I have not posted here very often because I typically have little to offer except my opinions, and they are not worth very much. But I have recently completed reading a new book titled "It Ain't Gonna Happen", and I think everyone here would be interested in that message. There are really two messages in the book. They are as follows: 1. The chastisement prophesized by the Blesed Mother has already begun. The economic meltdown we are seeing all over the world is part of it. Many people believe that we have bottomed out and are now moving slowly into a recovery. Thus the title of the book....It Ain't Gonna Happen. The author is the leader of the Caritas Community in Alabama and wishes to remain anonimous. He goes by the title "A Friend of Medjugorje. In the first part of the book he suggests that the coming financial disaster is unavoidable and he suggests we look into precious metals to protect our wealth. He focuses on silver in particular, stating that it is grossly undervalued in relation to gold. More on that later. 2. His second point is a linkage between The Miraculous Medal, The Apparitions at Lourdes, and the apparitions at Medjugorje. We all know that the Miraculous Medal was given thru St. Catherine Laboure in Rue-de-Bac around 1830, and we know that the apparitions in Lourdes happened in 1858. But a book written by Rene Laurentine on the life of St. Catherine provides many new insights into this approved apparition that are not common knowledge. He shares with us the fact that The Blessed Mother had actually promoted thru Catherine, a three part plan intended to restore the faith in France. Prior to the French Revolution, France had been one of the holiest nations on earth. That faith had been pretty much lost. (I will continue in another post)
Miraculous Medal Continued..... The first part of the plan was the miraculous Medal which the Blessed Mother requested thru Catherine. It was rejected by her spiritual director for years, but was finally approved. It wide spread acceptance was immediate and produced many miracles and healings. Thus the title.....The Miraculous Medal. The 2nd part of the plan, however was a new church or perhaps the opening of the convent at Rue-de-Bac for pilgrimages. This was intended to produce more miracles and many conversions. It was never approved by the bishop. The third part of the plan was a large cross to be erected in fron of the Cathederal of Notre Dame in Paris. This would attract pilgrims from all over the world who would come to visit the cross and also to visit Rue-de-Bac, home of the Miraculous Medal. This was also never approved by the local bishop. After 28 years of rejection, the Blessed Mother decided to take phase two of the plan to Lourdes. In the book on her life, we learn that Catherine was bitterly disappointed that the miracles performed at Lourdes were intended for Rue-de-Bac. She died thinking of herself as a failure for the Blessed Mother. She had left behind sketches and drawings of the Cross for Notre Dame but died with no knowledge of it's completion. However, just as Lourdes became the 2nd part of the plan, Medjugorje became the 3rd part of the plan. It turns out that the villagers in Medjugorje decided to erect a cross on Mt. Krizevas in 1933 to commerate the 1900th year of Christs Crucifixation. In studying the cross on cross mountain, it has almost the exact dimensions as the sketches in st. Catherine's notes. So, just as the Blessed Mother had intended.....the cross was erected and it did indeed attract pilgrims from all over the world. (More in another post)
Miraculous Medal continued...... I found this linkage between these various apparitions to be fascinating. I mourn for St. Catherine, who considered herself a failure. I am sure she is pleased today to see the 30 million pilgrims who have visited Medjugorje. If anyone has an interest in the book, the web site is http://www.mej.com
I notice, from several visionaries Jesus and Mary told them that they were selected forthese graces because they were the least and least worthy to recieve them. I think since those selceted were great saints such as Saint Catherine Laboure there is a tendency to put aside Our Lady's words as an attempt to keep the visionaries in their place, as it were in a kind of false humilty. But the word humility cxomes from the Latin word, 'Humus' which means soil or ground. So what Our Lady is really trying to do with folks like Saint Catherine Laboure is keep them grounded in the truth. It reminds me of that which the Lord told the Israelites as the chosen people, that He had chosen them , from amongst the Nations not because they were the most worthy but the least worthy so that God's work would all the more shine forth. Deuteronomy 7:7 says, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers.” The Hebrew word for “few” or “least” is me’at, which means unimposing. The Church of Jesus was chosen in the same way: For “the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen” (1 Corinthians 1:28). As Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). So there is a danger , I think of putting people like Saint Catherine too much on a false pedestal, by putting her too much apart from the rest of us so that they can seem so high up as to be unapproachable. Whereas the words of Our Lady in the Magnificat strive to remind us, that like Our Lady we can all become handservants of God. '.......... Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me;' http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7823902856154592040# I really love the writings of Rene Laurentin, the owrlds foremeost Marioligist, not least because he explores the humility, the intense humility of saints like St Catherine Laboure and their humanity and brings them to us in a fresh , new way, almost as if no one in the history of the world had ever studed or written about these series of apparitions before or visited the life of Saint Cathereine. I never knew that Our Blessed Lady had just huge intentions for the RUe De Bac, nor that these plans were stymied. But I would be slow to talk about, 'failure'. 'Failure' in a human sense ,yes. But not, I think in God's eyes for: 1 Corinthians 3:19 The wisdom of this world is nonsense in God's sight. That's why Scripture says, "God catches the wise in their cleverness." God will have woven the, 'failure ' of the RUe De Bac into something wonderful, I know. I hope poor Saint Catherine too, did not go to her death bed thinking of herself as a failure and saw this herself, it would make me so sad if this were not so. I am sure, even if it were necessary God would have sent a little angel to tell her this; but I am sure she, being a Temple brim Full of the Holy Spirit, would have seen this for herself. God's ways are not ours. ]]
