Furor accompanied a negative verdict against phenomena at Garanbandal. Nevertheless, many still make pilgrimages. Most if not all of the messages in themselves may be orthodox or neutral. But the Church withholds approval for either seeing nothing supernatural or for detecting a deceptive spiritual agency. The faith of God’s people comes first and it must be protected. People can easily be deceived.
Critics of Medjugorie argue about the event’s duration and problematical messages. Translation issues and fumbles by seers might account for these difficulties. Content was questioned where reprobate priests were supposedly praised and religious relativism was poorly skirted. Somewhat befuddled by the arguments, I do not want to take sides against good Catholics. If such things cause factions in the Church then I would see this as a bad mark. But we see many good fruits. The Holy Spirit brings unity to the Church body, not division. If people experience genuine healings and rediscover their Catholic faith, then it would be hard not to see Mary’s maternal hand seeking to aid her children in the Church. In any case, we do not have to join the pack running around seeking the supernatural. Speaking for myself, my relationship with God is real and I find him here at home and in the sacraments. It may take tremendous patience, but I am comfortable with a “wait and see” policy about all the rest.
Filed under: Mary, Medjugorje, Uncategorized |
Blogger Priest 
Is that the same Pope who said he was unable to criticize Homosexuality, Father? Not surprising, for a from South America, eh?
I went to Lourdes in 2005, 2007, and Feb 2008 for the 150th anniversary, Father. I left the day before Pope Benedict arrived to avoid the crowds in tiny Lourdes. I went to 140 Rue du Bac miraculous medal chapel many times in trips to Paris, and to 48 of 52 churches in Paris during 2 weeks in summer 2007. I filmed and photo’d each place, incl. St Denys and the basilica of St Louis in Versailles. Also Toulouse, and too many Catholic shrines and towns in Spain to enter in this space — from Barcelona to Santiago, incl. Fatima and Braga etc etc. You should get out more, Father.
If miraculous medical cures do not convince you, Father Joe, you should find another line of work. You are the one who cited the miracle cure(s) worked by a favorite priest of yours in the Wash DC diocese last year, as I recall. Correct?
Above is a link to the miraculous communion at Garabandal, as promised by the angel to the visionary there about 10 days prior…
Online and sometimes on TV shows, the miraculous communion wafer that appears on the tongue of the visionary Conchita, predicted about 10 days before by the angel, and corroborated by the Virgin Mary, validates the miraculous apparitions in “the pines” above the village. Numerous other phenomena were reported by observers, incl. a visiting Catholic priest.
The miracles of Medjugorje, esp. the cure of brain cancer in the visionary Ivanka as predicted un writing exactly 5 months prior to the cure, along with the cures of Colleen Willard, Silvia Busi, and esp. Rita Klauss, are thoroughly documented. One book by a former skeptic reviews 22 miracles worldwide, with months of cooperation by the Vatican’s archivist, and focusses on Medjugorje. Its author Randall Sullivan converts to an active Catholic again, and confesses that he induced his girlfriend(s) to have 3 abortions when he was younger, See “The Miracle Detective” of 2002 or 2004, a fascinating book.