My view on Medjugorje
QUESTION? / COMMENT!
I’d appreciate your opinion on Medjugore please. All sorts of problems occurred after a relative returned from a pilgrimage there years ago. Maybe just a coincidence? What what you do with Medjugore rosaries ? They have ‘MEDJUGORE’ on them & was blessed by some priest there.
ANSWER! / COMMENT!
I appreciate your emails and I hope you do not think I am on some "anti-Medjugorje" trip. I am not. I believe that both you and I are on the same page, we both love Our Lord, Our Lady and Our Church. You believe privately in Medjugorje and that is your right. I am skeptical (as is the Church) and that is my right. Both positions are permitted as long as we obey the Church and the prelates involved. Please listen to and read the information I have provided...
Discerning Apparitions ~ Fr Ripperger quotes Fr Jordan Aumann (Thomist Spiritual Theologian who was a Professor in Rome) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q73aoHXsLq0&t=3199s from 13:12-15:54; all the authentic apparitions are short and concise, Our Lady doesn’t not continue to talk on and on and on, Our Lady had the virtue of silence.
Our Lady of Medjugorje protects the head of the serpent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXJbH3qX85w by Fr Shannon Collins (Missionary of St John the Baptist). He points out all the errors in the apparitions which demonstrates its not supernatural.
Why are there so many conversions at Medjugorje despite the fact that the local Bishops in succession have stated that nothing supernatural happened there. The reason for so many interior conversions is because the place is a Niagara Falls of sanctifying grace and actual grace flowing throughout that location because so many people of faith go there to repent, to pray, to seek Gods face, to confess their sin, to go to Adoration, to attend reverent Liturgies. The grace that flows around that place is probably so thick you can cut it with a knife. Remember our Lord says where ever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst. Well, at Medjugor je there are thousands of faith filled people praying, doing penance, fasting, these are the ingredients that will bring about the powerful conversion of people that are saturating and soaking in this environment with an open heart. The atmosphere in Medjugorje is so ripe with holy people, holy objects and holiness because of the sacraments that a vortex of grace has been created and it present which makes it the perfect storm for someone to have a Saul of Tarsus road to Damascus moment despite the fact that nothing supernatural has happened there. The reason Medjugorje and other alleged non approved apparitions have become so popular because people are looking for hope and answers. Because we have weak leadership amongst our Bishops and a whole generation or two of malformed Priest and laity, people are driven by their emotions and want to believe the message of any purported apparition or private revelation to give them some hope.
The Church will only say that a private revelation is worthy of belief or not worthy of belief. You are not required to believe any appearance not even Lourdes or Fatima. I think it is wise to believe in private revelation that is approved by the Church because it can lead us deeper in our faith. The criteria the Church uses to examine a private revelation – apparition is found in 1 Thessalonians 5: 20-22 “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.” We also have to remember that the Holy Bible says that Satan can appear to us "as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). There is the testimony of St John Vianney and St Padre Pio, some of the holiest Priest in the history of Catholicism who stated they had visions of holy people (saints, Our Lord and Our Lady) who were actually demons. They knew because once these saints started praying they disappeared like a puff of smoke. Yes, many saints have had false apparitions. This is why the Church is very cautious about approving apparitions. Not only do they want to rule out mental illness, but they want to rule out a counterfeit of the enemy.
This is the final report on Medjugorje which came out in 2017, it indicates it’s still not approved https://web.archive.org/web/20170711165736/http://the-tidings.com/articl...
Pope Francis granted Catholics permission to organize pilgrimages to Medjugorje in 2019, though the Church has not yet given a verdict on the apparitions' authenticity - https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248687/archbishop-henryk-hoser-p...
E Michael Jones wrote a book called: ‘The Medjugorje Deception; Queen of Peace, Ethnic Cleansing, Ruined Lives’ https://www.fidelitypress.org/medjugorje
Michael Jones investigated Medjugorje for 10 years. This is his narrative of the events at Medjugorje, the lives of the people who were changed by them, and the scandals which occurred there as well.