I know this is not the advice of Holy Mother Church and I'm only joking of course, promise! For we must follow the advice of the Bishop of Mostar, because as well as being bound by Holy Obedience as sons and daughters of the Church, God knows, if there is one thing solid and concrete in the Church, one thing you can rely on, one thing most prevalent in the Church in the modern World, it is holy Bishops who are preaching the Magisterium in season and out of season...If, however, you want further validation of the position of the Bishop in Medjugorje, then...
As a Catholic, go around saying, to all and sundry, "This Medjugorje stuff...It's almost certainly all b***ocks, isn't it!? All this spinning sun and floating Crosses and strange clouds and miraculous golden Crosses. What a load of superstitious nonsense!"
- If the Lord gives you blessings and graces you with peace you know you're on the right track.
- If the Lord sends a bus that nearly knocks you over or you fall over on your arse for no apparent reason, or you do something that causes embarrassment to you and those around you, or you start being cataclysmically clumsy, you know you're on the wrong track. I'm only joking! Heaven have mercy on me if its for real, and the Bishop for that matter, because if I were the Bishop at Medjugorje, I'd keep in mind the fate of the Bishop who condemned St Joan of Arc. I hear after her death they dug up his bones and threw them into the river! I hope he knows what he is doing!
Hang on...IT'S THE BLESSED VIRGIN!
"Yep, yep, yep, yep. Yep, yep...yep, uh-huh, yep, yep, noooo, do I have to?! Okay, yep, got it, right, yeah, oh alright, yes, yes, yep. Right you are!"
She said return to God, pray, go to Confession, receive the Blessed Sacrament, avoid sin, be chaste, stop leading others into sin, stop being nasty to your girlfriend and be holy.
What was it Our Blessed Lord said?
"Blessed are those who do not see, and yet believe."
2 comments:
Ah, Medjugorje....... I have been there 3 times and the place represents the most problematic area of the Catholic faith for me!
My spouse is really into the place. I, however, am very sceptical. I freely admit that this could well be because part of me does perhaps not really want to believe – I always hate the doom and gloom side to these messages, the ‘unless you say 500 rosaries and live on bread and water for half the week until you die the world will not be saved’ side of them. (Okay, I am exaggerating; I don’t really think that that is exactly the message, but you hopefully get my point!). Anyway, I’d probably be happier if I didn’t have to believe in Medjugorje.
I have though observed 3 different groups of pilgrims arrive at Medj and most of them have left believing that the vision are authentic, or at least that they might be. I know of nobody who has come away convinced they are a fraud. Of course, many pilgrims arrive already completely convinced of their authenticity, but it is the ones who do not fall in into this category, who started off being as sceptical as me, whom I have been most interested in. I have ended up believing that I am the only truly sceptical person, maybe with the hardest heart! I have also heard many impressive testimonies given by people who have been converted in Medj – but I myself still remain unconvinced!
I have avidly read all the criticism of the visionaries and it is obvious to me that there is a group of people out there who would love above anything to discredit them. I do not discount what is written about them; I just am not sure. I have seen Mirijana (the girl in the video you posted) and I must say that she seems a genuine, sincere person. I remember seeing her on a chilly autumn morning when she had a cold and probably would much rather have stayed in bed – and I was struck by the patient way she answered some pretty inane questions posed by some of the pilgrims! She usually has her ‘visions’ in a public place (usually at Cernacolo, a rehabilitation centre for young drug-addicts) where she can be watched closely by any pilgrims who have queued long enough to get a front row position. These are the occasions you can see on video. Many years ago, there were some psychological tests done on the visionaries that can be read about here:
As far as the spinning sun is concerned, I have not seen this; neither has my spouse, although he did stand beside a French woman who did and he was amazed that she was able to stare directly into the sun without damaging her eyesight. I have met people who have had this experience though and these have certainly not been people who would go around imagining such things. So, I am sure that this phenomenon is happening at Medj. Whether it is being caused by God or the devil I really cannot say; although it is hard to take in that the devil would do this, I know he can be very cunning and get up to all sorts of things we would not expect him to!
So, I am left still unsure about what to believe....... I fully acknowledge the disobedience aspect of this and take it as a very valid point when trying to discern whether the visions are genuine or not. I obtain comfort by telling myself that I am in the good company of many doubtful priests and bishops. Always at the back of my mind though is that nagging doubt..... what if the visions are genuine and we are ignoring Our Lady’s last desperate opportunity for help for this miserable world?
Just in case anybody here is interested, I came acroos this blog entry which details the history of the long-standing conflict between the Franciscans and the secular clergy in Bosnia. It accuses the Bishop of Mostar of being disobedient himself when it suits him!
Catholic Church - Ecclesia Dei blog
I myself still have absolutely no idea which side to believe......
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