Medjugorje - Message of 25th May 2012

"Dear children!

Also today I call you to conversion and to holiness.

God desires to give you joy and peace through prayer but you, little children, are still far away - attached to the earth and to earthly things.

Therefore, I call you anew: open your heart and your sight towards God and the things of God - and joy and peace will come to reign in your hearts.

Thank you for having responded to my call."

I shall be commenting in due course.

Every good wish for Pentecost and a huge outflow of the Holy Spirit on you all!

Fr. Ted

Time for a Change

Hi folks,

The old computer went off-line and collapsed generally giving a fortnight's break before the new became operative!

The main problem is that as yet I cannot upload onto the "spiritual-reneal.com" site. However for the monthly message from Medjugorje please go to "http://www.spiritual-renewal.org". Once there click on the last page where the latest message will have been loaded.

I trust you are all busy enjoying Advent. May it be a blessing to you all and a time when Christmas is not anticipated too much!

The news from St. Matidla's is that the congregation as a whole has decided to ally itself with the "Society of St. Wilfred and St. Hilda" in addition to Forward in Faith as an additional safeguard for its traditional but forward looking stance.

Lots of Blessings!

Fr. Ted

Pilgrims

Dear Friends,

A slight diversion from the recent domesticity.

I note that the Bishop of Mostar is tidying up some of the liturgical facilities in Medjugorje, especially at two of the popular communities there.

No doubt detractors will see this as yet another sign of disapproval of all that is happening there.

However, we need to be reminded that the Bishop, although sceptical about the appearances of the BVM there, is an ardent supporter of a healthy devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Before we rush to the barricades on either side of the various arguments in Medjugorje, let's pause and reflect, that doing this may help to concentrate such devotion at more public venues including the parish church, and enhance the kind of healthy spiritual life he seeks to promote.

The problem as I see it, is that so few detractors notice how positive Bishop Peric is over many aspects of the work in Medjugorje. In addition his stance helps a good outcome in the end as well as the meantime whether the Vatican approves of the visions as genuine or otherwise.

So cheer up, there are lots of reasons to continue to be very cheerful about those going on pilgrimage to Medjugorje ... and to continue to pray that by so doing their devotional life may be enhanced and grow healthier.

Yours ay,

Fr. Ted
(The Reverend Doctor Edward Baty, IMM)

PS If you are in England and can't get to Medjugorje, then visit Walsingham. There are heaps of new and exciting things going on there, not least the advent of Bishop Lindsay at the Anglican Shrine.

Carry on Praying!

Hi!

I posted the following this morning on one of my favourite fora

"The mutual cease-fires announced last night were welcome.

Could it be no co-incidence that both the Roman Collect for yesterday - widely used beyond the Roman fold, and the Anglican "Book of Common Prayer" Collect were specifically prayers for peace?

I guess so.

Let's keep on praying in support of our lobbying - hard!"

The message needs underlining. Those of us close to the Medjugorje Apostolate should remember that "Queen of Peace" is a major title of Our lady especially among the Croatian peoples.

The prayers will continue all week for those using these collects ... and must continue surely far beyond that until this crisis and conflict is resolved.

Best wishes,

Ted Baty

October Call from Medjugorje

Timely call!

In a world crazed by the infantile celebration of "Hallowe'en" rather than the celebration of the work of the saints at All Saints' Tide, of increasing persecution and martyrdom of Christians throughout the world, and the curiously ill-informed campaigns of so many secular humanists (note to be a real humanist you need to have something like a Christian approach at least - the first humanists were Christians in the Renaissance and the Reformation) - this message coming from Medjugorje has real relevance!

Message of October 25, 2008 "Dear children! In a special way I call you all to pray for my intentions so that, through your prayers, you may stop Satan's plan over this world, which is further from God every day, and which puts itself in the place of God and is destroying everything that is beautiful and good in the souls of each of you. Therefore, little children, arm yourselves with prayer and fasting so that you may be conscious of how much God loves you and may carry out God's will. Thank you for having responded to my call."

In the meantime - Read and Act on it!

More comment later in the week!

More mischief afoot!

Fr. Vlasic in the news again!

Fr. Tomislav Vlasic was one of the Franciscan priests who helped at Medjugorje for a short time in the early days.

Unfortunately his unconventional approach to things has got himself into regular troubles and he has now been the subject of disciplinary action by the Roman Catholic authorities.

His time at Medjugorje was short. Although high in profile, my own estimate is that his influence there has virtually disappeared over the years.

This recent disciplinary action has stirred up some trouble from those who seek any rumour or adverse report which might, or might not, have relevance to Medjugorje. The disciplinary action seems to have nothing to do with Medjugorje and everything to do with Fr. Vlasic's maverick approach, an approach I personally regard with much suspicion, and which, I repeat, has no relevance now. However the critics have latched onto the association, which was short, and are keen to stir up trouble.

My advice?

Ignore this and concentrate on what is actually being said officially, and note also what is not being said officially! We might start by looking at what the present Bishop of Mostar has advised.

He is of the opinion that nothing supernatural is happening there. However he has also been told not to make such comments as the matter of deciding whether anything supernatural has happened in Medjugorje is now in the hands of the Vatican. All bishops and prelates, presumably, have to wait for the decision. The Bishop of Mostar has a personal opinion which he does not hide. That is important but, in the present circumstances, should be regarded as a personal opinion, not an official pronouncement. The Vatican will decide.

The present Bishop of Mostar, has laid down excellent guidelines for the parish and the pilgrims, and made positive comments about the visionaries and about the importance of healthy Marian devotion. He is after all one of the best informed about Medjugorje matters. His views are worthy of respect even though we may differ from him in our conclusions or our general approach to what happens there.

So why do we have to put up with ill-informed and ill-willed comment from others than the Bishop? Sensible, evidence-based, criticism we all need so that our understanding can be improved as we discuss the criticisms, but simply slinging mud because we are sour-hearted individuals ... no thank you!

"Advent tells us ... "

"Christ is Near"

Tomorrow evening Advent begins in earnest. It has always been a time of great enjoyment even though we are ensuring our attention by keeping to days of fasting and abstinence. The preparation is done, in the Anglican Tradition, in a subdued way. Indeed it is done by adding the realisation that we need to make changes in our life if we are to celebrate Christmas and The Incarnation properly. We make sure that we give plenty of time for thinking of the implications of Jesus's coming. This has to mean a degree of disengagement from the festivities of everyone who is busy celebrating as an excuse for excess and over-indulgence. It doesn not mean going around with a long face or being rude about these other festivities. Enjoy them politely. I would suggest with "severe moderation"!

This means setting aside for looking in turn at various unpopular things: Heaven (and Hell!), Judgement, The Second Coming of Jesus. As extras, on the Sundays we remember with thanksgiving the work and witness of the biblical authors especially those in the New Testament, of St. John the Baptist, and on the Sundays immediately before and after Christmas that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy family. It is a huge array of areas to explore. No wonder we fast a little as well.

How to fast? The details are explained in the newly issued revision of the Medjugorje monograph, now available from Clickbank. The Prayer Book suggests the minimum required.

Go to http://www.medjugorje.org/ to avail yourself of this monograph in full, and of the opportunity to profit by passing it on to others.

More later this weekend!

Yours ay,

Ted Baty

Immaculate Integration?

Some thoughts on the Immaculate Conception's reception by the Church occurred to me whilst meditating by my wife bedside in hospital as she slept peacefully through the afternoon ... to awaken bright and perky in time for supper and my evening visit!

Years ago the Blessed Virgin appeared to the young girl Bernadette and revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception, a phrase Bernadette could not understand. The phrase referred to a dogma owned and promulgated by the Catholic Church a few years later.

In Medjugorje the most controversial items in the series of visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary there which have been reported since 1981 have been about the relation of religions to each other.

Mary, it is said, has stated that - so far as God is concerned - it is man that has caused religious conflict and division, not He himself.

Traditional Catholics, especially those of a hardened and exclusive nature which refuses any hope of salvation to those outside their own faith, have taken great exception to this and regard it as "proof" that the apparitions are false.

Not so me! Even the Vatican doesn't take that stance preferring to wait until a proper investigation of the whole matter has taken place. In the meantime opinions differ, but are only opinions - and like the divisions are said to be, largely man-made, perhaps even largely male-dominated.

Given the present eirenic and ecumenical stance of Benedikt XVI towards other Christians as shown in the visits of the Archbishop of Canterbury - the senior man in Anglicanism - to Rome, and of the Pope himself to Turkey and Instanbul to meet the Oecumenical Patriarch, the "Primus inter Pares"of Orthodoxy, is this comment ascribed to Mary in Medjugorje, not perhaps one of the keys to the whole Medjugorje question?

I am not saying that it is so. However, let us examine the possibility that it is so. The Pope's attitude is similar to that of his predecessor - described in "Ut Unum Sint" - and builds on it. Various things point to this suggestion, so outrageous to some:

• Mary is known primarily in Medjugorje as "Queen of Peace";
• Many Medjugorje Centres throughout the world take this titel into their own as "(such and such a place) Centre for Peace";
• The provision of Peace in individuals, societies, churches and communtities, and between individuals and groups and nations in conflict is a keystone of the whole movement which stems from Medjugorje;
• Jesus promised "I if I be lifted up will draw all men to myself";
• Jesus stated that the two great commandments were to Love God and to Love our neighbour as ourselves;
• Jesus said that we should love our enemies.

Could it not be, therefore, that Jesus became incarnate to unify mankind under God's provision, and in a peaceful and loving hegemony in which those in power were the servants of all, not despots?

The British Prime Minister has laid out today his plans for the method by which our British communities and faiths can be integrated into a peaceful and harmonious whole in the United Kingdom.

Let us hope that the well-publicised Catholicism of the PM and his family, spanning both Anglican and Roman approaches may extend to consider just this!

That this has happened on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a pleasant co-incidence as it reminds us that the Queen of Peace may already have intervened in order to promote a new and respectful attitude between the adherents of our many faiths, just as she did so many years ago to remind the Catholic world of the importance of her own Immaculate Conception.