Hi, Sarah —

Thanks for your question.

My colleagues can correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe the Church has taken any position on this type of occurrence.  It would be similar to an unapproved Marian apparition.

I'm assuming that after your nephew entered the barn, he disappeared.

I can only relate a personal experience I had to yours:

My mother's side of the family was Protestant; I believe they were Congregationalists.

My grandmother didn't come across on the religious side; if they had a Bible in their house it was treated like any other piece of furniture in the house. A year or so after she passed away,
I remember going to St. Patrick's for daily Mass. As I was going into the church, an elderly lady was leaving who, at the time, looked exactly like my Grandma Dixon; I was surprised at the resemblance.

On further personal reflection, I wondered if this was a signal grace which the Lord had sent me that my Grandma Dixon was in Heaven.

No one can say for sure, but maybe it was a personal blessing I received that day.

Anyway, anything like this would be treated like an unapproved Marian apparition and would have no weight, at all, in Church teaching.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Hi, Sarah —

As Mike and your friends have attested, there are many people who seriously claim to have experienced signs of loved ones that have passed on. I would agree with Mike that there are no official condemnations or positive doctrines concerning these experiences by the Church.

The Church does teach that death is the separation of soul from body, and that spiritual souls survive bodily death. She also teaches that individual souls go face to face with God immediately after death in what is called the Particular Judgment, and that there is Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, the last being a temporary purification stop.

While being a disembodied soul is not being a full human person before the general resurrection, it would not be unreasonable, with God's help and allowance, that they could manifest themselves (and|or) communicate a message to the living.

It's always good to discern whether such an experience might be caused by one's own psychological make-up or demonic activity trying to fool the living. I would keep an open mind to such possibilities.

Paul

Dear, Sarah —

This sort of event is common in Catholic spirituality, and very naturally accepted. God sometimes allows the departed to manifest themselves. Nevertheless, we should never try to summon them or ask any communication from them, though we can pray to them in the Lord.

If the manifestation is worldly, showing a continuing attachment to things of this world, then it would be a reminder to have a Mass said for the person's soul.

This is something, of course, we ought to do for anyone dear to us.

Mary Ann

Sarah —

I would add one caution to my colleague's answers.

Any sort of message one might believe they receive from any super natural manifestation, apparition of a loved one, etc. must be judged against Church Teaching.

If a deceased loved one comes back and tells us to do something or believe something contrary to Church Teaching, I would doubt the authenticity of the message and question the source.

John