Medjugorje is back in the news today as Pope Benedict XVI “has authorized ‘severe cautionary and disciplinary measures’ against Father Tomislav Vlasic, the former ‘spiritual director’ to six children who said Our Lady was appearing to them at Medjugorje in Bosnia.” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1052230/Pope-finally-launches-crackdown-worlds-largest-illicit-Catholic-shrine-suspends-dubious-priest.html#)
The alleged apparitions began in June 1981. “Three Church commissions failed to find evidence to support their claims and the bishops of the former Yugoslavia finally declared that ‘it cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations’”.
The pope was forced to punish Father Vlasic after the Franciscan refused to cooperate with a
Church investigation of him for the following:
· Scandalous sexual immorality aggravated by mystical motivations
· Diffusion of dubious doctrine
· Manipulation of consciences,
· Suspected mysticism
· Disobedience towards legitimately issued orders
· Suspicions of heresy and schism
Although then-cardinal Ratzinger banned pilgrimages to Medjugorje in 1985, hundreds of thousands of people continue to flock to the site. Many have returned with anecdotal evidence of the site’s holiness. A priest once told me that a friend of his—also a cleric—entered a Medjugorje church with an old, tarnished set of rosary beads. When he left the church the rosary beads had turned to shining gold.
Were these alleged apparitions truly visitations from the Virgin Mother and is Medjugorje another Fatima? Or is the whole phenomena a case of mass hysteria where people are seeing what they want to see? Or worse, is the whole thing merely a hoax?
One detail that seems more than coincidental is that the phenomena took place just a few years prior to the War in the Balkans that ravaged the former Yugoslavia and saw unspeakable acts of cruelty and genocide. One would expect that if there were a place Mary would visit to warn of doom it would be the location of a future war.
However, there are also legitimate arguments against the apparitions’ credibility. For ex, the above article mentions that “the seers have grown wealthy as a result of their claims – and so has their town, which has boomed as a result of the ‘Madonna gold rush’. Some today own smart executive houses with immaculate gardens, double garages and security gates, and one has a tennis court.”
It seems unlikely that those blessed by apparitions from the Virgin Mother would be concerned with accumulating wealth or that the town blessed by these supernatural visits would transform itself into a country-club community. One would think that being visited by Our Mother would be a life-altering experience revealing the necessity of seeking God’s kingdom as opposed to the transitory gifts of this world. For instance, Lúcia de Jesus Rosa Santos was one of the witnesses of Mary’s apparitions at Fatima. As an adult she entered a convent and became a Carmelite nun. (The other two children who witnessed the Fatima apparitions, Jacinta and Francisco, died shortly after the visions)
This issue will not go away anytime soon. It’ll be fascinating to see how it unfolds. Will Medjugorje’s followers be vindicated or will Italian Bishop Andrea Gemma’s claim that Medjugorje is the “‘work of the Demon’” prevail?
Donald Tremblay
Catholic Agenda
Catholic Agenda
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Religous Fluff
Apparently dwindling parishioners is not just a Catholic problem. Today’s Wall Street Journal reviews Quitting Church by Washington Times religion reporter Julia Duin. The Weekly Standard publisher, Terry Eastland, is the writer of the WSJ’s review. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122031237268288821.html?mod=2_1580_middlebox)
According to Duin droves of evangelicals are fleeing their churches for a variety of reasons, including
“a lack of a feeling of community among church members, inducing loneliness and boredom; church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics of the faith or to reach members grappling with suffering or unanswered prayer; pastors who are either out of touch with their parishioners or themselves unhappy, or who fail to shepherd their flocks, or who are caught up in scandal, or who try to control the lives of church members in a high-handed way.”
Of the above listed complaints I find “church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics” most interesting. Many who left the Catholic Church for evangelical worship did so because they wanted to shed their spiritual lives of Church teachings and dogma. They wanted less structure and more emotion. How ironic is it that this same vanilla, non-judgmental, “love-is-in-the-air” brand of religion is responsible for the emptying of churches?
The truth of the matter is that people want and need to be challenged. A psychologist friend once told me that the most important word to teach a child is “no”. Children will get angry, but subconsciously they are happy to hear it. “No” teaches them they are not alone, that someone is protecting them. “No” sets boundaries, which makes a child feel safe. We adults are no different. We are children of God. We too need the guidance. We too need to hear “no”. Boundaries let us know we are on the right path—that we are not headed for destruction.
It’s no surprise that the post-Vatican II Catholic Church has led the way in dwindling Sunday Mass attendance. The church no longer challenges the Faithful as it did prior to Vatican II. I often laugh when I recall the CCD instruction I received in the 1970s. I can honestly say that I learned nothing in all those years except that God is Love. I remember beautiful pictures of flowers, oceans, and sunsets, but nothing else. Anything I learned about The Faith was from reading the gospels during Mass or from doing my own research.
Evangelicals are learning what Catholics need to learn: Challenge strengthens spirituality; religious fluff does not.
Donald Tremblay
According to Duin droves of evangelicals are fleeing their churches for a variety of reasons, including
“a lack of a feeling of community among church members, inducing loneliness and boredom; church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics of the faith or to reach members grappling with suffering or unanswered prayer; pastors who are either out of touch with their parishioners or themselves unhappy, or who fail to shepherd their flocks, or who are caught up in scandal, or who try to control the lives of church members in a high-handed way.”
Of the above listed complaints I find “church teaching that fails to go beyond the basics” most interesting. Many who left the Catholic Church for evangelical worship did so because they wanted to shed their spiritual lives of Church teachings and dogma. They wanted less structure and more emotion. How ironic is it that this same vanilla, non-judgmental, “love-is-in-the-air” brand of religion is responsible for the emptying of churches?
The truth of the matter is that people want and need to be challenged. A psychologist friend once told me that the most important word to teach a child is “no”. Children will get angry, but subconsciously they are happy to hear it. “No” teaches them they are not alone, that someone is protecting them. “No” sets boundaries, which makes a child feel safe. We adults are no different. We are children of God. We too need the guidance. We too need to hear “no”. Boundaries let us know we are on the right path—that we are not headed for destruction.
It’s no surprise that the post-Vatican II Catholic Church has led the way in dwindling Sunday Mass attendance. The church no longer challenges the Faithful as it did prior to Vatican II. I often laugh when I recall the CCD instruction I received in the 1970s. I can honestly say that I learned nothing in all those years except that God is Love. I remember beautiful pictures of flowers, oceans, and sunsets, but nothing else. Anything I learned about The Faith was from reading the gospels during Mass or from doing my own research.
Evangelicals are learning what Catholics need to learn: Challenge strengthens spirituality; religious fluff does not.
Donald Tremblay
Friday, August 29, 2008
An Inocuous Inoculation?
What do you do with a vaccine that was tested on “fewer than 1,200 girls under age 16”, and is potentially responsible for as many as 9,749 adverse reactions (in all age groups), including 20 deaths? If you’re the state of Virginia you make it mandatory that all 11- and 12-year-old girls receive it by Oct 1 or face removal from school. (http://ncregister.com/site/article/15691 - subscription required)
Gardasil “fights two strains of HPV [Human Papillomavirus] believed to cause 70% of cervical cancers”. But among those who have reservations about how quickly the vaccine is being dispensed is Dr. Diane Harper, HPV specialist and Dartmouth Medical School professor—who also just happens to be one of the vaccine’s developers. Harper acknowledges that nobody knows whether there will be other adverse effects because “’the vaccine hasn’t been studied long enough. Nor do we know whether these adverse effects will happen more frequently if more than one vaccine — for example, Menactra [for meningitis] and Gardasil — are given at the same office visit.’”
Harper also raises two other issues:
“’The vaccine has been tested for only six years. So we don’t know if it will protect an 11- or 12-year-old from cancer 25 years down the road.’”
The myth of the vaccine’s ineffectiveness with regards to sexually active girls: “’The studies show girls will be just as protected [from cervical cancer] if they get the shots at age 15, 18, 22, or 26 — even if they’ve been exposed to HPV. There’s no reason to push this on 12-year-olds.’”
Questions have also been raised as to whether this vaccine is necessary at any age given the numbers associated with HPV and cervical cancer. Although 6.2 million Americans are infected annually by this sexually-transmitted disease, “90% of the infections clear up without treatment. A rare few go on to trigger cervical cancer.”
4,000 American women die each year from cervical cancer. By comparison, according to Wikipedia.com over 5,000 people died in 2007 from motorcycle accidents. This is not making light of cervical cancer; it is just putting the statistics into perspective. We are not seeing an epidemic that needs to be attacked immediately.
Finally, there is the question of parental rights. Many parents believe it is inappropriate to introduce their children to human sexuality at the age of 11 or 12, particularly if it is under the circumstances of explaining a vaccine that protects against a sexually-transmitted disease. To many this is the government overstepping its boundaries and co-opting the role of parents.
So who is behind this mad rush to inject our daughters with Gardasil?
There are numerous “progressive” groups obsessed with making our children sexually active at younger and younger ages. Chances are their political clout has helped pressure the government into forcing this onto the American public.
But the biggest culprit in this is probably Merck, the vaccine’s manufacturer, which stands to reap a financial harvest from the Virginia legislation alone. The cost of the vaccine is “$500 for a series of three shots”. Multiply $500 times the number of 11- and 12-year-old girls in the Virginia school system and you are talking about a dollar figure with many zeros at the end of it. And let’s face it: pharmaceutical companies spend huge amounts of money each year lobbying government officials.
Dr. Harper asks, “’Why the rush to get everybody vaccinated?’” A good rule to live by when searching for motivations: Follow the Money
Donald Tremblay
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
You Will Be Hated By All
American Catholics battle daily against cultural forces antagonistic to Christ and his Church. But our disagreements with liberal politicians, the media, and “progressive” educators are nothing compared to the persecution suffered by our Christian brethren in other parts of the world. Case in point: Yesterday in India , in retaliation for the assassination of the World Hindu Council leader by suspected Maoists, Hindu extremists “set an orphanage on fire in Khuntapali village in Barhgarh district, burning a Catholic nun to death, according to the All India Christian Council.” (http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/11580889/)
Throughout the world each day Christians risk martyrdom by their very existence. The website www.christianpersecition.info provides links to articles from around the world detailing the mistreatment of Christ’s followers. Here are just a few of the headlines:
· American Pastor Disappears In Beijing After ProtestAdded: Aug 25th, 2008 8:53 AM
· Yemen Detains Nine Ex-Muslims For Converting To ChristianityAdded: Aug 25th, 2008 4:42 AM
· Pastor Attacked, Churches Burned in Wake of Swami's Murder in Orissa, IndiaAdded: Aug 25th, 2008 4:37 AM
· Six Missionaries and a Bible College Student Beaten in UttarakhandAdded: Aug 21st, 2008 3:13 AM
· Indonesia: Muslim Mob Storms Church, Calls for BanAdded: Aug 21st, 2008 3:11 AM
· China: Religious Freedoms Threatened as Olympics Draw to CloseAdded: Aug 21st, 2008 3:09 AM
· Malaysia: Court Denies Woman's Appeal to Leave IslamAdded: Aug 18th, 2008 3:42 AM
· Nigeria: Islamist Group Attacking Christians in Kwara StateAdded: Aug 18th, 2008 3:39 AM
· Student Attacked Over Gospel TractAdded: Aug 18th, 2008 3:37 AM
Truly, Christ had these people in mind when he warned, “You will be hated by all because of my name”. (Mark 9:13)
Let us take a moment today to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters who risk their lives daily when they worship the Lord—something that we too often take for granted.
Our prayers are desperately needed.
Donald Tremblay
Why?
Sometimes you have to wonder what people are thinking.
Yesterday, Father Antonio Rungi of the Italian diocese of Modragone announced that he would hold a beauty pageant for nuns next month. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2615888/Beauty-pageant-for-Italian-nuns.html) Father Rungi expects about 1,000 nuns to compete for the title of “Miss Sister Italy” in a pageant that will be broadcast online. Why is he doing this? "’Nuns are above all women and beauty is a gift from God. . . . You really think all nuns are old, stunted and sad? This isn't the case any more, thanks to the arrival in our country of young and vital nuns,’ notably from Africa and Latin America , he added.” Sisters who would like to participate must answer profile forms and submit a photo. It is their option as to whether they’d like to compete wearing their habit or not.
One has to wonder whether Father Rungi has been over-indulging in the celebratory wine. Of what value could this spectacle possibly serve? The vanity of a beauty pageant is contrary to the selfless vows taken by nuns when they join a religious order. The self-sacrifice required to live this life is why many orders insist that their sisters wear the traditional habit. A habit submerges the ego and teaches an initiate that she is simply one member of a larger group whose single role is to serve Christ . . . even at the expense of her own desires.
What’s next? A swimsuit competition?
Donald Tremblay
Yesterday, Father Antonio Rungi of the Italian diocese of Modragone announced that he would hold a beauty pageant for nuns next month. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2615888/Beauty-pageant-for-Italian-nuns.html) Father Rungi expects about 1,000 nuns to compete for the title of “Miss Sister Italy” in a pageant that will be broadcast online. Why is he doing this? "’Nuns are above all women and beauty is a gift from God. . . . You really think all nuns are old, stunted and sad? This isn't the case any more, thanks to the arrival in our country of young and vital nuns,’ notably from Africa and Latin America , he added.” Sisters who would like to participate must answer profile forms and submit a photo. It is their option as to whether they’d like to compete wearing their habit or not.
One has to wonder whether Father Rungi has been over-indulging in the celebratory wine. Of what value could this spectacle possibly serve? The vanity of a beauty pageant is contrary to the selfless vows taken by nuns when they join a religious order. The self-sacrifice required to live this life is why many orders insist that their sisters wear the traditional habit. A habit submerges the ego and teaches an initiate that she is simply one member of a larger group whose single role is to serve Christ . . . even at the expense of her own desires.
What’s next? A swimsuit competition?
Donald Tremblay
Monday, August 25, 2008
Not Worth The Paper They Are Written On
Darwin, Marx, Lenin? Freud, Kinsley, Nietsche?
Who is the individual whose teachings/writings have most devastated civilization?
Benjamin Wiker has written 10 Books that Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others that Didn't Help to address this question. The Franciscan University of Steubenville philosophy professor tears into the above-mentioned historical figures and adds a few others as well. In his review on insidecatholic.com, columnist Logan Gage recommends that “whether you're looking for a quick course on the Great Books or to inoculate a child going off to college, this book is a must-read.” (http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4333&Itemid=48)
According to Gage two primary criticisms are addressed by Wiker in the book: “Exposing our often blind worship of ‘Science’ and revealing the central mistake of the past several centuries of intellectual thought: the attempt to destroy and replace the West's traditional understanding of the human person and his place in the world.” Historically there have been many instances of blind worship of science, and one of the examples Wiker cites is the scientific community’s immediate and unquestioned acceptance of Margaret Mead’s biased anthropological account, Coming of Age in Samoa, which was later shown to be, in Gage’s words, “junk science”.
After emerging from the bloodiest century in human history, many historians, philosophers, and theologians attempted to explain the 20th century in the hopes of preventing a repeat. Pope John Paul II was among those who insisted that a faulty concept of the human person was a major cause in this unprecedented evil; in fact, the former pontiff argued that it was the cause of it. In Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, author George Wiegel reports that “his [Pope John Paul II] fundamental conviction has remained constant: the horrors of late twentieth-century life, whether Nazi, communist, racist, nationalist, or utilitarian in expression, are the products of defective concepts of the human person.” (p. 8)
Wiker’s book sounds informative, and considering the number of zany philosophies Man has created since the dawn of civilization he deserves credit for finding a way to limit the damaging books to just ten.
Donald Tremblay
Who is the individual whose teachings/writings have most devastated civilization?
Benjamin Wiker has written 10 Books that Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others that Didn't Help to address this question. The Franciscan University of Steubenville philosophy professor tears into the above-mentioned historical figures and adds a few others as well. In his review on insidecatholic.com, columnist Logan Gage recommends that “whether you're looking for a quick course on the Great Books or to inoculate a child going off to college, this book is a must-read.” (http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4333&Itemid=48)
According to Gage two primary criticisms are addressed by Wiker in the book: “Exposing our often blind worship of ‘Science’ and revealing the central mistake of the past several centuries of intellectual thought: the attempt to destroy and replace the West's traditional understanding of the human person and his place in the world.” Historically there have been many instances of blind worship of science, and one of the examples Wiker cites is the scientific community’s immediate and unquestioned acceptance of Margaret Mead’s biased anthropological account, Coming of Age in Samoa, which was later shown to be, in Gage’s words, “junk science”.
After emerging from the bloodiest century in human history, many historians, philosophers, and theologians attempted to explain the 20th century in the hopes of preventing a repeat. Pope John Paul II was among those who insisted that a faulty concept of the human person was a major cause in this unprecedented evil; in fact, the former pontiff argued that it was the cause of it. In Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, author George Wiegel reports that “his [Pope John Paul II] fundamental conviction has remained constant: the horrors of late twentieth-century life, whether Nazi, communist, racist, nationalist, or utilitarian in expression, are the products of defective concepts of the human person.” (p. 8)
Wiker’s book sounds informative, and considering the number of zany philosophies Man has created since the dawn of civilization he deserves credit for finding a way to limit the damaging books to just ten.
Donald Tremblay
Friday, August 22, 2008
The New Atheism
Yesterday, the Union of Catholic Asian News posted an article about the Universal Solidarity Movement (USM). (http://www.ucanews.com/2008/08/20/mirror-room-helps-people-discover-divinity-within-themselves/) According to its website, the Indian spiritual group defines itself as a movement “based on the spiritual foundations of all the world religions,” and its vision statement “promotes a paradigm shift from a narrow understanding of religiosity to a broad and liberative spirituality.” (And no, I don’t know what that means.)
The UCAN article focused mainly on the movement’s Meditation Room, which has elicited surprise from many worshippers who enter it for the first time. The room is empty, except for a ceiling fan, an overhead light . . . and a full-length mirror. No crucifix or Marian statue. No menorahs or postings of the Ten Commandments. No prayer rugs or incense. Just a mirror. And above the mirror is a sign written in English and Sanskrit. The English says, “God Within”. The Sanskrit is “Aham brahmasmi,” translated as “I am God”.
That’s right. “I am God”.
According to USM’s founder, Varghese Alengaden, staring at ourselves in the mirror is an effective way to learn that we are “the image of God”. Sister C. Lissy says that after initially laughing while staring at her own reflection, she realized that “God is within me, not in a church. I also realized I was confronting myself and this helped me behave better with others." USM’s director says that after a week “people become aware of ‘a divine presence’ there, and this divinity is exuded by your reflection, which in a way is just another image of God’”.
Today’s New Age spiritualities are a form of inverted atheism. Whereas throughout history an atheist was defined as one who disbelieves in God’s existence; today’s inverted atheists believe it is “Man” who is God. Believing that God is nothing more than an infinite source of energy that we all possess is no different than denying the existence of the one true God. Any system that denies the “Creator-creature” distinction is atheistic. It is why Pope John Paul II was correct years ago when he referred to Buddhism as atheistic. Belief in God presupposes an acceptance of a “Supreme Being”.
New Agers believe in something . . . but it isn’t God.
Donald Tremblay
The UCAN article focused mainly on the movement’s Meditation Room, which has elicited surprise from many worshippers who enter it for the first time. The room is empty, except for a ceiling fan, an overhead light . . . and a full-length mirror. No crucifix or Marian statue. No menorahs or postings of the Ten Commandments. No prayer rugs or incense. Just a mirror. And above the mirror is a sign written in English and Sanskrit. The English says, “God Within”. The Sanskrit is “Aham brahmasmi,” translated as “I am God”.
That’s right. “I am God”.
According to USM’s founder, Varghese Alengaden, staring at ourselves in the mirror is an effective way to learn that we are “the image of God”. Sister C. Lissy says that after initially laughing while staring at her own reflection, she realized that “God is within me, not in a church. I also realized I was confronting myself and this helped me behave better with others." USM’s director says that after a week “people become aware of ‘a divine presence’ there, and this divinity is exuded by your reflection, which in a way is just another image of God’”.
Today’s New Age spiritualities are a form of inverted atheism. Whereas throughout history an atheist was defined as one who disbelieves in God’s existence; today’s inverted atheists believe it is “Man” who is God. Believing that God is nothing more than an infinite source of energy that we all possess is no different than denying the existence of the one true God. Any system that denies the “Creator-creature” distinction is atheistic. It is why Pope John Paul II was correct years ago when he referred to Buddhism as atheistic. Belief in God presupposes an acceptance of a “Supreme Being”.
New Agers believe in something . . . but it isn’t God.
Donald Tremblay
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
