Word is Medjugorje, the controversial apparitions the former Yugoslavia, is going to be condemned. In case you did not know, Medjugorje has a notorious reputation among theologians. The immoral actions of the followers and apparitionists is part of the discernment of the Church. They have not been obedient to the Magisterium.
Discernment of Spirits
The highest discernment is found in the dogma of the Moral Law, which includes the Ten Commandments. Violations of these Commandments is indicative of not having a valid vision or apparition. Many theologians have given the various signs of discernment of spirits in regard to extraordinary experiences, like visions,. locutions (voices) and purported miracles.
Certain fruits like peace, humility, certitude (strange hope), persistence of the experience, increase in virtue and other characteristics of the experience are part of the discernment. Also, the person who experiences such a phenomena should wait at least 30 days until he accepts the phenomena as valid. Of course, all the characteristics should be present during this time.
Detachment
No more important characteristic the detachment regarding the experience. If an adherent or visionary is detached and open to being wrong about the experience, they have a good chance of having had a valid experience.
Submission to the Magisterium (Church)
If the purported visionary is submissive to the judgment of the Church, this indicates another good fruit of the phenomena. In the case of Medjugorje, the visions told them to obey their local bishop. This is a problem because it is a dogma of the Church that the local bishop has authority over his flock administratively.
That is, when he issues a decree, it should be obeyed. This is an issue about policy, not doctrine, so the reader should not get confused. Individual bishops only have doctrinal authority when they are in union with the Holy Father and their fellow bishops. A bishop by himself has no doctrinal authority, but does have administrative authority (power of making policy and day-to-day decisions).
A Lesson for Us All
It is easy to Catholics to go astray. Christ gave doctrinal authority to the bishops (Luke 10:14, Lumen Gentium 14) Not to the faithful. The pope has the final say, and can act with the bishops to make a decision. Also the various papal congregations have a limited authority as well.
We should strive to be detached from any such experience and open it up to discernment by others, especially a qualified spiritual director or the Church. In this way, we hold ourselves accountable to that institution that Christ founded with his divine authority of infallibility - The Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
The more humble you are, the more likely your experience is authentic. If you are improperly attached, it is not likely you experienced something from God. If you are in submission to the Church, you cannot go astray, if you remain faithful to her doctrine and directives.
May the Blessed Trinity bless you abundantly and Christ's Holy Mother's prayers always intercede for you that your discerment and life always be true. +
“Word is Medjugorje, the controversial apparitions the former Yugoslavia, is going to be condemned...”
ReplyDeleteWord from where? Whose word?