Michael Voris On The Harm Of Many Modern "Appparitions"

Listen to one key thing towards the beginning about Satan's tactics to confuse faithful Catholics.  There will be lots of Catholic surroundings to them, surroundings that are of themselves good. But Satan is sly - he'll slip that one teensy little poison pill in there and spiritual confusion will result.

Medjugorje - Can Good Come From Evil?

It happens all the time, doesn't it?  For example, look at the conversion of St. Paul and the events leading up to that.  It's commonly held that the prayers of St. Stephen facilitated Saul's conversion.  Now we know that at the time, Saul was having Christians murdered, and Stephen was one of them.  Good came from evil there.  But did that render Saul's murderous activities good?

I've no doubt that Timothy experienced God's grace there.  The fact is that I was originally a believer in the Medjugorje apparitions myself, and they were instrumental in getting me to take the Sacraments more seriously.  However, as I read more about the apparitions (and I mean by that books that were sympathetic to the apparitions), I noticed that things weren't quite right all the time.  There were little "zingers" that were truly off-the-wall.  For instance, one of the girls asked the apparition what it was to be holy.  The apparition pointed out an example to the girl; the example happened to be a Moslem woman.  Now it's very likely that the Moslem lady was leading an upright, moral life.  However, because she never received Christian baptism, there was no sanctifying grace - and thus, true holiness was impossible.  Some might say that the young girl might not have known to make that distinction.  That might be true, but if the apparition were truly the Blessed Mother, she would have known better.  I might add that at the time, Mother Teresa was still alive.  Why would not the apparition have pointed her out as a clear example of a holy woman?

There's something else in Timothy's comment that should lead us to be wary of this apparition and any similar thing.  He asks, "Would the bishop have preferred that I have not found my way home to Catholicism and converted?"  Earlier he stated that without Medjugorje he would not have experienced conversion.  Here we see a trap of confining God's grace to specific occurrences.  I'm sure that if there was no apparition, that God would have found some avenue to communicate His grace to Timothy, as He cannot be constrained to external circumstances.  In what do we put our faith?  Is it in Christ and His Church, with the Sacraments and revealed doctrine, or in an apparition that is at best, only private revelation?

In my earlier posting, I didn't mention all the problematic things.  I didn't mention that at least one of the disciplined Francisians fathered a child while promoting the apparition.  I didn't mention that most of the visionaries are living in gated communities; I remember when they were swearing up and down that the apparition wanted them to be in religious life.  The bishop has a duty to consider all facts of this manifestation, and all its fruits.  Timothy, I rejoice that you've come home.  However, had the apparition never come to pass, He would have found a way to reach you, as He would have done for me.

More Rotten Fruits of Medjugorje?

His Excellency Ratko Peric, bishop of Mostar (in which Medjugorje is located) has asked that no pilgrimages be made to the site of the alleged apparitions.  When Vienna's Christoph Cardinal Schonborn made a "personal visit" to the region, Bishop Peric issued a rebuke.  There does seem to be a spate of dissident bishops barging into other bishops' dioceses these days!

You can see more details, as well as the complete text of Bishop Peric's statement at this Catholic News Agency link.  I will point out some salient points.  First, it is within the purview of the local ordinary to rule on the validity of an alleged apparition.  That has not yet happened in this case; thus it was presumptuous of the cardinal to speak of the apparition as valid.  Second, the apparition seems to be siding with several dissident Franciscans of the area who have been disciplined/suspended by both the bishop and their superiors; can anyone really imagine the Blessed Mother sticking her finger in the eye of her Son's bishops?

Here's a third point, one of which I was not aware until now.  I know that some of the rebel Franciscans have seized control of some of the parishes there.  I did not know that they invited an "old Catholic" (schismatic) "archbisop" to "confirm" hundreds of young people there.  Does any fruit smell rotten?

Ladies and gentlemen, we have the Sacraments.  We have the teaching Magisterium.  Why chase after these things?  We know what we must do to live as serious Catholics.  Do we want to go to a place of sublime holiness?  You cannot do better than going to your nearest Catholic Church, with the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.