{"id":31604,"date":"2017-10-31T11:56:46","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T17:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=31604"},"modified":"2018-01-26T14:27:34","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:27:34","slug":"why-did-you-quote-medjugorje","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/why-did-you-quote-medjugorje\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Did You Quote Medjugorje?","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Medjugorje visionary, Mirjana Soldo,<\/em> Photo courtesy LaPresse<\/span><\/p>\n

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“WHY<\/strong> did you quote that unapproved private revelation?”<\/p>\n

It’s a question I get asked on occasion. Moreover, rarely do I see an adequate answer to it, even among the Church’s best apologists. The question itself betrays a serious deficit in catechesis among average Catholics when it comes to mysticism and private revelation. Why are we so afraid to even listen?<\/p>\n

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WRONG ASSUMPTIONS<\/p>\n

There is a strange assumption that is far too common in the Catholic world today, and it is this: if a so-called “private revelation” has not yet been approved by a bishop, it is tantamount to being\u00a0disapproved<\/em>. But this premise is flat out incorrect for two reasons: it contradicts Scripture and the constant teachings of the Church.<\/p>\n

The word St. Paul uses to refer to private revelation is “prophecy.” And no where in Scripture does St. Paul ever<\/em> instruct that the Body of Christ should only heed “approved” prophecy. Rather, he says,<\/p>\n

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Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. (1 Thess 5:19-21)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Clearly, if we are to test everything, then Paul means we should discern\u00a0all<\/em> prophetic claims within the Body. If we do, we will no doubt discover some utterances to not<\/em> be authentic prophecy, to not be “good”; or to be fabrications of the imagination, perceptions of the mind, or worse, deceptions from an evil spirit. But this does not seem to trouble St. Paul in the least. Why? Because he has already laid out for the Church the foundations for discerning truth:<\/p>\n

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…hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you…\u00a0hold fast to the word I preached to you…\u00a0stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours…\u00a0let us hold fast to our confession. (1 Cor 11:2; 1 Cor 15:2; 2 Thess 2:15; Heb 4:14)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As Catholics, we have the incredible gift of Sacred Tradition\u2014the unchanged teachings of the Faith as handed on to us from Christ and the Apostles 2000 years ago. Tradition is the ultimate tool to filter out what is, and isn’t of God.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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TRUTH IS TRUTH<\/p>\n

This is why I am not afraid to read “unapproved” private revelation or to even quote it when there is nothing objectionable regarding matters of the faith, and when the Church has not “condemned” the visionary. The Public Revelation of Jesus Christ is my foundation, the Catechism is my filter, the Magisterium is my guide. Thus, I am not\u00a0
\n afraid to listen.\u00a0<\/em>(Note: while the Bishop of Mostar has been unfavourable to the apparitions at Medjugorje, the Vatican made the extraordinary intervention of relegating his decision to being only “his personal opinion,” [1]<\/sup><\/a>letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from then Secretary Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, May 26th, 1998<\/span><\/span>