiropractor clinics. Some are good and only use medical science to help relieve our aches and pains. But some use New Age methods. I suggest that when you visit a massage therapist or chiropractor ask whether they use New Age healing techniques or not. Ask politely and they will tell you. I have done this. If they do use New Age techniques, leave.

Centering Prayer

Centering Prayer is a New Age practice and is similar to Transcendental Meditation. They are both mind-emptying techniques. The idea is to mentally go to the center of your being and erase all thoughts and feelings, even the most devout thoughts, and reach a mental void, while repeating a mantra for 20 minutes. These are techniques that lead to an altered level of consciousness, and open us to an evil spirit. Our Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) comes from the teaching authority of the Church. It warns us about such prayer. CCC 2726 and 2727 state, “[W]e must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as an effort of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and postures (e.g. Yoga).  …  Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce from life.”

Christian prayer can be verbal or a meditation which involves the mind and heart, thinking about the teachings of our God to help us discern how to improve our lives. We can pray the “Our Father” that Jesus taught us. We can read and meditate on Holy Scripture. The Holy Rosary is based on Holy Scripture. We can pray to the Mother of God for assistance. CCC 971 states, “Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an epitome of the whole Gospel, express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.” Our Catholic Church has given us countless numbers of saints whom we can pray to for help. We can read the lives of the saints to help us in our journey through life. We can pray for the dead. CCC 958 states, “[I]t is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead … Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.”

Occult Practices

Occult practices date back thousands of years before Christ. There are many Old Testament statements warning the Jews about them, such as in Lev. 19:31 and Lev. 20:6. God said, “Do not turn to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.” Unfortunately many occult practices are popular today. People think working with and talking to the devil and his demons is fun and interesting. They want to know the future using horoscopes, fortune telling, crystal balls, palm reading, tea cup reading and automatic writing. People go to mediums who contact demons in order to use their power for divination, necromancy, séances, trance-speaking, clairvoyance, table lifting, and levitation, just to name a few. Séances are popular for people who want to talk to deceased relatives (who are really demons disguised as relatives). We find another example of demons speaking through people in Jer. 29:8, “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream, for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the LORD.” Other occult practices are the use of charms, crystals, pendulums and hypnosis; also, magic, sorcery, witchcraft (good witches do not exist), and wizardry (such as Harry Potter) to use hexes and curses to influence people, places or things. You can read the words of Moses in Deut. 18:10-12 that mention quite a number of these occult practices. Some people are attracted to occult games, such as tarot cards, Ouija Board, and Dungeons and Dragons that involve demons. Of course, all these occult practices are very dangerous and can lead to demonic obsession or possession. Also, satanic books, movies and satanic rock music are to be avoided. Our Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2116, 2117 is very helpful and goes into detail explaining all this. Please read it.

What is the solution? How do we turn back to God?

Once we have fallen into the mortal sins of contacting or seeking out evil spirits, it is difficult to break free. But everything is possible with God. Our Holy Catholic Church, given to us by Jesus 2,000 years ago, is our guide. We must burn the tarot cards, Ouija Board games, the horoscopes, books and movies; and wash the crystals and charms with holy water and throw them out. Also, we must return to praying daily, talking to Jesus, praying the Holy Rosary, reading the Holy Bible and going to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. However, we cannot receive the Holy Eucharist at Mass until we have made an appointment with a Catholic priest for spiritual direction and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where we confess absolutely everything we did, with total regret and firm resolve to quit. We will then be strengthened by God’s grace, and when we go to Mass we can receive the Holy Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ!

If we fall into mortal sin again, we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation to cleanse our souls again. Life is a struggle, our earthly journey continues. To help us, Jesus gave us His Most Holy Virgin Mother Mary. God also gave each of us a guardian angel to protect us from danger and to give us the proper suggestions at the right moments. Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s Chief Exorcist (now retired) said, that if we hear someone cursing, we should repeat in our mind, “Jesus, I love You,” or “Blessed be Jesus” in reparation; as it is an effective retort against the devil. To turn back to God requires effort on our part. Remember we have free will to choose—to draw closer to God, or slide back into bad habits. With courage and zeal we must strive to be good in thought, word and deed. We are to obey and worship our loving and merciful God. Then Jesus, the Prince of Peace, will fill us with His peace if we keep our eyes fixed on our glorious destiny—to be with Him forever in Heaven in total joy and love!

References:

1. Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life, A Christian reflection on the “New Age” by St. John Paul II, February 3, 2003

2. The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version / Catholic Edition

3. Catechism of the Catholic Church

4.  An Exorcist Explains the Demonic, The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels by Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s Chief Exorcist

5. Mayo Clinic in the U.S.A., Research on Alternative Medicine

6. Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent website

7.  Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology by Sarah McFarland Taylor, Harvard University Press

 

 

How Can I Forgive?

September 6, 2017

By Lorraine Vincent

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It’s difficult to forgive. But Jesus commanded us to forgive. He insisted. One day, Peter, puzzled by His words, asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?” [Then Peter thought he would make a very generous offer to forgive and asked,] “Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21, 22). Peter must have been shocked!

Why must I forgive?

In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray to God our Father: “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Jesus explains, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14). Tough words! We see that our lack of forgiveness prevents God from forgiving us. His mercy cannot penetrate a hardened unforgiving heart. Our Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 2840, states, “In refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father’s merciful love; but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to His grace”.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

In our Catholic Church we are blessed to be able to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we are angry and unforgiving we can go to confession to a Catholic priest to be reconciled with God. We can confess our sins of lack of forgiveness for our brothers and sisters, admit our weakness in trying to forgive, and ask for God’s help. Jesus will be pleased with our good will, in that we are not refusing to forgive, but wish we could. Therefore, our hearts are not closed and hard, but open to His grace.

After making a good confession, we will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and be reconciled with God, through the words of the Catholic priest. Our loving and merciful God has the power to forgive us and wash our souls clean of all sins. We have to believe God has forgiven us, accept it and live it, by trying to do His will. God then gives us His grace, that is, His help, so we can go forth and forgive those who have hurt us. To do this we can speak to them and tell them we have forgiven them. “Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation of the children of God with their Father and of men with one another” (CCC, 2844).

Forgive from Your Heart—Pray!

Jesus gave us the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, about a good king who forgave a slave a huge debt. But this slave went and threw a fellow-slave into prison who owed him only a very small debt. The king was furious with this slave and said, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you? And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. [Jesus then said,] So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matthew 18:32-35).

How do we forgive from our heart? What do we do? Jesus says, pray! “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44, 45). Therefore, our response must be to pray daily for these souls. This is because God loves all people, including great sinners, and wants all of us to come to live with Him in Heaven. He wants everybody to repent, to work hard at changing their sinful ways and humbly return to Him, asking for forgiveness—and our prayers can help them. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus shows us how God the Father embraced his repentant son, who had been a very great sinner, rewarded him with many gifts and took him into his house.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

To forgive from our heart is a process, a course of action. Even while we are still wounded, in our pain, we can ask God to bless those who have wronged us and make them holy. The most powerful prayer is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. During the Mass we can privately offer these souls to God. Compassionate prayer for the wellbeing of their souls is very important. We can pray for ourselves, too. However, we must not harbour feelings of resentment, anger and revenge, but rather pray with genuine sympathy for those souls that are wounded by sin. Prayer gives us spiritual strength, bringing us closer to God and our efforts will be pleasing to Him.

Jesus Prayed for His Enemies

We are called to follow Christ. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27, 28). When Jesus was dying and nailed to the Cross, He forgave His enemies and prayed for them with compassion: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). We should imitate Jesus and sincerely pray for the souls of our enemies. “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He was scourged, crowned with thorns and nailed to the Cross! So what excuse do we have? Every time we look at a crucifix, we should think of this, and pray for those who have sinned against us. “Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master” (CCC, 2844).

Can We “Forget” the Offense?

People around us tell us, “Forgive and Forget.” But how can we forget when we feel so hurt? Jesus did not command us to forget. He did command us to forgive, but did not tell us to forget. Our Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense” (CCC, 2843). This teaching makes sense. For example, a woman who was raped cannot forget that traumatic experience. But it doesn’t mean she should dwell on it and relive it constantly for years and years. Common sense tells us to try to put our terrible past experiences behind us and try to move on with our lives for good mental health and for the good of our souls. Once again, prayer is the answer.

Offer Our Sufferings to God

As we offer our wounded heart and sufferings to God, we should pray [intercede] for the person who hurt us, with compassion for that person’s soul. I like this prayer: “Jesus, I offer You my sufferings to be joined to Your Holy Passion and offered to our heavenly Father, in reparation for my sins, for (name) and for all souls, in union with all the Holy Sacrifices of the Mass throughout the world today”. As we try to forgive from our heart, our memory will gradually be purified by our daily compassionate prayer. Our Catechism states, “the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession” (CCC, 2843).

The Holy Rosary

When we persevere in daily prayer for the soul of the person who hurt us, the anger and the bad thoughts will dissipate slowly and go away. Our Church recommends the Holy Rosary. If we pray the Holy Rosary every day, we can include this particular soul in our prayers, asking Most Holy Mother Mary for Her intercession, so we can attain love, mercy and graces from God. Gradually the injury will turn into compassion and peace will flood our hearts. Don’t give up praying every day, for weeks and months or maybe even years. I did—and now I am at peace. Isaiah wrote about the love God has for us, “Those of steadfast mind You keep in peace—in peace because they trust in You” (Isaiah 26:3). We have faith that Jesus will be very pleased with our efforts and bless us.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is an intercessory prayer that is prayed on the Holy Rosary beads. We can pray this Chaplet for our enemies, and for all souls. This prayer begs God the Father for graces for souls, based on the strength of Jesus’ Passion. Jesus is Love and Mercy itself. He is The Divine Mercy. He wants all souls to be saved. In His great love for us, God gave this prayer to St. Faustina. She wrote it for us in her Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, 476: “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” The Chaplet begins with the “Our Father”, one “Hail Mary” and the “I Believe in God”. Then the first part of the prayer, “Eternal Father…” is said on the Our Father beads of the Rosary. The last part, “For the sake of…” is said on each of the ten beads. After the five decades, the Chaplet concludes with, “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world” prayed three times. To learn more about The Divine Mercy, check back to my previous articles on this website, entitled, “The Divine Mercy” and “Complete Pardon to Souls, Divine Mercy Sunday”.

Fast and Make Sacrifices

As we pray for a sinful soul, we can also fast and make sacrifices for that person. For instance, we can do something that is very good, but very hard to do, and offer our efforts to God for a particular soul. There is great merit in this because it is not easy. This action will also help us in the perfecting of our own souls, if we have an attitude of humility. Only God knows the state of all souls; and for all we know, the other person’s soul might be in better shape than ours! If we feel we are superior, then we must humbly remind ourselves that the more graces and gifts we have, the more is expected of us. Our Lord says, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded” (Luke 12:48).

St. Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles

St. Paul was given many graces from God in order for him to preach the faith far and wide, and much was expected of him. His letters show us the great number of people he forgave and prayed for, so that their souls would be saved. He wrote, “Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. …on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters… And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Cor 11:24-28).

St. Paul, in some ways, imitated Jesus as He prayed for His enemies while on the Cross; because despite all Paul’s extreme sufferings, wounds, and trials that he endured, He prayed for those that hurt him and for the salvation of all souls. He wasn’t angry or bitter about the terrible way he was treated. Instead he wrote to sinners, “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31,32).

Persevere in Prayer

Compassionate prayer attuned to God’s compassion unites us to Him. Our daily prayers for souls open our hearts and other people’s hearts to God’s graces, giving all of us consolation and heavenly light. Let us try to do God’s will, persevere in prayer and trust in Him. God can do all things. With His graces we can forgive from our heart and be filled with the peace of God in the depths of our soul!