Can’t we as Catholics have the mindset that it is possible that it is true too? I went to Medjugorje when I was 15 and it was a beautiful experience. My father had a complete reversion to the Catholic church through Mary that he believes stems from his visit to Medjugorje. I know we have to wait until the apparitions are completed and the Vatican has says something but it is also something to say that the fruits coming out of Medjugorje are not at all evil…they seem to come from Christ. I hold the position that it is a definite possibility that they are real and if they are not then I will accep tthat as well. All I’m saying is that the fruits I have seen are not those that the Evil one would find joy in.
Thanks for this post. I am happy to hear of your father’s reversion. I have also heard that some people were physically healed of illnesses at Medjugorje. Whether Our Lady truly appeared at Medjugorje or not, your father and others already benefited from having made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. I don’t know if Holy Mary is truly appearing at Medjugorje, and I will wait for the Church’s official decision. However, in the meantime, you and your family did nothing wrong by visiting Medjugorje, you didn’t disobey any official Church instruction, and I’m happy that you had a wonderful experience there, and that apparently your father received the grace of reversion.
I have never been to Medjugorje, but I hoped to go there. Now, rather unexpectedly, something happened that makes me think I will not go to Medjugorje anytime soon. Namely, Holy Mary has been allegedly appearing at yet another place (I won’t disclose the place, just so that I won’t violate any forum rules), within walking distance of where my grandparents lived, and where my father was born.
So, I will visit this other place, as soon as I can make it happen. My attitude is, I am not going to judge whether Mary is truly appearing at this other place. I will leave that judgment up to the Church’s official authorities. But in the meantime, many priests and laypeople have been making pilgrimages to this “other place”, and some 50 physical cures have been reported. I just watched a youtube video today, with a teenage girl who was miraculously healed from a serious skin condition. She made pilgrimages with her parents, and she was granted a miracle.
For reasons such as these, I have a lot of sympathy for people making pilgrimages to alleged places of apparitions of Our Lady. If the Church officially forbade the people from making pilgrimages to Medjugorje, or to the place near where my father was born, that would be a different story. But the Church hasn’t forbidden it, and people are free to go. Who am I to judge people who are making pilgrimages “just in case”, hoping that Mary is truly appearing at these places? Even at Lourdes or Fatima, people have been flocking there, before the Church officially ruled that the apparitions were authentic. I believe if someone travels to a site like Medjugorje, in a spirit of prayer and with no intent of disobedience to the Church, they will be rewarded. Now, interestingly, at Medjugorje and at the place near my father’s birthplace, some people received rather extraordinary gifts of physical healings. People have been healed from serious diseases including cancer. Whether Holy Mary is appearing at those places or not, the people who have been healed of physical illnesses, as well as those who received the gift of a renewed faith, received some pretty awesome rewards for making the trip and for participating in pious religious activities there.
Also, making pilgrimages to proven (Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe) or alleged (Medjugorje) places of Marian apparitions does not diminish the respect given to the Eucharist. I have visited a number of Church-approved Marian pilgrimage places during my life, many times. In fact, I grew up regularly visiting an official (Church-approved) Marian pilgrimge place, with my family. Our family, just like other pilgrims, would attend confession, Holy Mass, Holy Communion, make the Stations of the Cross, pray the Rosary, and participate in solemn processions, when we visited this Marian shrine. I grew up in a very Marian family. Several family members, including myself, are members of the Confraternity of the Rosary. We pray the Rosary every day, and we love making pilgrimages to Marian shrines. But our Marian devotion does not mean that we are less devoted to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
Based on what I know from my own family’s life, I would never dare to accuse the pilgrims to Medjugorje, of ignoring the Eucharist. In fact, I recently met an older lady during Eucharistic adoration, and as we started to talk about various things, she disclosed that she visited Medjugorje several times, starting with the 1980s when it was a dangerous place to visit, for someone from the USA. So, here was someone devoted to the Eucharist, a frequent visitor to perpetual adoration, who was also devoted to Mary and has been to Medjugorje several times.
I also happen to be devoted to Jesus in the Eucharist, I regularly go to Eucharistic adoration, and my Eucharistic devotion coexists just fine with my Marian devotion. Also, when I will visit the alleged Marian apparition site close to my father’s birthplace, I will be participating in a whole-day pilgrimage complete with confession, Holy Mass, Communion, praying the Rosary, and Eucharistic Adoration.
This is why I made clear in my post by saying “If this report is accurate, and I reiterate if.” As far as the impact, it’s hard to say. There have been so many mixed signals of late that I’d be just speculating, and not very informed speculation at that. And beehumble, May God Bless You as well!