Technorati Tags: Medjugorje , controversy
Question from Hector on 3/26/2008:
Dear dr. Richard
I have lately have had much confusion over the medjugorje apparitions. This is my question: In one of her messages Our Lady in medjugorje supposadly said " The muslims and the orthodox, for the same reason as Catholics are are equal before my son and me. You are all my children. Certainly, all religions are not equal but all men are equal before God as St. Paul says. It does not suffice to belong to the Catholic church to be saved, but it is nccisary to respect the commandments of God in following one's concience." She added " Those who are not catholic are no less creatures made in the image of God, and destined to rejoin someday the house of the father. Salvation is open to veryone without exception, only those who refuse God deliberetly are condemned. To him who has been given little, little will be asked for. To whomever has been given much, very much will be required. It is God alone, in his infinate justice, who determines he degree of responsibility and pronounes judgment." Anothr message that has me confused is the following " In God division does not exist... and there are not many religions. It is you in the world thatwho make divisions..." " Members of all faiths are equal befor God. God rules over each faith like a sovwereign over his kingdom. In the world, all religions are not the same because all people have not complied with the commandments of God... They reject and disparage the," My confusion is as following: In the first messae she said " it does not suffice to belong to the catholic church to be saved, but it is neccissary to to respect the cammandments of God in following ones concience" doesn't this contradict catholic teaching? She never said that you had to respect the command,menmts of god as well as be catholic to be saved. the church beleives that all creatures on earth excluding those who do not know about catholocism will be damned if they don't do everything they can to be catholic, " we declare, define, preach, and pronounce that i is absoulutly neccissary for th salvation of every human creature to be subject to the roman pontiff." pope boniface.
My next question is:she sAID " God rules over all faiths like a sovereign in his kingdome." But how does god rule over buhddism since they don't beleive in a god? how does he rule over hinduism since they beleive in many god's but not the one true God.? How does he rule over scientology since they beleive in no god? How does he rule over satanism, since they hate God? Isn't part of the messages heresy since they are contradicting infalliable catholic teaching. Fogive me or such a long question, but i just need to be sure of what is the truth and what is false. If the medjugorje apparitions are in fact of God I do not whant to reject them. If they are of satan then i want to warnpeople. I f you have any other information could you please add it to your response? Thanks alot
God Bless, Hector J. Gutierrez
Answer by Richard Geraghty on 6/1/2008:
Dear Hector,
Today there is confusion about the apparitions at Medjugorje so you should not be surprised. At the same time others are quite inspired. On the points you mentioned it is a safe move to check with The Catechism of the Catholic Church. If and when Rome gives the same approval to Medjugorje as she has given to Lourdes and Fatima, you can then pay closer attention to the messages of the apparitions. Right now the local bishop has not given his approval but is down right doubtful about the authenticity of the apparitions.
Dr. Geraghty
Question from Hector on 3/26/2008:
Dear dr. Richard
I have lately have had much confusion over the medjugorje apparitions. This is my question: In one of her messages Our Lady in medjugorje supposadly said " The muslims and the orthodox, for the same reason as Catholics are are equal before my son and me. You are all my children. Certainly, all religions are not equal but all men are equal before God as St. Paul says. It does not suffice to belong to the Catholic church to be saved, but it is nccisary to respect the commandments of God in following one's concience." She added " Those who are not catholic are no less creatures made in the image of God, and destined to rejoin someday the house of the father. Salvation is open to veryone without exception, only those who refuse God deliberetly are condemned. To him who has been given little, little will be asked for. To whomever has been given much, very much will be required. It is God alone, in his infinate justice, who determines he degree of responsibility and pronounes judgment." Anothr message that has me confused is the following " In God division does not exist... and there are not many religions. It is you in the world thatwho make divisions..." " Members of all faiths are equal befor God. God rules over each faith like a sovwereign over his kingdom. In the world, all religions are not the same because all people have not complied with the commandments of God... They reject and disparage the," My confusion is as following: In the first messae she said " it does not suffice to belong to the catholic church to be saved, but it is neccissary to to respect the cammandments of God in following ones concience" doesn't this contradict catholic teaching? She never said that you had to respect the command,menmts of god as well as be catholic to be saved. the church beleives that all creatures on earth excluding those who do not know about catholocism will be damned if they don't do everything they can to be catholic, " we declare, define, preach, and pronounce that i is absoulutly neccissary for th salvation of every human creature to be subject to the roman pontiff." pope boniface.
My next question is:she sAID " God rules over all faiths like a sovereign in his kingdome." But how does god rule over buhddism since they don't beleive in a god? how does he rule over hinduism since they beleive in many god's but not the one true God.? How does he rule over scientology since they beleive in no god? How does he rule over satanism, since they hate God? Isn't part of the messages heresy since they are contradicting infalliable catholic teaching. Fogive me or such a long question, but i just need to be sure of what is the truth and what is false. If the medjugorje apparitions are in fact of God I do not whant to reject them. If they are of satan then i want to warnpeople. I f you have any other information could you please add it to your response? Thanks alot
God Bless, Hector J. Gutierrez
Answer by Richard Geraghty on 6/1/2008:
Dear Hector,
Today there is confusion about the apparitions at Medjugorje so you should not be surprised. At the same time others are quite inspired. On the points you mentioned it is a safe move to check with The Catechism of the Catholic Church. If and when Rome gives the same approval to Medjugorje as she has given to Lourdes and Fatima, you can then pay closer attention to the messages of the apparitions. Right now the local bishop has not given his approval but is down right doubtful about the authenticity of the apparitions.
Dr. Geraghty
Good advice from the doctor...
ReplyDeleteBut... Like the Bible, it is best to look at the Medjugorje messages as a whole. We can all isolate bits from the bible and create contradictions according to our understanding. The Church is there to guide on such matters. The Vatican, after 28 years has still not spoken against Medjugorje or the alldged apparitions. Neither has it spoken for Medjugorje. It has not yet decided.
However, if there really was anything going on at Medjugorje that presented a danger to the faith and morals of the people, then why hasn’t the Vatcian said so?
By the way, the messages of Our Lady from Medjugorje do not conflict with any Church teaching. Neither do they present any new teaching. The Gospel message is not new.
hey this is my question posted to the ewtn catholic q & a. how'd you get it. omg i didn't know you could do that
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