Wow, guys, thanks. This thread really took off and I appreciate it. Heres what stood out the most in my mind, plus my own thoughts. I do feel better after reading all of these posts, which i did.
- Im not required to believe apparitions, this is good news to me.
Although this is true, we still must believe the Church has the authority to declare such phenomena as “worthy of belief” or not. I happen to see much good in apparitions because of their fruit–conversions (such as my own) and reinvigorating of the faith for many people. God gives us many helps in our lives in our journey to him. Not all help every person, but for many apparitions have benefited them. Whatever leads people to God is a good thing. It’s up to the Church to rein in any inappropriate zeal that might lead the faithful into idolatry or superstition. 
- Im not alone with these feelings
- Im going to buy the book “A Still Small Voice” Good!
- Some people seem offended by my unfiltered deposit of emotion, forgive me.
- It wouldn’t surprise me if the Vatican has documents locked up that are mostly inaccessible to the public, not necessarily for secrecy, but to protect the integrity of the document/relic/etc…
- Jesus seems feminine because he has razor thin eyebrows and beady femme eyes. Depictions of Our Lord, of course, aren’t Our Lord. Each of us has a mental image that doesn’t always match someone else’s. St. Bernadette never liked the statue in the grotto at Lourdes (I happen to agree with her on that), still she had the humility to tell the sculptor that it was beautiful–but not the Lady she saw.
- Hosts flying into St Faustinas hands is strange since communion has always been direct to mouth, why all of the sudden are hosts levitating into her hands? I’ve not read her Diary, but there is nothing that violates Catholic teaching with this. Still, we are not required to believe it happened, nor does it matter to our faith. It’s nothing I’d be concerned about.
- Whoever claimed that I am XCatholic doesn’t get my user name. Im a Former Ex Catholic, thus Im a revert.
- Im going to start reading about Joan of Arc.
- We are in an age of private revelation, this makes sense to me now.
- A Vision must be a dream, or even a day dream. I have had very vivid day dreams before. You need to read Fr. Groeschel’s book before coming to that conclusion.
- Fatima, Ive never understood Fatima. Where did the so called message come from? The little girls wrote it down on a notepad why they were speaking with Mary? If you ever had Mary speak to you, you wouldn’t need to write it down, either. There is no way a person who has had such an experience could ever forget what she said. I believe Mary deigned to speak to me once, when I needed her most. I’ll never forget her words–they’ll live in my heart and mind for all eternity.
Please don’t get offended by me. Maybe Im weak in the faith but I love Jesus dearly and especially his Mother. We all have had issues we’ve needed to iron out. Asking questions is not the same thing as deliberately doubting out of hubris/stubbornness of heart. We need to keep open hearts and open minds to the movement of God in the world otherwise we turn it into a mere mechanism instead of a living creation, which it is.
Thanks
Justin
