Friday of Week 23 of Time after Pentecost

Baltimore track

Baltimore Catechism No. 3

Lesson 30 — On the First Commandment

Q. 1156.Are bad dreams sinful in themselves?

A.Bad dreams are not sinful in themselves, because we cannot prevent them, but we may make them sinful (1) By taking pleasure in them when we awake, and (2) by bad reading or immodest books, thoughts, word or actions before going to sleep; for by any of these things we may make ourselves responsible for the bad dreams.

Q. 1157.Did not God frequently in the Old Law make use of dreams as a means of making known His will?

A.God did frequently in the Old Law make use of dreams as a means of making known His Will; but on such occasions He always gave proof that what He made known was not a mere dream, but rather a revelation or inspiration. He no longer makes use of such means, for He now makes known His will through the inspiration of His Church.

Q. 1158.What are mediums and spiritists?

A.Mediums and spiritists are persons who pretend to converse with the dead or with spirits of the other world. They pretend also to give this power to others, that they may know what is going on in heaven, purgatory or hell.

Q. 1159.What other practice is very dangerous to faith and morals?

A.Another practice very dangerous to faith and morals is the use of mesmerism or hypnotism, because it is liable to sinful abuses, for it deprives a person for a time of the control of his reason and will and places his body and mind entirely in the power of another.