As he continues to reflect on how Christ brought a new understanding of hope to the early Church, Pope Benedict notes how this new religion of Christianity was not just for those who “belonged to the lower social strata, and precisely for this reason were open to the experience of new hope, as we saw in the example of Bakhita.” (SS 5) There were also many who were more cultured and well-off who began to find a new hope in Christ. Many had been following the Roman way of life, centered on a view of things being governed by various gods and the cosmic forces of nature and the universe.
The Holy Father quotes the following from St. Gregory Nazianzen, who lived in the latter part of the 4th century, in the early days of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. St. Gregory wrote “that at the very moment when the Magi, guided by the star, adored Christ the new king, astrology came to an end, because the stars were now moving in the orbit determined by Christ.” (SS 5)
On this quote, the Holy Father offers the following reflection, noting its importance not just in those early days of Christianity, but now as well:
This scene, in fact, overturns the world-view of that time, which in a different way has become fashionable once again today. It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe; it is not the laws of matter and of evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, love—a Person. And if we know this Person and he knows us, then truly the inexorable power of material elements no longer has the last word; we are not slaves of the universe and of its laws, we are free.
The Pope’s notes that a worldview of things being governed primarily by the “elemental spirits of the universe” (Col 2:8) “has become fashionable once again today.” This takes various forms, including reading horoscopes, using tarot cards, and going to fortune-tellers. Against these practices, the Church has spoken strongly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility. All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. (CCC 2115-2116)
Some might object that such warnings are unwarranted, but the Church offers them in order to guard us from things that can harm us. As one author I read on this topic concluded: “By consulting a horoscope to show ourselves our path in life, we usurp the place of God in whose hands we should place our concerns allowing Him to lead us down the path of holiness in discerning his will for us.” (Angelo Stagnaro, National Catholic Register, Blog entry of June 9, 2020) As we entrust ourselves in faith to Christ alone to lead us down that path, we have the assurance that whatever that path may be, we are sustained by hope, a “hope that does not disappoint.” (Rom 5:5)