by Mark P. Shea
One of the big puzzles that many Catholics have grappled with in recent years is the baffling phenomenon of some charismatic figure (one thinks of a Rev. Marcial Maciel, for instance) who can, for years, inspire or otherwise offer blessing and solace to good and decent Christians who are full of faith and obedient to the Church. Said figure can preach or write clear and engaging explications of the Faith. He can do all sorts of wonderful things that help struggling souls find healing, that give new purpose to the hopeless, and that help the lost discover the riches of grace in Christ. He is beloved by his devotees– and not without reason.
And yet that charismatic figure then turns out to be bound up with very serious sin or even shown to be, as in Father Maciel’s case, a monster of diabolical proportions.
by Patrick Madrid
Many adherents of the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje to whom I have spoken personally have invoked the (also alleged) fondness and support of Pope John Paul II for it. "The Pope was in favor of Medjugorje," they reason, "and given what a good and holy pontiff he was, it's highly unlikely that Medjugorje could be anything other than an authentic Marian apparition. And, conversely, it's an even stronger reason for believing in Medjugorje."
This is a form of what's known as an a fortiori argument. For example, one might say, "If I think that Medjugorje is true, that's all well and good. But if even the pope thinks it's true, then the possibility that it is true is much stronger, much more likely."
(RNS) Dirt at an ancient holy site in Chimayo, N.M. reputedly cures a woman’s rare bone cancer.
In North Carolina, a 14-year-old girl stricken with pneumonia is removed from life support but survives after an angelic image appears on a security monitor outside her hospital room.
A Texas man lives despite being cut in half after being run over by a train.
Were these acts of God, or is there a scientific explanation for events that seem to defy reason?
For an hour every Wednesday night (10 p.m. EST), that divisive question is the focus of “Miracle Detectives,” one of prime-time television’s first forays into exploring the miraculous.
Monique Hope-Ross, Stephen Travers, and David Mooney from the Research Foundation, Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, Ireland present here a series of patients all of whom looked deliberately at the sun for prolonged periods of time. They were encouraged to do so by other pilgrims, who themselves had seen apparitions when staring at the sun. Two of the four patients were amblyopic in one eye, and suffered damage to the dominant eye. All patients suffered irreversible visual damage, with persistent central scotomata. We should ensure that the public is aware of the dangers of sun gazing-whether during religious rituals, sun bathing, or eclipse watching.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 318, Issue 18, May 1988, pg. 1207. Correspondence.
Authors: Randy V. Campo M.D. - Jack O. Sipperley, M.D. - Gary Hall, M.D. - J. Alan Rappazzo, M.D. St. Luke's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ 85006
"Today pilgrims by the thousands visit Medjugorje to seek the experience of the original apparition by gazing into the sun for periods of up to 45 minutes for several days in succession. Their intent is to re-create the "miracle of the sun," an apparitional experince in which unusual religious artifacts or clues can be superimposed on the sun."
"The common belief persists that staring into the sun is harmless. We report on two patients who had central vision loss within several days of sungazing at Medjugorje."
I wish all of you blissful and spiritual Christmas feasts. Regardless where or with whom you will be, let there will be also Jesus and Mary's Love with you, shining upon your hearts with bliss. Let the little Jesus will be reborn, reestablished and honored in your hearts and life.
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At least 50 people in Kottayam district have reportedly lost their vision after gazing at the sun looking for an image of Virgin Mary.
Though alarmed health authorities have installed a signboard to counter the rumour that a solar image of Virgin Mary appeared to the believers, curious onlookers, including foreign travellers, have been thronging the venue of the ‘miracle’.
I wish you to have a beautiful and holy Christmas, the time in which your hearts would be renewed with love, joy and peace. I wish you this Christmas as well as the New Year 2008 would be a time of your dedication to God's love, God's will and prayer, resulting in continuous joyful awareness of the presense of the God and love in your hearts.
Note: On The Christmas Eve (i.e. 12/24/2007 from 0:00 Central European Time), you will find presents for you on this website.
There has been much interest and enthusiasm generated among the Louisiana population concerning the reported apparitions of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to six children in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia. In addition thousands of visitors to Medjugorje have claimed to have observe the "miracle of the sun," in which the sun is covered by a black disc and appears to pulsate and emit bright colors, without any apparent harmful effects to the eye. The following is a report of four patients who have suffered retinal damage associated with sungazing, both in Medjugorje and in New Orleans. It is hoped that by reporting these cases that the physicians of Louisiana will become aware of the risks involved with this practice, and that appropriate warnings will be disseminated to patients, friends, and to the public.
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I sincerely wish to all of you, that the love of little Jesus would be reborn in your hearts, resulting in spiritual experience of joy and peace. I also wish you, that especially this Christmas time would also be the time of deep prayer of heart and sincere love and devotion towards Jesus Christ, Our Lady and God the Creator. So that in the end of this year, your hearts would be prepared to enter the New Year of 2007 with tranquility and love towards God the Creator, all his creatures and everything that is divine, holy and good.
Note: On The Christmas Day (i.e. 12/24/2006), you will find a present for you here.
As the webmaster of a Medjugorje website, I am always interested in other sites and pages related to and inspired by Medjugorje. When I browse through them, I notice that only a minor part of them is able to offer a really unique and attractive content. Pages of Gospa Oratorio fortunately belongs to this category - on their pages they publish something very rare and unique - a quality spiritual music album that was inspired by Medjugorje, that we can download and listen to freely in high-quality encoded mp3 files. One can also download a booklet with all the lyrics of the songs in English language. After downloading, the music can be burned to a CD, copy to a mp3 player or played directly from the computer