Medjugorje: Case Closed?

Vivificat! A Catholic Blog of News, Commentary, and Opinion ^ | 20 May 2005 | Teófilo

[GipperGal]

Thanks for your post. The story of Medjugorje has long intrigued me -- primarily because I can't explain it either way. I can't be certain that it's not true, and yet I can't be certain that it is (who can?). But some of it rings very true, eerily true. And the truth of it makes me more than a little unsettled (in a good way, in an awe-inspiring, almost frightening way which one feels when encountering God). The Lady of Medjugorje told the children back in the early 80s that something bad was going to happen specifically in their country. She was very adamant about this. Of course, this was long before the Milosevic and the horrors of the war there. The message, when see in hindsight, seems remarkably prescient. And then there are the miracles. Lots of them. I just don't know...

[CO Gal]

I'm not Catholic so I don't know how much info I can provide, but a good high school friend of mine became a priest due to the miracles he witnessed in Medjugorie in 1987.

Since it has been so long ago what I remember him telling me about that trip was that whenever these kids (they were young adults at that time) would see the virgin Mary, that test showed their eyes would diolate exactly the same as if something was blocking the sun.

He told me that the message these kids were supposed to relay was that He was coming soon and to spread his word. We were 19 back in 1987 (but I was a much younger 19!) but that experience had such a profound influence on him that in 1998 I was privileged as a non-Catholic to see him ordained.

[GipperGal]

whenever these kids (they were young adults at that time) would see the virgin Mary, that test showed their eyes would dilate exactly the same as if something was blocking the sun.

I know. I've seen that too. It's eerie. I've seen tests where one of the kids was poked with needles (I'm talking big needles) and didn't even flinch. There is no adequate scientific explanation for this.

Her main message to the children was "Pray to Jesus. Pray ceaselessly." Sounds like something Mary would say. She also told them that the twentieth century was given over to Satan for him to unleash all evil, but God would overcome him. Have you ever read Walker Percy's "Thanatos Syndrome"? At the end of the novel, the priest character talks about this message from Medjugorje.

[sinkspur]

But as the record grew and the alleged apparitions continued, things got more confused. I can't follow the thread any more. I have to ask, what's the end, what's the goal, what's the purpose of these apparitions?

Nobody can follow "the thread." These "apparitions" are a scam, with the purpose of luring as many paying customers to the "shrine" as possible.

The messages are a mess, and sound as if they originate in the heads of children.

Which, in fact, they do.

[GipperGal]

Why does your skepticism not surprise me in the least. I get the vibe from you that you're like Vincent Price's character in "A Song of Bernadette". Or perhaps Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor. What messy "message" are you referring to?

[CO Gal]

No, I've not read it. I'll check into it though, thanks!

[GipperGal]

Do. It's a great read!

[sinkspur]

the many "messages" pronounced in the early years by the mouths of the so-called "seers", especially those that praised the disobedience of some Franciscan priests in Mostar, and berated the local bishop who conscientiously abided by Canon law, that belittled the highest decisions of the Church regarding the administration of the diocese,

This is from The Bishop of Mostar, May, 2004. It is the local bishop who determines whether apparitions are genuine, and two bishops have said they are not.

[Dajjal]

The so-called "Gospa" 's message at Medjugorje is that Catholics should be ecumenical toward all Muslims. "Can't we all just get along?"

Besides that, she approves of the seers having sex outside of marriage, attending "Masses" said by defrocked priests, and all sorts of other niceties.

[onyx]

I watched that segment on tv with Stone Phillips.

I'd like to believe it, but when that one fellow claimed our Holy Mother comes to him everyday at 6:40PM, (except when he was being interviewed) then I had to think "scam."

[ndkos]

"Our Lady" of Medjugorje is not from God. I can say this definatively because she has advocated the false doctrine that all religions are equal.

[GipperGal]

Wait, now you're in favor of obedience? Sinky, I thought you were all about doing your own thing -- more liberality in the liturgy, priests marrying, doing away with Humanae Vitae. Suddenly now you're all in favor of absolute obedience to the local bishop? I believe the local bishops in Fatima and in Lourdes both denounced the apparitions there as well. And don't forget Juan Diego's bishop. Mary had to send him a couple dozen roses gift wrapped in an image of her in order for him to believe.

The bishop's denial tells me nothing. The bishops in America were denying there was a sex abuse scandal. Bishops can be wrong sometimes.

[GipperGal]

Besides that, she approves of the seers having sex outside of marriage, attending "Masses" said by defrocked priests, and all sorts of other niceties.

When did she approve of this? Evidence please.

[GipperGal]

I can say this definatively because she has advocated the false doctrine that all religions are equal.

When did she say this?

[GipperGal]

The so-called "Gospa" 's message at Medjugorje is that Catholics should be ecumenical toward all Muslims. "Can't we all just get along?"

Well, ah, when the alternative is killing your neighbor or watching your neighbor be killed and gang raped as Milosevic and his thugs run rampant, maybe "can't we all just get along" is not such a bad suggestion.

[GipperGal]

I watched that segment on tv with Stone Phillips.

That right there might be your first clue that you're not getting the whole story.

[CO Gal]

Wow, I have not heard that. Does this apparition still appear to these people? Like I stated earlier, I'm not a Catholic, but I heard a lot about this story when my friend made his pilgrimage.

Also, as a sidebar, is it true that Pope John Paul II stated that "good works" can get you into heaven? I heard this stated during his funeral hoopla (sorry, couldn't think of better term) and to me that goes contrary to what Jesus states in the Bible.

[sinkspur]

Read "the visions". They're nonsensical and contradictory.

Is the Blessed Mother nonsensical and contradictory?

[Dajjal]

Besides that, she approves of the seers having sex outside of marriage, attending "Masses" said by defrocked priests, and all sorts of other niceties.
When did she approve of this? Evidence please.

Read The Medjugorje Deception: Queen of Peace, Ethnic Cleansing, Ruined Lives by E. Michael Jones. It's been a while since I've read it, but that and more is in there.

http://www.culturewars.com/medj.htm