In mid-February Oprah’s guests were a 7-year-old boy, Zach, and his mother, Laurie.  Since a very early age Zach had been subject to bouts of extreme rage, shouting, screaming, throwing things, even injuring others, to the point where his mother was actually afraid of him.  At the time of the taping Zach was in a state which he described as calm and peaceful because he had learned to invite a white light into himself which kept away “negativity” to which he was very sensitive.  The negativities, he said were outside of him and the white light kept them away.

At that point in the program Oprah Winfrey told Zach that she, too,  during her morning meditation  invites a “white light” into her.  She seems to want it to cover her, protect her, fill her, perhaps even lead her.  She obviously invites it in because she thinks it is good and beneficial.

What is Oprah’s white light?  We all wondered about that.

Of course the white light is not unique to Oprah.  In Sanskit there is a greeting,  namaste, which essentially means, “The light in me recognizes the light in you.”    I remember David Arquette commenting once on seeing the light in Oprah’s eyes.   Is Oprah’s light Jesus, the light of the world? Or some other light?

For many years I have tried not to miss an Oprah program and I’ve written about her before. It has seemed to me and to  many that Oprah, once a Christian, has been moving toward new age Christ-less teachings.  Here are some random quotes:

“She used her endorsement to sell everything from millions of books to a spirituality-without-religion viewpoint that’s now the norm.”

“Oprah is a funny, smart, charismatic, and real American woman who has found commercial success by tapping into a human need for “soul food.”

“Oprah – a misspelling of the biblical name “Orpah” – was a modern-day prophet in the American church of the self. “

So, a few days ago, when a rumor started on Facebook that the guest on Oprah’s last program (after 25 years) was going to be Scott Hahn, there was considerable excitement.  Who, you would ask, if you were not in the Catholic loop, is Scott Hahn?  Catholics know him well and consider him the quintessential bible scholar/apologist for Catholic doctrine.   Facebook was a-buzz!  Could that be?  It would be a miracle if she ever had a serious dialog about religion with Scott.   All we could do was hope and pray.

Oprah has moved away from a Christianity that says no one is saved except through Jesus.  She could not accept that a person who had never been told about Jesus would go to an everlasting hell.  If anyone could straighten Oprah out on that, Scott Hahn could.  He knows that Catholic doctrine lets good people into heaven who have not  heard the gospel.

Oprah also moved away from Christianity when she read that our God is a jealous God.   I don’t know what she understood “jealous” to mean, but I think it means that God loves mankind and doesn’t want to see anyone lost.    Whatever her problem with Christianity, Scott Hahn could only shed light.

We waited, impatiently, for her last program, Wednesday, May 25.   She had no guest.  Or, rather, she was her own guest.   No Scott Hahn.

Clips from Oprah’s last show are available online on her website.     Sorry, but they do not seem to be embeddable.

Here is a recap of Oprah’s story:

CBN had the following comment on Oprah’s spirituality as put forth in her final program: 

Yes, Oprah gives credit to her team and to Jesus for her 25 years of success. “The hand of God has made this possible for me.” What God is she talking about? “The one and only G-O-D, that’s the one I’m talking about.” “I have felt the presence of God my whole life, even when I didn’t have a name for it.”   “God is Love. God is Life.”

There is no questioning Oprah’s sincerity. But we still don’t know, do we, if Jesus is to her a great teacher among many, or a historical person, Emmanuel, God-with-us,  who spoke with the authority of God, worked miracles, started a church, was crucified, and rose from the dead.   What you believe about Jesus makes a big difference in the amount of weight you give to his words.

At the end of her program Oprah put her hands together in prayer and said

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Amen to that.

Thank you Oprah for your love,  for all you have done. and for your  email address:  Oprah@Oprah.com

Oprah, you can find Scott Hahn on Facebook.  Or, I’m sure your “peeps” can get you a direct line!  God love you.

For 25 years now I’ve watched Oprah almost daily. Some of my friends don’t understand my devotion to Oprah since she doesn’t seem to stand for anything I stand for. They say she’s a left leaning liberal. They say that she’s full of herself and has to have her photo on every cover of O Magazine. They say that even her generosity is self-serving. In fact, Oprah herself has said she is full of herself and you can’t give to others unless you are first filled up.

So why do I watch (and love) this wealthy, influential woman who leans so far left? I see so much of her that sometimes I think I know her better than I know my own children, especially the ones living in other states. It’s true that she was quick to jump on the Obama bandwagon and I saw her weep tears of joy when the first “black” president was elected. She undoubtedly  played a big role in his election. It is also true that I think Obama is a fake Christian (see my post ), a liar and a deceiver (another post).

Also, Oprah seems to do her best to present homosexuality in a favorable light. If you’re a man on the down-low, apparently that’s OK. If you realize after years of marriage and several kids, that you’re really gay, apparently that’s OK. Change your gender? If that’s who you really are, that’s fine. She had a minister on her program who said being gay was a gift from God and she seemed to like that. To me, accepting others where they are is part of loving them, but the Bible has important things to say about marriage and homosexuality which Oprah chooses to ignore. I cannot fathom why she does not see anal sex as unhealthy and a perversion of a normal function. If her dogs behaved in this fashion she’d think something was seriously amiss.

When you come right down to it, if we lived according to God’s rules — being chaste before marriage and faithful in marriage – one man married to one woman — it would solve so many problems. AIDS — and many other sexually transmitted diseases –would vanish in one generation (how would they be spread?) . Children would be raised by two parents. No more young males roaming about with no role model at home. Less delinquency and less poverty. I would be so much happier if Oprah preached biblical Christianity instead of her own brand of doing whatever feels good. It seems to me that a society under God’s rules would be considerably better off than the free-for-all that exists today.

Oprah reaches more people on one TV program than most preachers can hope to reach in a lifetime of sermons. She is admired by many as a spiritual leader. Indeed, calling people to live their best life is what Oprah is about. She thinks others can learn from her own search and promotes books and prophets that appeal to her. Because of this one evangelist has called her the most dangerous woman in the world, peddling New Age philosophy to her many followers. In the following video Oprah is accused of rejecting Jesus.

As in the above video clip, folks are claiming that Oprah (who might actually consider herself a Christian) has abandoned Jesus. She is saying that Jesus is not the only way, that people who have never heard of Jesus (or people who came before Jesus) can find God. While many Protestants take issue with this, I, as a Catholic, have no trouble agreeing with her. Jesus, who wants no one to be lost, certainly would not condemn a person for something that was not his fault. What kind of justice would that be?

Pope Paul VI in Lumen Gentium (16) writes:

Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel. She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life.

Again, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states (1281):

Those who …without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will are saved even if they have not been baptized.

The Catholic Church has long accepted as sufficient for salvation the baptism of blood (should you die for your faith unbaptized) and the baptism of desire (should you ardently desire water baptism but die without it) in lieu of water baptism.

Therefore, I totally agree with Oprah on this particular issue. Jesus IS the way. It is through his willing death on the cross that we are saved (even people who came before him, and even those who have never heard of him.) A just God would not condemn anyone for something they did not choose!

I feel that Oprah is sincere and a truth-seeker and I love that in her. I, too, am a truth-seeker. We have come up with different “truths.” Both of us could be wrong, but both of us can’t be right. Truth is truth. I think Oprah has to make up her mind who she believes Jesus is. Is he just another man in history who said some really good things? If Jesus came as Lord and Savior as he claims, she would do well to listen to what he said.

Oprah, have you really thrown Jesus, his death on the cross, his resurrection, and this teachings under the bus? Is Jesus your Lord or not?

~~~

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — John 14:6

But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. — Matthew 10:33

Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.  —  Romans 1:26,27