tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post115500122399942638..comments2023-09-22T06:56:46.508-05:00Comments on Adoro te Devote: Private Revelation and Catholic EschatologyAdorohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853244433854822731noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155523564735118722006-08-13T21:46:00.000-05:002006-08-13T21:46:00.000-05:00I appreciate what you say. I have been to Medjugor...I appreciate what you say. I have been to Medjugore four times and I have been blessed with many graces as were the pilgrims who accompanied me. however the graces are wherever Jesus is which is in all our Catholic churches. Being in Medjugorie is like a booster shot. It is not neccesarily that what is alleged to be happening but because so many people come there in faith. The people come seeking and God does not make fools of us and will grant us the graces we seek. It is a special place of prayer and yet it could occur wherever people of fervent faith gather. Jesus had promised this: "Where two or more gathered in prayer, there are I"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155241531145583802006-08-10T15:25:00.000-05:002006-08-10T15:25:00.000-05:00I am very cautious when it comes to private revela...I am very cautious when it comes to private revelation. I feel like I have my plate full trying to understand public revelation as it is.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03155295227681615241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155058966489382862006-08-08T12:42:00.000-05:002006-08-08T12:42:00.000-05:00Excellent points. Here's my two cents.Personally, ...Excellent points. Here's my two cents.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I'm very mistrustful of private revelation that does not, at least, have the approval of the Church. Why? Because I think we need the distance of time and reflection to verify the validity of said revelation.<BR/><BR/>Obviously, we "run the risk" of missing some potentially important revelation of "the now" but I think our "well-formed" consciences will tell us if it's worthy of belief.<BR/><BR/>New Advent has this to say:<BR/><BR/>"When the Church approves private revelations, she declares only that there is nothing in them contrary faith or good morals, and that they may be read without danger or even with profit; no obligation is thereby imposed on the faithful to believe them." <BR/><BR/>Even the Church is not saying you have to believe even the approved revelations. However, nothing will be approved that is contrary to church doctrine.<BR/><BR/>I'm with Adoro, sometimes private revelation can be a substitute for fortune-telling. Have we all become Greeks seeking the Oracle at Delphi? I used to read Tarot cards myself and I took them as "truth". I think there is a real danger of Satan creeping in to some of these revelations which is why the Church, in its wisdom, is cautious.<BR/><BR/>Also, I think sometimes a "cult of believers" can form around these mystics. Some take everything the mystic says as fact. I used to belong to a cult so I know firsthand the dangers of losing yourself in a charismatic leader.<BR/><BR/>I think the best you can do, Adoro, is encourage your friends to review the mystics revelations in light of Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium. And to take and consider each revelation one at a time before accepting it as true.Cathy_of_Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16795566831031491371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155048895593079102006-08-08T09:54:00.000-05:002006-08-08T09:54:00.000-05:00Well said Adoro.You got me to respond to the book ...Well said Adoro.<BR/><BR/>You got me to respond to the book meme and my reaction to "Theology and Sanity" was exactly what got me back to Church. <BR/><BR/>What I had been struggling with for those twenty years that I was away was what it meant to be created in the "image and likeness of God."<BR/><BR/>Sheed, building on my lifetime's learning and experience, showed me how I had been specially created by God, even to the point of being a finite copy of the trinitarian existence, and that I would have my own particular path to walk, but with God and the Communion of Saints at my side, ready to provide assistance should I ask for their help.<BR/><BR/>I haven't always asked, but I do know they are there.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08332138030182107580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155006386271136022006-08-07T22:06:00.000-05:002006-08-07T22:06:00.000-05:00Medjugorje will be in question until the mystics l...Medjugorje will be in question until the mystics leave for eternity, and then it will be put to the test. As the alleged apparations are ongoing, the Vatican cannot complete their investigation. <BR/><BR/>I do not doubt the conversions that have taken place there, nor do I doubt the orthodoxy of those who go...afer all, I have seen the miraculous and the return to the Sacraments and a deepening faith resulting from these trips. <BR/><BR/>But I myself do not feel any sense that I should go there..although I feel strongly drawn to the Holy Land and to Rome. <BR/><BR/>Ray, if we have a wellformed conscience, that IS God speaking to us, so yes, focus on that. We do not need to be charismatics, we do not need to visit Medjugorje or Fatima or Lourds in order to recognize the voice of our shepherd. But maybe some people DO need that experience in order to learn, and for some specific purpose, they are called to those locations. <BR/><BR/>We don't walk the same paths, and that's why the Church is so beautiful...because no matter where we go, we see her in all her glory...and we realize we are ALL a part of her. <BR/><BR/>The bride of Christ, with Mary as our Mother.Adorohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02853244433854822731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155005900189022582006-08-07T21:58:00.000-05:002006-08-07T21:58:00.000-05:00I don't know.I have a friend who went to Medjugorj...I don't know.<BR/><BR/>I have a friend who went to Medjugorje and she had a powerful experience there and that may be what is keeping her Catholic. She gets not much out of attending Mass and regularly attends the services in Brooklyn Park of Mac Hammond which she enjoys greatly.<BR/><BR/>She gave me a medal of the Blessed Mother that she brought back from Medjugorje and I admit to having attached it to my Rosary. <BR/><BR/>But I don't know. A lot of people seem to be having relatively orthodox and rewarding prayer lives because of their Medjugorje experiences.<BR/><BR/>I guess that is between them and God.<BR/><BR/>I'm more worried about me and my prayer life. I don't recognize anybody but my conscience speaking to me. I'm satisfied that that might be a message, but from whom, I don't know. <BR/><BR/>I don't always listen or follow it, but in retrospect, I should have been.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08332138030182107580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155005426686259582006-08-07T21:50:00.000-05:002006-08-07T21:50:00.000-05:00Thank you, Terry...indeed, people must be careful....Thank you, Terry...indeed, people must be careful. <BR/><BR/>The two mystics I've met have inspired me to prayer and I admit to reading their messages...and they have bolstered my faith. But I recognized in myself that propensity to wanting to know the future, to looking for knowledge that I should not have, and realized I was looking to these women as a form of fortune-telling...and I know that both of them would set me straight if I were ever to express that to them. They are only messengers, and they do express that we are meant to turn to the Lord, not to them, and they are very clear. <BR/><BR/>I do believe that those who rely too heavily upon these women do not realize they are doing so...and I'm not sure how to help them understand my concern. Please pray for them...they are good Catholics, and many know their faith and teach it to others as well as they can..but they cannot see the example they are providing in their devotion to mystics and their "overuse" of them.Adorohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02853244433854822731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155004567046013652006-08-07T21:36:00.000-05:002006-08-07T21:36:00.000-05:00Very good post! You expressed it very well...I've...Very good post! You expressed it very well...I've seen some of the people you know - maybe not the ones you spoke with - but those like them. They see signs everywhere and tend to be very suspicious of everyone and everything - especially when they question if there is anything supernatural about the revelations. I can't help but think it's a huge dose of curiosity and sensate gratification they are seeking to bolster their faith. <BR/><BR/>As for mystical revelations of the saints, they have never been canonized for these things and very few have had any official pronouncement upon the veracity of their writings, at most the Bishop will say such things are free of anything contrary to the faith.<BR/><BR/>Saints such as Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Sienna, John of the Cross and others have their writings approved because they are mystical theology and contain good doctrine. St. Faustina is an exception of course, as are a few others. One always has to be prudent and obedient, while detachment and mortification always keeps one very safe indeed.<BR/><BR/>Another problem I find with a local mystic I know of is those who hear and read what she says, very often repeat it with their own interpretation, hence things get to be even more convoluted. These people become vulnerable to deception and easily believe everything they hear if someone tells them the Blessed Mother said it. One lady had told me once that Mother Angelica, though silent and relatively incapacitated leaves the monastery when Our Lord permits her, and that she has done so at least two times to help with two different foundations of monasteries. I had a mother of one of her nuns ask the sisters and they laughed and said it was not true.<BR/><BR/>People must be careful.Terry Nelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09819523933502820341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155003787633865002006-08-07T21:23:00.000-05:002006-08-07T21:23:00.000-05:00Thank you for your comment. I've been agonizing ov...Thank you for your comment. <BR/><BR/>I've been agonizing over this for days, and today I read a post by someone else, another local blogger, with his own take. That actually inspired me further, and I realized I had to talk about this. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, I don't think my resulting post has adequately displayed the agony I have experienced over this topic over the last few days, so I pray the Holy Spirit guide our discussion here in the combox. <BR/><BR/>God bless you!Adorohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02853244433854822731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-1155002539087703162006-08-07T21:02:00.000-05:002006-08-07T21:02:00.000-05:00Oddly enough, our pastor touched on this topic jus...Oddly enough, our pastor touched on this topic just this past Sunday. He said that we must be careful not to allow private revelations, which we are not required to believe, to become the centerpiece of our faith.Christine the Soccer Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01270550419011368834noreply@blogger.com