RELICS OF Jesus Christ and other holy persons, such as his apostles, the saints, and martyrs of the Catholic Church, used to be regarded with great reverence and respect by the early church fathers. They are carefully kept in elaborately adorned reliquaries, and some are displayed only on special occasions. A priest could not begin to say mass unless the altar contained a relic of Jesus Christ or a saint.

But this does not seem to be the case anymore. According to a well-known historian, Ambeth Ocampo, a former Benedictine Monk, “At best, relics are souvenirs of a saintly life.” They “should not be considered miraculous, neither should they be worshipped as the practice borders on superstition.”

This seems to be the current stand of the church concerning relics, because a Canon Law expert, Fr. Jerome Marquez, SVD, whom I interviewed on my Sunday radio program on DZRM last May 1, revealed that the church no longer requires that a relic of a saint be placed on the altar before a priest can say mass.

But if relics are no longer important, why does the church still classify relics into first class (i.e. a part of a holy person’s body, such as bone, skin, hair, blood); second class (i.e. objects closely associated with the saint, such as his or her clothing, other personal effects); and third class (i.e. objects he or she has touched or held)?

The fact is, whether the Church admits it or not, every living creature, or any object, for that matter, has vibrations or energy patterns. Anything we come in contact with or touch bears our energy pattern or psychic imprint. And this is the reason why certain primitive people refuse to shake hands with strangers, or have their pictures taken. They believe something of themselves would be lost or transferred to the other.

Western scientific minded persons consider such beliefs mere superstition with no rational or objective basis. Yet, these primitive people intuitively or instinctively know they are right.

I know that this is not easy to understand. The closest I can get to explaining this belief in as objective a manner as possible is to introduce the Sanskrit word “akasha,” which has no English equivalent. The usual or nearest translation of “akasha” is “space” or perhaps, better still, “space-time” Everything that has happened to an individual and the entire universe is recorded in the akasha.

Time and space

According to the American psychic and prophet, Edgar Cayce, the akashic record contains information that is written by each of us “in the skein of time and space.” A psychic who can read the akashic record will know everything that is hidde;, no secrets can be kept from him or her. Perhaps this is what Jesus Christ meant when he said that “what is hidden will be revealed.”

If everything in the universe can be reduced to its ultimate substance or essence, what would remain is the akasha. The akasha, therefore, is the substratum of all matter. It is even smaller or more fundamental than a particle in quantum physics. Each person creates his own akashic record from the time he is born to the time he dies. Everything that he has thought, seen, felt, smelled, tasted, and touched is recorded in the akasha. And it cannot be erased because it is not on the physical plane.

Perhaps the akashic record is what the Christians refer to as the “Book of Life,” which St. Peter is supposed to consult when a person dies to see if he deserves to enter heaven or be condemned in hell. For what else could that Book of Life be?

Now, what has all this got to do with relics? Let me ask you a very simple, common-sense question. Will the vibrations, energy pattern, or psychic imprint of an object be the same, whether it was touched by a saint or sinner, by a holy person like Pope John Paul II, or by a serial killer like the Boston Strangler?

Every time you hold or touch an object, you leave something of yourself on that object, which can be read accurately by a psychic through psychometry. There’s a great deal of documented literature about this relatively unknown psychic ability or power in man.

It is not mere superstition therefore to believe that a relic of a holy man or a saint can bring about real healing, which is not merely psychological. By the way, since I had the rare opportunity to meet Blessed John Paul II personally at the Vatican on 1986 and shake hands with him, I can, therefore, be classified as a third-class relic. Right, Ambeth?

The next Basic ESP Development Seminar will be held on May 14-15, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and the next Inner mind Development Seminar on May 21-22, 9 a.m.- p.m., while The Advance ESP and Higher Consciousness Seminar will be on May 23-27, 6-9 p.m. Call 8107245, 8159890 or 0920-9818962. E-mail [email protected] Visit www.jimmylicauco.com.