Disneyland Spirituality
In the wake of the alleged apparitions of the Blessed Mother to six young people in Medjugorje, a surprising number of Catholics have embraced the bizarre “prophesies” of several clone visionaries whose sideshow-style spirituality is tainting the Church.
Claiming a direct pipeline to heaven via revelations received from God the Father, Jesus and Mary, these self-styled “seers” wield an enormous influence over their credulous followers. Almost every month, new “messengers” appear on the Catholic scene, warning of enough rapidly approaching eschatological catastrophes to thrill the most rapacious of spiritual thrill-seekers.
The tone of many of these messengers’ unearthly admonitions ranges from pompous —“Jesus: ‘I intend to give sight to the blind-d-d-d so that they may see my splendor-r-r”’ __ to a kind of sitcom dialogue that goes beyond absurdity __”Jesus came alive on the crucifix and turned his head. He watched George answer the phone. ‘You are not very smart, George.’”
The Church Is the Only Judge of the Authenticity
The countless “messages” from “Mother Mary” (as many of the Marian clones call her) are usually sugary plagiarisms of the monthly Medjugorje message. The messages are often prefaced by flowery greetings such as “My angel” or “My blossom.”
But some Marian messages from a trendy new clone display considerable chutzpah. This “Mary” not only supersedes her priests by “blessing” religious objects, but declares with uncharacteristic wrath that, if all women who have had abortions don’t repent in the sacrament of reconciliation, they will be condemned to Eternal Fire—thus leaving the fate of penitent non-Catholics wobbly to say the least.
God the Father is apparently restricting his messages to one young “mystic” from Australia who has no approval whatsoever from his archbishop, Cardinal Edward Clancy of Sydney. If you read this “seer’s” recent “message” from the Father — “Why do you ignore me? During Mass I lay [sic] up here on the altar in the broken body of my son” — you understand why. This is a prime example of the heresy of Patripassianism — that God died on the cross.
This is only one of the many doctrinal errors that expose his and a popular female counterpart’s lopsided theology. Her messages were recently denounced by the Vatican for, among many other reasons, confusing the specific names and functions of the Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity.
Sadly, the heterodox teachings of these vaudeville vendors are gobbled up like cotton candy by devotees gathering en masse in churches, halls, auditoriums and even on luxury Caribbean cruises so they can hear their “prophets” speak and buy their pricey tapes, videos and books.
The latest apparition best-seller comes from a Midwestern clone whose “Jesus” warns him that “twelve Places of Refuge are being prepared for those who will usher in the Era of Peace” which will follow the cataclysmic chastisements ready to devastate a world forsaken by God. You must buy the book to discover the hills to heard for.
Another visionary, when asked by her heavenly communicator’s dire predictions of earthquakes, famine and economic collapse failed to materialize on the given dates, parried, “Well...you know...they were mitigated by prayer.”
But of all the outlandish “seers” invading the Church today the most peculiar is the person who receives messages from Jesus that are transmitted in a weird, sewing-machine-stitch handwriting.
What should sincere Catholics who are earnestly seeking a deeper relationship with the Father, Jesus and Mary do? With so many bogus prophets peddling their fallacious wares, how do they recognize a real seer or discern a legitimate message?
St. John of the Cross, one of the great mystical doctors of the Church, gave this advice: Unless the opposite can be proved, assume that the mystical experiences come from evil influences.
The Church is the only judge of the authenticity of any supernatural messages; it alone has the authority to censure or endorse. The Church has given us the rich fruits of Lourdes, Fatima and LaSalette, to name a few, as sites for those who make discerning judgments about supernatural phenomena.
Meanwhile, in an era of signs and wonders, we should remember that, as Catholics, we are privy to the most incredible miracle of all — the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. (Thrill-seekers might consider the insight of a theologian who suggested that the most incredible vision is that of the body and blood continuing to look like bread and wine!) Receiving the Eucharist into the essence of our being transcends every other encounter, whether real or imaginary, with the true living God.
If we heard this more often, and with greater certitude, from the pulpits, perhaps the spiritual voyeurs spawned by this new wave of Disneyland spirituality would no longer want, or need, to chase a counterfeit God and Mary.
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Jane L.Sears is a freelance writer who lives in Calif.
This item 6598 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
