A few of us talked about our possible experiences with the sun miracle at these pages. It starts about half way down the page: http://motheofgod.com/threads/corpus-christi.4686/
I think if we see something it is because we are meant to see it. I agree as a general principle its better to live through pure Faith, but hey if it is given to us on a plate God knows best.
I think at the original miracle of the Sun at Fatima Our Lady wanted the miracle to be much, much bigger, possibly with a lasting Sign, but the Faith of the people was not up to it, their Faith and their prayerful response.
I am off work this week. How strange to be doing nothing. Well not nothing. I bought an old police car and am doing it up and tiles to floor the kitchen, bathroom, bed room and hall..and.... I am sitting here thinking of going over for an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Wow. Amazing to hear stories like that. Strangely, of all the apparition sites Medjogorie is the one I hear people say theyve seen strange things. One I know was spoken to by a voice. Another was part of a group of about 10-15 pilgrims who witnessed lights come from the sky, encircle them and return to the sky during the rosary. If 15 people saw it, it unquestionably happened. Amazing.
Busy week for you padraig. If you do go to church, a prayer for an intention of mine would be greatly appreciated.
Russian Patriarch does something, too!! http://eponymousflower.blogspot.fi/2013/07/russian-patriarch-warns-that.html
The Orthodox Church is most closely united to the Catholic Church. However, they too will find out that their rebellion against Peter's successors will be need to be reconciled before they are fully united to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic faith.
I wonder if on reading the history of Orthodoxy and the Schism they were not more sinned against than sinning. They were treated very,very badly by Rome and the West.
Any thoughts on after the warning, when so many may want to convert to Catholicism, how it could be handled? It seems the usual one to two year period for RCIA and catechism instruction would not fit here- people will be yearning for the Eucharist right then and time may not be on their side- How will that work do you think? Is this too naive of a question?
The one to two year RCIA period is a joke. At least the ones I am familiar with. Most RCIA programs have little to do with Church liturgy or rubrics (Mass), or Church doctrines, or sin, or anything else that really matters. Most are about feeling. When the Warnning comes there will be little discussed about feeling or feel good theology. I assume it will be more like the baptism in the Jordon and the baptisms talked about in the Acts of the Apostles in the early Church where thousands were accepted into the Church at one time.
Yes, my RCIA seemed to have been mostly about feelings not theology or morals. I was there to learn, not to express myself. Luckily I had already read the Catechism, the Church Fathers, and other orthodox Catholic works. Honestly, for me it was more of a hoop that I had to jump through so I could get baptized. The people running it were very nice and sincere though.
Your last sentence say's it all. The modern day Catholic's are nice people and make good neighbors, but they haven't a clue what Church doctrine is. Father Nice and Sister Mary nice have no problem with gay marriage either, cause they are, well..... Nice.
I heard that a highly respected theology professor at a solid Catholic university often said, "Hell is full of nice people." A chilling thought...
I think that they will still be required to go through something, but since we will all be enlightened as to what the truth is, perhaps the Church will not deem it as necessary to teach them so much. Many of them will already be baptized, though some will need this to start with. RCIA is supposed to ensure that you understand and believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and that you understand that you have to accept the teachings of the church. I could easily see Pope Francis coming up with a very condensed way to check peoples' understanding and/or teach them some of the basics in a couple of sessions, say. Then they could offer them Reconciliation and First Communion to bring them in initially and reserve Confirmation (and classes) for a later time, like we do with our children. Maybe that is what they will do.
