Saint Elijah, the greatest of the prophets!
Someone’s been sending me “revelations” allegedly from God the Father. Not. (For a comment on God the Father speaking to us directly, see HERE.) Who am I to judge, you ask? Nobody, but I do like common sense. And I do like to be faithful to the Church. I really despise mind game rubbish. Let’s just take one paragraph. I do hope that the purveyers of this self-congratulatory nonsense repent of their self-congratulations. Please, enjoy my emphases and [comments]. These are the words of “The Father”:
“Meditate on My holy Words as contained in Scripture [Usually we speak of the Holy Spirit to write the words about The Word of the Father, but, we'll let that go...]. There you will find everything you need to know, concerning how I intervene in the lives of My children [though without Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium, also Sacred Scripture cannot be interpreted correctly, but, we'll let that go...]. In the Old Testament, there is an emphasis on My Justice [red flag], due to the fact that My Son had not yet redeemed the world [Wrong. That justice was preparing people to understand the redemption, Jesus hanging on the Cross. The grace of that redemption was already theirs for the asking. If we ignore the bit of justice the Israelites knew, we ourselves will not understand the redemption Jesus brings to us]. My chosen people were not capable of living according to My Law of Love, as contained in the Decalogue [Incapable, of course, if they chose to refuse the grace which God was, indeed, giving them. The same applies to us, of course. We are incapable of anything good without the grace of God. So, why single them out if not to say that the grace of the redemption was not given to them, so that all of them went straight to hell?], precisely because the eternal Word had not yet assumed [interesting word, but we'll let that go...] a true human nature and had not yet accomplished His mission of reconciling man with God [Time is held as one by God. He applies redemption regardless of time, before or after Christ.]. The Redemption wrought by My Son redeemed humanity and set it free from its slavery to sin [but in this logic, only from that time on, not retroactively, for, otherwise, the Israelites would not be described as being so absolutely locked out of the life of grace... right?]. Upon the completion of My Son’s salvific mission, My very own Divine Life, My grace, was only then made available to mankind [so that everyone before that time went straight to hell, including all the prophets, like Saint Elijah, praised by Jesus Himself. Even the Blessed Mother, in this logic, would not have been immaculately conceived. There was no Saint Joseph, nor any other saint, not even Abraham, our Father in Faith.]. While My Son accomplished His divine mission of objective Redemption, souls still retain the gift of free will and must subjectively dispose their souls to receive the grace and Mercy merited by My Christ. This they can accomplish through fervent prayer and the reception of the Sacraments [Silly me! Here I thought that that grace was brought to us in the Sacraments! Did not our Lord love us while we were yet sinners, so much as to bring us out of our sinfulness, none of which goodness we merited or prepared to receive?] of My One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” [Right. So. We've totally sent all the Jews to hell forever and ever and ever and not even one of them made it to heaven.]
This “revelation” is nothing more than actual hate-speech, and is just part of extremely verbose works, which seem to be the work of psych students, I’m guessing as an anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic class project. These look to be projected as ”satellite” phenomena of Medjugorje (for which I have no respect at all, being that the “messages” are filled with error. Replete with error. Stinking with error).
When Saint Thomas More was writing a critique of the works of Tyndale, he quipped that looking for error in the works of Tyndale was like looking for drops in the ocean. Same thing here with the “revelations” of “God the Father” and of others, and on just so very many levels.
There’s a ferocious copyright notice that goes along with the “revelations” of “God the Father”. Whatever. I have permission to do with them what I will. Doing a critique of a handful of sentences is always seen as fair use in court. Always. Especially when religions are being attacked. In this case, both Judaism and the Catholic Church are under attack. One can make a defense. Yikes!
Be discerning, people! Love God and neighbor. Look to the Magisterium of the Church. And don’t give up on your priests, or bishops. Pray for us!
O.K. Now I’m started on a rant, so I’ll keep going. Hah!
I remember, as a seminarian, reading over a bit of the “revelations” of a certain Italian priest. The laity loved these “revelations” and were always looking for “Marian Priests”, judged to be so by them. I suppose all the others were not Marian. Nice. I didn’t like it. I knew of almost no priest who did. I think priests are Marian by virtue of being ordained to the priesthood of the Son of Mary. I also think people are charismatic because they’ve been baptised and confirmed, not because they practice what can only be a gift.
Anyway, what I especially didn’t like with Italian priest’s “revelations” from “Mary” were frequent references to, you know, the immediate coming of Christ (with a date! 1999!), flatly contradicting the words of Jesus that it is not for us to know a date.
The “visionary” spoke of Super Apostles and a New Pentecost. I, for one, want the old Apostles and the old Pentecost. There is no superceding the sucession of the Apostles. And the Holy Father is always the successor of Saint Peter. The Holy Spirit didn’t make a mistake with the first Pentecost. He was not insufficient.
The Church is ever ancient, ever new. I love the Church, the one of which I am now a member. I’m not disaffected. I don’t hate my own Mother Church!
If I were ever to have the grace of being a martyr, it wouldn’t be for Super-Duper Church®. It would be our of love of Mary’s Son, Christ Jesus, and His Catholic Church.
By the way, I fully accept Guadalupe (where I offered Mass facing the Tilma), Lourdes (where I was a chaplain for two years), Fatima (where I carried the pilgrim Virgin statue on July 13 when I was only 16 years old), and such like. They are not replete with error.
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
Thank you for sharing that with us. I am pleased you do not believe in the Medjugorje phenomena. I find it sad that there are so many who do and wonder why the Holy Father is taking so long before declaring it to be untrue. Is it perhaps because there are many who say they have been ‘helped’ by going there?
Yes, I think so. Being very exact is helpful. There are many difficulties, much of which revolve around other issues like Franciscan monasteries and length of time in the country as different from the diocesan bishops, etc. Yikes! Not easy!
Thank you for your commentary.I have friends steeped in this nonsense, Medjugorje and countless other dubious errors. They will not listen to reason and keep trying to give me this useless material .
What I don’t understand is how the priest Exorcist Fr Amoreth,and Cardinal Schoernberg ( don’t know if the spelling is right) can believe in Medjugorje. How can they be fooled by it?
In all revelations of this kind (those using Scriptural interpretations), I am reminded that Satan can also quote Scripture (and assuredly in any language you’d prefer!). I’m not sure why psych students would get into this especially if they were Catholic. However, some with a more devious intent might wish to do so as an exercise as well. Perhaps your St. Michael prayers have become, shall we say, an irritant?
D.v
When you are Ranting Father George, I am almost afraid to comment. However, through God’s grace, I will venture into the lion’s den (so to speak… lol).
I noticed in the comment you made, in your last paragraph: that you “faced the Tilma” celebrating Mass…you accepted Guadalupe; you witnessed to Lourdes where you were a chaplain for two years…you accepted Lourdes; you honoured Our Lady of Fatima when you carried the pilgrim Virgin statue…you accepted Fatima. In other words you were exposed to the graces given at these apparition sites or articles exposed thereof and you believed. My question to you is: have you gone to Medjugorje? Have you tested the spirit at that alleged apparition site? With all due respect to your views Father George, what if you are wrong about Medjugorje?
For instance, our beloved deceased Holy Father, Pope John Paul II was a (not so quiet) strong supporter of this apparition. I know that we are not obliged to believe any apparitions but are we wrong to follow the inclinations of a great church leader that is on the road to sainthood? He held the Keys To Heaven and Earth and if we can’t trust our Holy Father, who can we trust?
Medjugorje is not a sensation. It is a call to a lost people, that is US…a call to return to God through Prayer, Fasting, Holy Mass, reading of the Bible and Confession. This doesn’t go against church teachings. All of this is encouraged and practiced in Medjugorje. Pilgrims return to their homes like bees to a hive with this spirit of evangelization and conversion. Their spirits have been renewed in a time of difficulty and tribulation and this is spread to others. This is God’s great Love and Mercy. Just like Fatima, Guadalupe, and Lourdes for instance, these too were calls by God to come back back to Him. Many men received the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Medjugorje that brought them to the priesthood. The fruits have been plentiful from Medjugorje and so it can’t be all bad.
I hope through God’s grace and mercy that you are wrong this time concerning Medjugorje. I don’t mean to contradict you Father and with respect to your priesthood, perhaps you don’t need the call of Medjugorje like the rest of us do. I will, however, respect whatever decision Holy Mother Church gives in the future concerning Medjugorje. On a personal note, being exposed to the messages of Medjugorje brought me back to the church and ultimately communion in the Catholic Church almost fifteen years ago and still going strong. I am truly blessed and grateful to God for this saving grace. God bless you Father George! I really appreciate your website and comments. You keep me on my toes…lol…
Hello Catherine,
Very happy you had a good experience. Perhaps also, you didn’t see what didn’t know to look for!
Perhaps it’s my guardian angel, but any time someone hands me a book of the messages, I turn right to a horrific thing. I don’t know how many times I’ve done this, and what I’ve found has been recognized by he book bearer. The excuse given is that it’s all about the translations, etc.
If you google — “Te Deum Laudamus” Detroit — you will find much. There should be a link there to her other blog on Medjugorje. You can search for that on this blog as well. I think Elizabeth gave it to us before.
Prayers and blessings.
Father George
“I think priests are Marian by virtue of being ordained to the priesthood of the Son of Mary.”
amen, Amen, AMEN! We first see Jesus come to us through the humble fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation. We now see this perpetuated until the end of time at every Mass through our Priests in the Eucharist.
To quote another of my favorite Priests; “Yes, Our Church and faith is highly Incarnational.
Thank you Father for your kind comments. I too have had guardian angel interventions that can’t and shouldn’t be ignored so I understand what you are saying. God bless our guardian angels!
I have been reading some of the material about the other side to Medjugorje that you have kindly directed us to. Quite honestly, I am confused (again) and very alarmed with the information I was unware of. How can this be true and the church not intervene to shut down the site? What can the normal person think of it all? I do have a tendency to ignore the politics and go straight to the dessert…Jesus. I just hope the negatives of Medjugorje are wrong but if not, we must be obedient to the church in its ruling. I have never been cultish over Medjugorje, just in awe of God’s intervention. If this apparition is ruled against, I admit I will feel crushed and duped. In these days of deception, it seems that the only thing we can count on is Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Now, having been made aware of the details of this controversy I will pray to St. Michael to intervene and save souls and reveal the Truth. It’s so disappointing that a lot of things aren’t as they seem…where’s the honesty these days? Life has been so disillusioning lately.
Thank you Father George for the heads up. Thank you for being patient…God bless you.
Yes, it will be difficult. But we must absolutely remember to see all things in relation to Jesus and Him crucified. Once we carry about His death as Saint Paul says, manifesting the Resurrection, nothing can delusion us at all. Know that it is a joy to see all the rough bits, since this gives us an opportunity to know how much our Lord has loved us. Yikes!
Yes…Yikes to that! Thank you Father George.