One thing that came to mind is that if Peter had not denied Christ and the other disciples had not fled, there would not have been such a clear example of the transmission of authority from God Himself to His Church. Had they all stayed, they would likely have been killed, and consequently, there would have been no apostolic succession passed down from generation to generation. The Church would have begun with the Holy See vacant. In the case of St. John with Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, he seems to have been predestined to be the primary representative example of Mary’s spiritual son.
On this subject Mirjana says in Chapter 30 of her Book, My Heart Will Triumph: "When I visit with the other visionaries, we might talk about our families or our missions, but we never discuss the secrets. The six of us do not even know if all the secrets we've been given are the same. Some people ponder why there are secrets at all, but it was not Our Lady who decided to have it this way. Everything will happen to God's will, not mine. People used to ask me why I did not choose Fr. Slavko to reveal the secrets. He was Marko's uncle, after all, and we became quite close to him. But Father Slavko died. God's plan always supercedes our own. Again, secrets are secrets, and women know how to keep secrets."
I even thought she said, the priest she chose may not even end up reading the secrets, it may be someone else. That leaves timelines up in the air a bit.
Oh, I never saw this interview! How interesting! I suppose then that there are still only 10 or less secrets that concern the world.
This is in the Marian Tradition of such Secrets. For instance at Lourdes and La Salette Mary gave personal secrets to help them on their way for the Great Suffering that lay ahead.
I think even in our own Spiritual Lives God and Mary can give us little personal secrets or nudges. For instance my father since he was young always wanted to be a Religious and in fact joined the De Montforde Fathers and then wanted to join the Carthusians. But he went to a priest in confession one day who told him God wanted to him to get married and have a large family. As soon as the priest told him this he knew it was to be true and it was, he married and had ten children. The still inner voice within.
I have tried to listen to this a couple of times to understand what was conveyed. What I found interesting in the presentation: at about the 10 min. mark, in July 1995 Pope John Paul II was making an Apostolic visit to Sarajevo and was intending to visit Medjugorje, but Bishop Peric objected with various arguments to the point that Pope John Paul II did not visit Medjugorje. At 1 hour 41 min. into the press conference some statistics were given. At 1 hr 49 min. Card. Fernandez says he has visited Medjugorje years ago on the 25 th anniversary of his priesthood. At 1 hour 53 min. Card. Fernandez says that recently a letter was sent to each of the seers but is confidential. He said that the Apostolic visitor will first receive the messages before transmitting them publicly ( not clear if it will be done every month or every 2 months...same with secrets). This is in the last 10 minutes of the press conference....the Cardinal seemed a little sheepish in telling us this, and hurried through these statements... I would like to hear other members thoughts about this last part of the press conference). Thanks!
I am a little worried that the Vatican may not be in a position of censoring these messages from now on. I have zero trust in these awful people. More worrying still if the Secrets are revealed that they may be in a position to bury them , change them or delay them. But what can you do? It is what it is. I am sure the Vatican knows all this better than I do and will not permit it. Psalm 33:10 9For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. 10The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples. 11The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.…
I am inclined to wonder if it might have been better if Medugorje had not been approved by Rome with these strings attached. That they might all have been better left alone and in peace.
I agree, Padraig. They now have it under their control and this is a constraint that handcuffs the messages and the secrets.
Shadows and images, I love this. Personally, I have a lot of respect for other faiths that generate peaceful people and typically meditation is a huge part of that. When I look at Buddhist religions/cultures, I feel like they are absolutely ripe for Catholicism. Like in Vietnam, where Catholicism is growing year on year. One of the things that amazes me about Buddhists is their emphasis on karma. We have this too "as you sow, so shall ye reap", the parable of the sower, take the log out of your own eye, even simply looking at a woman with lust, cut off your hand if it causes you to sin, and so on... but it doesn't seem to be emphasized currently, at least this is my observation. I haven't seen much in this way, but I think Buddhist converts have the potential to be even greater than Protestant converts. I met some Buddhists that no matter how offensive someone was towards them, they kept their cool because of their belief in karma.
He is/was the loveliest most inspiring priest.what a terrible loss for his parish and his online community but if he isn't already in the beautification vision surely he soon will be. Rest in peace Fr Mark.
Even though I do not believe in Medjugorje, I have studied statements made on the secrets in detail. This is what I have gathered. Mirjana - 10 secrets for the world. She is the one who will announce them. She has the parchment. Ivanka - 10 secrets also for the world. She has also been given a parchment. Since only 10 secrets will be given publicly, I think they’re the same with Mirjana. Marija - 9 secrets, but all for the world. So we can presume they are the same as for Mirjana and Ivanka. Vicka - 9 secrets, 7 for for the world, but 1 is for her personally, and 1 is for the parish of Medjugorje (implied to be a healing spring). Ivan - 9 secrets, at least 1 (but perhaps more) concern Ivan’s death and life. Jakov - 10 secrets. He was not given a parchment. He has refused to state whether some of his secrets are private. But since he hadn’t said (unlike the others) that he will live to see the sign and he wasn’t given the parchment, some of his may also be private. Of course, there are also the texts of “Life” which have yet to be published and those could perhaps be considered secrets.
