Letter from the Pastor
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September 29, 2024In 1981, six young people began reporting apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a remote village of Medjugorje, (in former) Yugoslavia. These apparitions included many messages, which were reported on a daily basis. Three of the individuals still report receiving messages from Our Lady daily, while the other three only report them on special occasions.
After the apparitions began to be reported, the local bishop at the time appointed two commissions to study them. Meanwhile, the site’s popularity grew to the point that the Yugoslavian bishops’ conference established a third commission.
In 1991, the Yugoslavian bishops issued a finding of the apparitions “not established as supernatural,” but this did not end the matter. People still flocked to the site, with worldwide interest in Medjugorje. Now the Vatican got involved.
In 2010, Benedict XVI instituted a Vatican commission. That commission found the earliest Medjugorje apparitions worthy of further investigation, but it doubted the later ones.
The investigations continued until this past September 19th when a new ruling was made by the Vatican. While it offers no definitive judgment on the supernatural authenticity of the alleged apparitions, the Vatican’s report highlights the abundant good fruits that have come from Medjugorje.
The Vatican granted a “nihil obstat” to Medjugorje, meaning: “Without expressing any certainty about the supernatural authenticity of the phenomenon itself, many signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged ‘in the midst’ of a given spiritual experience, and no aspects that are particularly critical or risky have been detected, at least so far.”
It means that pilgrims may continue to visit and pray at the site. Since 1981 an estimated 40 million people have made a pilgrimage.
The Vatican’s report highlighted “the abundant good fruits” such as the abundant conversions, frequent return to the sacraments, vocations to priestly, religious, and married life, a deepening of the life of faith, a more intense practice of prayer, many reconciliations between spouses, and the renewal of marriage and family life. However, the report also drew attention to a number of “misleading messages” from Mary, and are told not to look at the moral character of the seers?
I guess the bottom line is you may believe that Mary is appearing, but you don’t have to believe. It is disappointing that the Vatican didn’t make a definitive declaration. So the uncertainty continues, are the seers authentic or not, what about their moral character, are they true apparitions of Our Lady, who is the source of the “good fruits?” How do they explain the “misleading messages”? We ought to know for the good of the faith. I guess, we have to stay tuned!
Today is the Feast of the Archangels: Michael (=Who is like God), Gabriel (=My power is God), and Raphael (=God heals). Feast days are typically assigned on or near the date that a Saint dies, but what happens with angels? Originally each of these Saints had their own feast day, Michael Sept 29th, Gabriel March 24th the day before the Incarnation, and Raphael on Oct. 24th. After Vatican II, the three are now celebrated together.
Along with Gabriel and Raphael, Michael is one of only three Angels mentioned by name in the Scriptures, and the only one explicitly called an Archangel meaning “chief Angel.” Each of these angels has different responsibilities: Michael is a warrior, Raphael is a guardian, and Gabriel is a messenger. But they share a common purpose: they act on behalf of God, helping His people and bringing Him glory.
