Death and Rebirth- Vatican Insights and Spirits Present

My belief about death and reincarnation was formed early on in religious education, confirmed when I read through my church publications, and is the same today as it’s always been. One main thing to note is that Catholics believe in physical bodies and spiritual bodies. Our physical bodies die and decay, while our spiritual bodies have no end. The human spiritual body is called a “soul” to Catholics, and it has no physical form. It resides in our physical body while we are on this earth, but can’t be pinpointed as to where it actually is within our body. The soul is created by God, and lives for infinity in either physical or spiritual form.

            The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is a book that was originally put together in the 1960s as a way of explaining what Catholics believe about various subjects of the times. In 1995 an updated version was published. This updated version was not new beliefs or new doctrine. It simply added more topics of concern and changed the format of the information. This 1995 version is what I self-studied with for most of my adult life. Now, in the age of the internet, the entire CCC is available online and searchable by topic, number or keyword.

            Numbers 1013 through 1019, from the CCC, explain what the Catholic belief should be in regards to death, souls and reincarnation.  Number 1013 states “Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage…we shall not return to other earthly lives. It is appointed for men to die once. There is no reincarnation after death.” Number 1016 continues “By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul. Just as Christ is risen and lives forever, so all of us will rise at the last day.” Number 1017 adds “We sow a corruptible body in the tomb, but he raises up an incorruptible body; a spiritual body.” The resurrection on the last day is the Catholic belief that on the last day of this universe, God will raise our decayed bodies up, make them whole and perfect again and return our souls to them.

            If there is no reincarnation, though, how do I explain people’s detailed knowledge of past lives? For a bit more on this I turn to Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274). He believed that, although the soul is in the physical form of a body, it possesses spiritual faculties of intellect and will and it belongs to an altogether higher plane of existence than other animal forms. He also held the belief that the soul has conscious life when separate from the body. Later thought, by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 – 1716), inferred from this that the soul is indestructible, immortal and has a pre-existence before entering a physical body. From these two past philosophers I can infer two explanations for knowledge of past lives.

            One explanation is simply that if the soul has pre-existence, intellect and will; it is possible that the soul has experienced things in its higher plane that it conveys to its physical host’s mind. Some hosts (people) aren’t connected with this higher plane and don’t get the message from the soul, others are connected and can relive the soul’s past experiences as their own.

            Another explanation behind a person’s knowledge of past lives could be found in the spirit world of this earth. Both the Catholic Church and I believe that “ghosts” exist and sometimes interact with humans. The Church specifically forbids us from conjuring up the dead (CCC 2116-2117). Nevertheless, without our action or invitation, the dead often do appear to the living. There is enormous evidence of “ghosts” in all cultures. Peter Kreeft, in his book Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Heaven explains that there are three types of ghosts.

            “The first and most familiar kind of ghosts (spirits) are the sad (wispy) ones. They seem to be working out some unfinished earthly business. These ghosts would seem to be the ones who feel little or no joy yet and who need to learn many painful lessons about their past lives on earth. Their unfinished earthly business could take several human lifetimes or longer since time is measured differently in the spiritual realm. During the spirit’s time back on this earth they could accidentally or purposely interact with humans. This interaction would be completely mental, but it could be enough for the human to experience the earthly life of the ghost as if they had lived it themselves. This first spirit type would be the type that causes people to experience past lives.

            The second kind of spirits are malicious and deceptive spirits and are probably the ones who respond to conjurings at séances. They have no purpose but to cause confusion and deception on this earth. These spirits also interact with humans and could likewise cause a person to experience a past life but it would most likely be a horrible, nightmarish experience or feeling.

            Thirdly, there are bright, happy spirits of dead friends and family - especially spouses - who appear unbidden, at God's will, not ours, with messages of hope and love. Unlike the sad ghosts who come back primarily for their own sakes, these bright spirits come back for the sake the living, to tell us all is well. These spirits only interact with their family members or friends. These spirits could possibly be responsible for past life experiences by their earthly interactions, but only if an ancient ancestor visits a living human, which is unlikely as the spirit would have no specific attachment to that human.”

            As a Catholic I do not believe in reincarnation, but I do believe that the soul existed before it entered the physical human body, and it will exist after the physical body decays. The soul existed, and will exist in a spiritual realm that is outside of the physical realm humans know. Spirits of friends, family and others, exist in this spiritual realm also, but interact with humans in the physical realm.

            A soul is not generally considered the same thing as a spirit although they exist in the same realm. The soul is more of a connection or feeling, whereas a spirit is a direct interaction with the person. Once a soul departs a physical human body it does not come back to the earth in another physical body, but it can continue to influence other physical bodies on earth. With souls and spirits existing before and after our physical bodies, it can be said that life continues on after we die, regardless of what that continuing journey is called.

            Finally, I believe that human souls can interact with each other while their physical human bodies are still alive on earth. This interaction is at a subconscious level, and I have experienced it on several occasions. My daughter, Anna, just turned ten. She is severely disabled with multiple mental and physical conditions that prevent her from being able to do anything but lie down, sit up in a special chair with straps or get pushed in her wheelchair. Two of her main conditions are seizure disorder and central apnea. She doesn’t speak at all other than occasional screams of joy or frustration. She rarely interacts other than swinging her arms or kicking her legs when she’s happy or seizing. I have, however, had multiple interactions with her on a subconscious level.

            In the early years Anna would talk to me, in my head, while I was sleeping. Unfortunately, I didn’t kept exact records of dates, times, and what was said until recently. I do remember a few general occurrences though. Most of the time it was a little girl’s voice screaming “daddy”, to which I would snap awake, check on her, and find her having a seizure or something nearly as bad.

            In June of last year, I heard a "psst" in my ear. After a few seconds of utter confusion I got up and checked on Anna. She was fine but had pulled the oxygen tube out of her nose. I put it back in, and then spent the next two hours of sleep in bed next to her. Originally, I thought her guardian angel alerted me to her need for the oxygen and company. When I discussed this with my mom, later, she said that my dad used to “psst” into her ear when she was snoring to wake her up to turn over. So, it may have been my dad who did the “psst” in my ear to alert me to Anna’s needs.

            My dad has been dead for ten years now, but I notice his presence in other incidences around my house, too. He had a really weird sense of humor, and my wife and I will notice simple things of prankster style that we half-jokingly-half-seriously attribute to him. Also, when my younger son was around two and three years old, we would often hear him laughing in his bed at night. We believe it was my dad telling jokes. There are still times when I believe that my three-year-old daughter is looking at something or someone behind and over me, and I think that is my dad also.

            I am confident that the pranks, causes of laughter, and over the shoulder looks are due to my dad, who is the third type of spirit. I had my house blessed shortly after I moved in to keep the second kind of spirits away, and the first kind would have no reason to hang around since my house is relatively new and doesn’t have a lot of history. I fully believe that my dad is hanging out at my house with my family, and that he is watching over us and guiding me. I believe that my dad’s soul has carried on in his spirit, and will not go away until I no longer need them in my life.

-Stephen Jay Boettcher

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