Often popular spiritual influencers will talk about channeling spiritual “vibrations,” and performing good deeds or saying good words to promote positive vibrations.
Many Catholics have adopted these ideas and sometimes incorporate them into their spiritual lives.
Can Catholics believe in spiritual vibrations?
Karson McGinley at Chopra.com, defines vibrations as, “a state of being, the atmosphere, or the energetic quality of a person, place, thought, or thing. Much of reading ‘vibes’ is intuitive—you can tell a person’s energy when they walk into a room, for example.”
Furthermore, this idea of spiritual vibrations is often tied to another New Age concept, called the “Law of Attraction.”
You have heard time and again that whatever you offer out into the world will return back to you, as dictated by the Law of Attraction. Like attracts like. This law of the universe says that you are responsible for your life, and can manifest change according to how you direct your thoughts and emotions.
While focusing on positive thoughts and actions is certainly a praiseworthy goal in life, the problem is that this spiritual teaching turns to a cosmic energy source, rather than God.
The Pontifical Council for Cultureprovides an in-depth guide to New Age teaching, explaining the many problems with this type of thought.
The primary problem with the concept of “vibrations,” is that it detracts from the reality of a personal God and looks to ourselves as a source of salvation, instead of God.
Gnostic belief in cosmic powers and some obscure kind of destiny withdraws the possibility of a relationship to a personal God revealed in Christ. For Christians, the real cosmic Christ is the one who is present actively in the various members of his body, which is the Church. They do not look to impersonal cosmic powers, but to the loving care of a personal God.
While spiritual vibrations may seem like a harmless belief, it can take us away from a personal God, who loves us and is the source of all love and harmony in the world. Everything we have comes from him and not an impersonal cosmic energy source.
Instead of looking to your vibrations, look to God and the teachings he left us in the person of Jesus Christ.
