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Blog warning against a false 'visionary' Maria Divine Mercy and her cult
Showing posts with label Holy Scripture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Scripture. Show all posts

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Maria Divine Mercy and the Cup of Salvation


“The time has come to rise up now and take this Cup – drink from it, for it is the Cup of Salvation. By drinking from this Cup you will now be prepared to share this Cup with mankind. You now prepare to unveil the Words of Christ, so that souls can be saved during The Warning.” [HOLY SPIRIT] to MDM, Feb. 12, 2011

What can this most extraordinary command mean? MDM is appropriating to herself, words Jesus, pronounced during the institution of the Eucharist, “TAKE and eat; this is my body.” Then He took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “DRINK FROM IT, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant . . .” First and foremost, this command came from the second person of Blessed Trinity as He offered Himself as an oblation to His Father in heaven. It was not as we note here the Holy Spirit. There are more interesting observations. 

Not only does this parallel the story of the three children of Fatima and therefore suggestive of an imitation but supersedes it, in as much as they received Holy Communion from the archangel Gabriel; whereas, in this story, MDM partook of the most Sacred Mysteries -the Precious Blood - directly from the Holy Spirit! Moreover, the children never handled the sacred species as they received the miracle of the Eucharist on their tongue. In this case, MDM was instructed to take the Cup of Salvation which is none other than the Precious Blood. Therefore, it is presumed she used her hands. What is the significance of this detail one may well ask? The Mother of Salvation, on Jan. 18, 2012, delivered this message to our seer:

“You insult my Son when you receive the Holy Eucharist in the hand.”

Given the appeal of this seer to ultra conservative Catholics who steadfastly refuse to handle the chalice with the Precious Blood because they deem it sacrilegious, this is a major faux-pas. Worse yet, MDM is the new high priest who will share this cup of salvation. One can only wonder how did this major inconsistency escape their discernment? What did not escape their attention was the follow warning from the Mother of Salvation given on the aforementioned date.

“Sadly, many of my children will, in their allegiance to the Catholic Faith, follow blindly this new false doctrine, like lambs to the slaughter.”

So this year when this message came about swallowing “the chalice of the serpent” was released MDM’s disciples had been prepared and understood exactly what their seer was telling them:

“Those of you {loyal Catholics} who side with the false prophet {identified as the successor of Pope Benedict XVI along with an entire litany of blasphemous titles} and the antichrist will be ensnared by Satan and he will not let you go free. Those of you who walk alongside My enemies and swallow the chalice of the serpent will be destroyed by him should you dare to challenge him.” Jesus to Maria Divine Mercy, Oct. 20, 2013

So we have two cups, one a gift supposedly from the Holy Spirit to Mdm to “share with
mankind
” and the second cup for the “lambs” who will be led “to the slaughter” is described as the “chalice of the serpent!” So what is this “chalice of the serpent” that Catholics will drink? It is a revised liturgy Pope Francis will institute as part of his new abominable church. (May 7, 2012) Furthermore, the Pope will offer “the chalice of the serpent.” This is no exaggeration. One needs to remember, her entire body of messages when reading them, in order to make the necessary connections. 

“Pope Benedict will suffer much . . . Then THE HEAD OF MY CHURCH WILL BE REPLACED BY THE HEAD OF THE SERPENT.” [Jesus] Nov.13, 2012. Message # 614, “The Crowning of Thorns During My Crucifixion is Symbolic” (Warning Second Coming website)

Thus it is a legitimate conclusion, it is Pope Francis who has been demonized by MDM. He is the “head of the serpent” who now heads the Church of Christ. 

Finally, we circle back to an earlier point about the Holy Spirit to ask is it even possible that the Holy Spirit could have been speaking directly to MDM? After all, she has signed the message with His signature. For the answer we turn to the sure norm of truth for teaching the faith: the catechism of the Catholic Church no. 687:

“Now God's Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but THE SPIRIT DOES NOT SPEAK of HIMSELF. The Spirit who “has spoken through the prophets” makes us hear the Father's Word, but WE DO NOT HEAR THE SPIRIT HIMSELF. WE KNOW HIM ONLY IN THE MOVEMENT by WHICH HE REVEALS the WORD to us and disposes us to welcome him in faith. THE SPIRIT of TRUTH who “unveils” Christ to us “WILL NOT SPEAK ON HIS OWN.” (John 16:13) 

It should be self - evident that her claim to the role of the ministerial priesthood where she is commanded to share “the cup of salvation” with the world, is as bogus as the rest of her roles: the last great prophet and the seventh angel of Revelation. Be that as it may, sometimes she gets it right:

“Tell My followers that as they take up My Chalice and march forward to spread the Truth of My return to Earth, that they too will suffer.” [Jesus] Aug. 28, 2011

How much will they suffer? A lot if they continue to drink from the poisonous cup of MDM. Jesus warned, 

“Anyone who does not remain in Me will be thrown out like a branch and wither. . .” (John 15:6)

Friday, November 22, 2013

Biblical Lessons for Maria Divine Mercy

By PocketSketch

Lesson from Gideon

“I Am gathering MY ARMY quickly now and this will swell into a group of over 20 MILLION SOULS soon. THE LARGER THE ARMY, THE MORE POWERFUL WILL BE THE HOLY SPIRIT in bringing My children together as one to fight the deceiver.” [Beloved Saviour] Aug.31, 2011.


“The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many soldiers with you for Me to deliver Midian into their power, lest Israel vault itself against Me and say, ‘My own power brought me the victory.’ Judges 7:2 

Monday, August 5, 2013

Is Maria Divine Mercy Writing New Scripture?


Maria Divine Mercy  has repeatedly made this rather outlandish claim that her messages are, in fact, 'Holy Scripture'. Her first messages stated, 

“You need all your energy to write the book. [The book of which I speak, is a Holy Scripture and is part of the plan which has been revealed in the ‘Book of Kells’.] This book will change lives, save souls and has been foretold. Yes, the book is what was prophesied. You are the writer. I am the Author. (November 12th, 2010)

The Book of Kells is the ancient Iish term for the four Gospels but interestingly. The term has been removed from the original message on 'WarningSecondComing website' though it is still available in some translations. 

That is not the only time when the new 'scripture' needed correction. For example, on March 23,  'WarningSecondComing' website amended the message from the previous day that called on ALL the followers to fast from Monday until 15.30 on Good Friday and said that to those 'who do not wish to endure this suffering (fasting) 'I will grant you  great blessings', a rather attractive offer - who would not like great blessings after all? Especially if all it took was not to fast during the Holy Week.  

What came first, the Church or the Bible?


None of the New Testament writings  called themselves Scripture until the Church decided that they should be part of the Bible. 

Maria Divine Mercy writes, 

“Why do My children ignore these teachings taught by My apostles since the new scriptures were produced?” (30 Nov 2010). 

What teachings were taught by Apostles since the New Scriptures were produced? None.  As Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote,  
"It was the New Testament that came out of the Church, not the Church which came out of the New Testament." 
“I call only on those who are brave enough to
take up my gauntlet.” MDM message 23/8/2011
(Is Jesus challenging us to a duel?)

The New Testament canon was approved and finalized as late as the fourth century A.D. In the early days of the Church  there were many writings  in circulation supposedly coming from the apostles. Some of them were read in the early Church, such as the 'Shepherd of Hermas' written by Pope Clement,' but they never made it into the final canon. The Church Father in union with the Pope, under guidance of the Holy Spirit determined which writings were inspired. The Councils of Rome (382 A.D.), Hippo (393 A.D), and Carthage (397 A.D.) finalised  the list of 27 books of New Testament. None of the twelve Apostles, of course, was alive at that time. 

MDM and Sola Scriptura

Catholics see God's revelation as presented through Scripture, Tradition and the teaching body of the Church, the Magisterium. Protestants reject the Sacred Tradition and the Magistrium, claiming that only the Bible (Sola Scriptura) contains all the knowledge necessary for salvation. 

Even the Bible itself seems to reject the doctrine of Sola Scriptura,  calling the Church 'the pillar and support of the truth' (1 Tim 3: 15), and warning the faithful about the dangers of private interpretation: "At the same time, we must recognise that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual." (2 Pet 1: 20). 

This is something that even Luther learnt the hard seeing the chaos Sola Scriptura and private judement in interpreting the Bible produced,  he said, "All men now presume to criticise the Gospel, almost every old dotting fool or prating sophist must, forsooth, be a doctor of divinity.' 

The result today is thousands of Protestant denominations, all of which claim to rely solely on the Bible and yet cannot agree with each other on a number of points.

Maria Divine Mercy, unlike Catholics, embraces the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and is apparently a Protestant, as she claims, 

"The Bible contains the Holy Word of God. The Bible contains the whole Truth. It does not lie. If you deny the Truth contained therein you deny the Word of God. (May 18, 2012). 
Though this poses a few questions - if the Bible contains the whole truth, why do we need the Book of Truth? And happens when her messages contradict the Scripture? That should mean that one of them got it wrong, right?



But Maria Divine Mercy has a solution for that:
"My true prophets, for the most part, are ignorant of Holy Scripture or prophecies given to the world out of My Mercy. They do not need to quote extracts from the Holy Bible because I do not ask them to do this. My Word is given as it is. My Holy Bible is sacred. To extract sections out of it, in order to endorse any divine revelation, is not authorised. When a message is given by Me, the prophet writes what I dictate, and is never asked to replicate extracts given to the world by My apostles."  (April 28, 2013).
That is very convenient as it takes care of a number of problems - MDM is excusing herself for not knowing the Bible - as this is apparently a sign proving she is a true prophet. Also, nobody, including the Church even, is 'authorised' to examine whether the Book of Truth conforms to the Bible, which is normally the test of authenticity of private revelation -  its consistency with Public Revelation.

Though 'it is not authorised', let's take a look at a few such rather striking contradictions.
MDM:  ‘I am suffering to such an extent that the wounds inflicted upon Me at My terrible crucifixion…are opening again and festering…’ 13. 11. 2010:
The Bible: because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.   Psalm 16: 10  
****
MDM  ‘Many Christians ignore one of the most fundamental promises I made during My crucifixtion [sic] where I would be present in bread and wine and leave a permanent mark to help nourish souls. 14. 4. 2011
Bible: The only promise given during the Crucifixion is:  “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Luke 23: 43
****
MDM  ‘All paths lead to God, the creator of mankind.’  21. 11. 2010:
Bible: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’ John 14: 6
****
 MDM: Don't you know that My Power is Almighty and that I cannot be broken, even though they may break My Bones. 7. 07, 2013.
Bible: 'He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.  Psalm 34: 20 
Reading these one would wonder that maybe it is not 'authorised' to extract sections of the Bible to endorse this supposedly 'divine revelation' because simply the Bible does not endorse it.

Private Revelations and the Bible 

There has never been a  true seer has ever claimed his or her messages to be equal with Holy Scripture. And even if MDM's messages conformed to the Bible and the teachings of the Church, would it be still possible to put them on par with Holy Scripture? The Church, which is the pillar and support of the truth, teaches the opposite:
Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.(CCC 67)


Of course, according to Maria Divine Mercy the Church shouldn't even attempt to discern these messages - she tells us,
 "Never try to analyse My Messages for you do not need to do so. My Word is My Word. No man can defend My Word for it is cast in stone. Any man who tries to break My Word or cast aspersions on it, will fail for they are powerless against My Holy Word. (July 2 2012).

So that apparently means the Church, without any discernment or study, should add MDM messages to the Bible, and maybe even include it in the Mass readings? Then we would probably find ourselves listening to such pearls of wisdom from MDM:

“They will never deviate from the truth no more than you. My beloved followers, can sway the truth to suit your interpretation.” 28/12/2010
“Remember God the Father is now in charge of His Kingdom which no man can tumble. Any attempt to do so will result in failure.” 14/7/2011
 “Keep praying for those sacred servants of Mine who will, like Judas before them, kiss Me on one cheek while betraying Me with the other. 28/1/2013
“Many people reject them [God’s visionaries]. Even more reject those visionaries who have made themselves known to the world.” 29/11/2012 
Or these threats against those who dare to speak against Maria Divine Mercy's revelations: 
When you spit at Me, you will become blind and will never see again. When you utter words of hatred, your tongue will be cut out. When you stand up and declare to all your self-proclaimed knowledge of God, you will fall with your legs cut from under you. When you deem My prophet to be evil, you will have no life. (May 4th, 2013). 
Compare that to Matthew 12: 32;

 "And anyone who says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven but no one who speaks against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven either in this world or in the next."

Is she equal to the Holy Spirit - one wonders.

Such threats are fairly common in her writings, since they are apparently crucial for the salvation of mankind,
 “You, My beloved faithful are now being called by me to stand up and defend My Holy Word so that mankind can be saved.” (15/11/2011), 
Though more common is the admonition not to defend the messages, as in 
“My daughter you must not respond or try to defend My word.(23/5/2011:)
Supposedly they can stand on their own. That takes care of the problem effectively because it is quite impossible to defend them. The only way to defend them is to refuse to defend them.  Better change the topic. Attack Pope Francis for example. Works almost every time.

So is Maria Divine Mercy writing new Scripture? Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for us, Catholics, she is not. 

The Catholic Church teaches that public revelation is already complete: 
 "...no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries (CCC  66) 
And
Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations". (CCC 67). 
Maria Divine Mercy is not writing 'new scripture'; she is rather creating a new religion, a Catholic sect with its own 'holy book'. 

Such holy books were already written, like the Koran written by Mohammed or the Book of Mormon written by Joseph Smith. Those two books claim not only divine origin, but they are supposedly not written by humans even - just like MDM who uses automatic writing to get her messages. 

The Bible, on the other hand, has human authors who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth (CCC 136 ).
We, Catholics, already have the Book of Truth and it is called the Holy Bible; we should take seriously what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about it,  
"The Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body. (CCC 103). 
Perhaps if we had better knowledge of the true Word of God, we would not fall for any counterfeits as the badly written, heretical and at times plain silly messages of Maria Divine Mercy ironically called 'The Book of Truth'. 

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Can the devil see the future?

By Father Martin Cross



Yes the Devil can see the future  - in obscurity. 

The Devil is a spiritual intelligent being. Genesis 3:1 tells us that he spoke the first time to Eve, pretending good for the first family on earth while meaning evil, because he is evil. 

"You will not die" he said, "God knows that the day you eat it you will be like him...knowing good and evil"

The Devil spoke to Eve but to achieve the evil intended he had to pretend to be good, and so presented God as wicked. Some modern manifestations present God as eternally angry, as if God is got nothing else but anger for us, his creatures, and is bent on destroying them. But what about the one supreme sacrifice that takes away sins, entrusted to the Church by Christ? (Heb 10:14-18)

Was the devil aware of the consequences of the fall which was to befall not just Adam and Eve, but the whole of humanity if they disobey God? 

Yes he was, he was an Angel of light, Lucifer, full of knowledge and insight. 

Did he really mean they were not going to die?  No, he knew they would die, and he knew they would lose the favour of God. If he had told Eve he was the Devil, Eve would not have listened to him. If he had told Eve he was a deceiver, his mission would have failed.

The Church, therefore, always guides her children from falling prey to the same and one primordial enemy of mankind, the Devil, and from the apostolic era till the present she has not failed on this task. 

Let us read 2 Cor 11:3- 5 
"And this is my fear; the serpent that seduced Eve with cunning could also corrupt your minds and divert you from the Christian sincerity ....someone now comes and preaches another Christ different from the one we preach or you are offered a different spirit from the one you have received with a different Gospel from the one you have accepted and you agree..." 

This same fear is our concern about all the end-time gospels and prayers going round the globe. People should spend their time going about doing good (Act 10:38) after the example of Jesus, rather than waste their energy avoiding evil and waiting for the world to end.

Reading St. Paul in the above text, we are aware that there are fake Gospels, fake Christs, fake prophesies, which appear to be wonderful and full of hope but in reality they are fake and evil and like in the case of Eve, they aim to destroy all those adhere to these things rather than the real Gospel. 

Yes, the Devil can see the future, and he can reveal it in obscurity. 

But Paul wants us to stand by with the Church who has the deposit of faith as true and holy. 


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Did Maria Divine Mercy's Followers Really Pray For Pope's Death?

'They hated me without reason. (John 15: 25)
I watched all of the events in the Vatican leading up to the conclave and election of Pope Francis. I was so happy and thrilled at the election of our new Pope. I felt so part of the whole event, even adopting a cardinal to pray for. THEN came the calumnies, detractions and false prophecies of MDM. I felt so much sorrow, and then anger, that our Holy Father was the recipient of so many evil attacks (...)
That was a comment recently left on our Facebook page, and it probably sums up what many of us felt seeing posts of MDM followers about our Pope. 

MDM has ridiculously led her followers to believe Pope Francis is the false prophet mentioned in the Book of Revelation who will abolish the Eucharist and ultimately bring down the destruction of the Church.  

Once you believe Pope Francis is  the False Prophet it is not hard to find the evidence to condemn him. After all, there was once a Man without sin who didn't do anything wrong – on the contrary, all that he did was good. His name was Jesus, and he was found guilty too, even though the evidence against him was false or conflicting. He just needed to be found guilty.

But would God really ask us to spy on someone and to look for evidence to condemn a person? Isn't that what Satan does? 

Satan the Accuser


Jesus is described in the Bible as our advocate: 
"Little children, the purpose of this letter is to keep you clear of sin. Meanwhile, if any of us does fall into sin, we have an advocate to plead our cause before the Father in the Just One, Jesus Christ". (1 John 2: 1). 
He is the one who intercedes for us:
"Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Rom 8: 34).
He is the one pleading our cause before our Heavenly Father. He does not condemn us or accuse us. It is Satan who does exactly that - the word devil comes from Greek where diabolos means a slanderer or accuser, and it corresponds to the Hebrew name Satan which signifies an adversary, or an accuser. 
The accuser of our brethren is overthrown. Day and night he stood accusing them in God’s presence; but because of the Lamb’s blood and because of the truth to which they bore witness, they triumphed over him, holding their lives cheap till death overtook them.  (Revelations 12: 10-11)
This is the nature of Satan. To slander and accuse the children of God before our Heavenly Father. 

Those who slander, condemn and accuse Pope Francis - whose job are you really doing? Just a few comments left on Jesus to Mankind Facebook page just right after the conclave (original spelling) and the election of Pope Francis:
(...) we might need to pray, as Our Lady asked, for Francis I because even though he is the 'best man' for the job of dividing or 'near' destroying the Church (otherwise satan wouldn't have chose him for his dirty work) 
This so called Pope Francis has been displaying too many acts of humility that is no longer normal, he wants everyone to be convinced that he is humble.. You know what, a true humble people would not show off..
Pope Francis, if we will see the initials on the other way around it is FP (Francis Pope) meaning, False Prophet. 

And as for Pope Francis, he is not a pope nor do I accept him taking the name of our St Francis, so I will from now on simply call him Frank.
(...)  this pope is an anti pope an imposter who will causes schisms in the catholic Church desecrate the Holy Eucharist and undermine Sacraments Marriage ,Baptism, Confession the signs of this will soon appear then the people who viciously attacked Maria will hang their heads in shame. (A few months later I still do not see that one coming)

But the most disturbing of all was a 'prayer request' on Jesus to Mankind page:
"Dear Lord, thank you for protecting us and for exposing anti-Pope Francis for who he really is: an emissary from Hell. Keep us safe from him, make his days few and his life short, for the sake of Thine elect. Amen."  


This comment has been mentioned in Maria Divine Mercy, Schism! A Deception of Satan (see the comments) and Catholic evangelist Eddie Russell FMI mentioned reporting it to the admins of the JTM page. But a month later, the comment was still there. 

The same admins who will ban detractors and remove their posts when only they sense some 'trouble' were not bothered with people who prayed for the Pope's death. That tells a lot about the organisation behind MDM and MDM herself, who by the way, it turns out is on Facebook as well. 


That same 'Jesus' seems to be very upset those who 'hate' his prophets: 
"When you Find Hatred of any Kind in your heart, especially towards My Holy Messengers, Know that Satan has Tempted you to Sin (MDM message April 11th, 2012) .
Though implication is somewhat clear that it is MDM who is the recipient of that hate. Yet this 'Jesus' seems to be totally oblivious, if not somewhat satisfied, with all the hatred towards the Pontiff! 

Jesus does not change

Jesus does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow(Hebrews 13: 8). There is no hatred in Jesus. He called his traitor 'friend' when Judas was about to betray him, and definitely never tried to turn the other disciples against him, though he knew fairly well what Judas was about to do:  
Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.” (Mt 26 49-50). 
And when he was being crucified, in the midst of an unimaginable suffering, he still continued to pray for his tormentors, 
 'Father, forgive them for they don't know what they do.' (Luke 23: 34).
And now Jesus is suddenly so different? Could these foul words have ever come out of His Mouth?
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"This wicked gesture, during Holy Week, will be seen by those who keep their eyes open and this will be one of the signs by which you will know that the imposter, who sits on the throne in My Church on earth, does not come from Me." (Message March 14, 2013)
The cunning imposter, who has lain in waiting in the wings, patiently, will soon declare his reign over My poor unsuspecting sacred servants. The pain he will inflict is too hard for Me to bear, and yet, his reign will culminate in the final purging of evil from within the core of My Church. 
His loyalty is to the beast and how he will laugh and sneer at My sacred servants who will support him. (March 8th, 2013) 
He who dares to sit in My Temple, and who has been sent by the evil one, cannot speak the truth, for he does not come from Me. He has been sent to dismantle My Church and tear it up into little pieces before he will spit it out from his vile mouth. (March 8th, 2013)

You shall know them by their fruits 

Here it is 'Jesus' who accuses and condemns; his followers just follow the suit. And if this 'Jesus' seems to hate our Pontiff so much, is it
any wonder his followers do the same? 

And since it is by fruits that we shall know them (Mt 7: 16), can  the fruit of the Holy Spirit be hatred, character assassination, slander, disobedience to the authority? And you, MDM follower, aren't you behaving like the Pharisees and teachers of the law 'who were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely (Luke 6: 7)?


Jesus is the same as he was yesterday. He would never condemn anyone he has died for, and that includes Pope Francis. So dear MDM follower, if you still think this is really Jesus speaking through MDM messages, we ask you one thing. Reread the Gospels and think again. 



Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Do not judge (Maria Divine Mercy)!


Followers of Maria Divine Mercy like to remind us what the Bible teaches about passing judgement: "Stop judging, that you may not be judged." (Mt 7: 1). They wrongly assume that all of us are to accept blindly her teaching for she allegedly is the chosen Prophet of the End Times. 

Indeed the Bible teaches us that we should not pass judgement on other people. We do not have insight into another person's heart and we do not know what motives lie beneath their actions. However, God wants us to judge between truth and error and  between good and evil. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we also have responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so or by protecting evil-doers. (CCC 1868)


Let us examine what Sacred Scriptures really say about judging the teaching of others like that of Maria Divine Mercy 
1) Jesus rebuked those who follow false prophets: (Rev. 2: 20-23):    
To the Church of Thyatira: "Yet I hold this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, who teaches and misleads my servants to play the harlot and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent but she refuses to repent of her harlotry. So I will cast her on a sickbed and plunge those who commit adultery with her into intense suffering unless they repent of her works. I will also put her children to death. Thus shall all the churches come to know that I am the searcher of hearts and minds and that I will give each of you what your works deserve.
 
2) We are told to rebuke and correct: (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 4:2-4)
Paul wrote that all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that you who belong to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. Proclaim the word: be persistent whether it is convenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.

3) We are to keep away from people who are teaching false doctrine:
   (2Thess: 3:6)  "We instruct you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us".
   (Titus 3:10-11)  "After a first and second warning, break off contact with heretic, realizing that such a person is perverted and sinful and stands self-condemned."
   (Roman 16:17)  "I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles, in opposition to the teaching that you learned; avoid them".
   (Matthew 16; 6,12) 'Jesus said to them, 'Look out, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees'. then they understood that he was not telling them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

4) God expect us to judge.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:15 "The spiritual person, however, can judge everything but is not subject to judgment by anyone". Judging is not a sin: judging is a characteristic of being a spiritual person. Satan has been lying to us, hoping that we will not judge, because he knows that the right kind of judgment pleases God, and makes our lives and Christian service better.

5) There is a righteous kind of judgment we are supposed to exercise  with careful discernment (John 7:24) "Stop judging by appearance, but judge justly". When Jesus told us not to judge (Matthew 7:1), He was telling us not to judge hypocritically (Matthew 7:2-5).

6) Those who teach a false doctrine are already condemned.
 Galatians 1:8 "But even if we or angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let that one be accursed!


Matthew chapter 7 -  the same chapter that teaches us not to judge other people also warns us against false prophets. 
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. (Mt 7: 15-20)

Jesus expects us to exercise judgment here, because He knows there will be false prophets and teachers who will come in His name, who will appear to be good and innocent on the outside, but who will eventually lead the faithful astray and exploit them. But Jesus does not leave us defenseless. He warns us against false prophets and tells us how we can know them - and we shall know them by their fruits - telling whether the fruits are good or bad will necessarily involve exercising judgement. 




Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Fr. Owen Gorman speaks about Maria Divine Mercy


Fr. Owen Gorman wrote this article for his column on the March 2012 issue of the Alive newspaper in Ireland after making a review of the alleged divine revelations from an anonymous Irish visionary hiding behind a false name 'Maria Divine Mercy'.  Below is the article:

Many faithful Christians at present believe that the world has gotten so bad that God will intervene directly in human affairs to bring us to our senses. Something big will happen, they say, and soon!
This view is central to a website, ‘the warning second coming’, that is popular with some Catholics. It is associated with an anonymous European seer’ who goes by the name, ‘Maria Divine Mercy’.
The website claims that since November 2010, ‘Maria’ has been receiving messages from God the Father, Jesus and Our Lady. They speak of a worldwide warning from God, the need for conversion and the Second Coming of Christ.

In judging private revelations, the Church rightly proceeds with great caution. If any “revelation” contains a substantive doctrinal or moral error it can be dismissed as being ‘not of supernatural origin’.

Applying this standard to ‘Maria Divine Mercy’, we  find a number of doctrinal errors in her writings. Here are sample messages followed by responses based on Church teaching:

Fr. Owen Gorman
(1) Message (20 May 2011): Many people believe that My Second Coming indicates that the end of the world has come. This is not the case, for instead, it will mean the End Times when Satan and his followers will be banished from earth for 1000 years.
Response: The revelation of Jesus’ passion is found in the four Gospels, which are inspired by God.   To claim that the events around Jesus’ crucifixion have not been revealed as they were meant to be belittles Biblical revelation. It implies that the Gospel accounts are defective. But this cannot be, for God Himself is the author of Scripture which manifests his mind and will. Maria Divine Mercy has not got this point right. Is anyone sniffing heresy here? 

(2) Message (7 May 2011): My Passion the Cross and the atrocities committed by man at My crucifixion have not been revealed to the world in the way they were meant to be.
Response: The revelation of Jesus’ passion is found in the four Gospels, which are inspired by God.  To claim that the events around Jesus’ crucifixion have not been revealed as they were meant to be belittles Biblical revelation. It implies that the Gospel accounts are defective. But this cannot be, for God Himself is the author of Scripture which manifests his mind and will. Maria Divine Mercy has not got this point right. Is anyone sniffing heresy?
 
(3) Message (31 January2012):  I grant them [my disciples] [a] plenary indulgence to enable them carry My torch of ?re so that they can spread conversion. They must say this prayer for seven consecutive days and they will be given the gift of total absolution and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Response:  Private revelations often contain promises of special rewards for faithful followers. But there are two big problems here.
(a) Jesus does not grant plenary indulgences. He has delegated the dispensing of indulgences to Church authorities. They decide what pious practices merit a plenary indulgence, and the conditions.
(b) total absolution of sins comes through the sacrament of penance, not from reciting a particular prayer over a 7-day period, however meritorious that prayer may be.

This small sampling of messages should make it clear that the views on the ‘warning’ website contain serious doctrinal errors and are not a reliable guide to the Catholic faith. 

Above was lifted from Following the Shepherd's Voice blog site, posted 17 January 2013.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Private Revelations, Judgements and Defections

I challenge us today, to study the Sacred Scripture, to read the Documents of the Church, the Catholic simple Catechism, the encyclical letters, the episcopal letters of Bishops to the government of their various regions etc. In these and many more instances Holy Mother Church speaks insistently and cries out aloud with pains and tears calling on all to return to God with a changed attitude. These documents are not far-fetched and like I said in my post a few  days ago, 'there are two things that will save the present world problem: humble prayers to God and the right action'