Skip to main content

Visions of Mary

In receiving this books from Paraclete Press for review, I was not sure what to think of Medjugorje. Being an orthodox Protestant in the Reformed tradition, I am not exposed to visions and revelations from apostles or women of the Scriptures, nor do I seek out these experiences. Even while not fully grasping the place of Mary in Catholic teaching, nor understanding why there is so much attention placed on her, I was not pushed away in reading this book. The book, entitled Medjugorje: What's Happening written by Father James Mulligan is an indepth at the purported visions given by Mary, the mother of Jesus to six people living in Medjugorje, a town in the region of Bosnia-Hercegovinia. What is great about this book is that the author tries to get into the background of how these visions came about, and how the town was for many years preparing itself for these visions through one of the Franciscan priests in the area (Fr. Tomislav Vlasic), through the predictions of Mate Sego (a kind of prophet in the area), and the building of the stone cross (14-24). The visions seen by these six young men and women therefore did not fall out of the sky but were predicated upon the belief that God was doing miraculous things already in the region in connection with the Virgin Mary. Mr. Mulligan goes into detail about the apparitions and the words that were spoken by Gospa (the Virgin) to the six women and men.




What did I think was was good about the book and also informative?

Next, the author goes into concrete detail about the lives of the visionaries who received these messages from Mary. Even engaging some of the critics of Medjugorje, Mr. Mulligan does a good job at recounting the testing and psychological work that was done upon these individuals. At least for me as a Christian and as a servant of Christ I found the pages written on the visionaries lives very good. Why? Even from the standpoint of not fully able to believing everything about these visions, I am concerned about these people living out their faith in every aspect of their lives.



One of the touching portions of the testimony of one of the visionaries was a talk given by Ivanka in 2009. She writes at one point concerning the visions that "Our Lady has given a different mission to each one of us visionaries. My mission is to pray for families. So every day I pray for families" (203). This kind of wisdom to pray for families and lift them up to God in prayer is at the heart of the Christian life (its what it should be all about).



What was problematic or gray in terms of the material written about?

For one, although this book seeks to provide research and background on the veracity of the appartitions, in the end it is a matter of believing these to be of divine nature or not. What I found problematic was that these visions and what most of the people saw was entirely in line with the Catholic Church's teaching, rather than being a message focusing on Jesus, evangelism or the like. At one point, Marija said that "Our Lady said that the souls in purgatory have much need of our prayers" (223). This is all well if you actually believe in the doctrine of purgatory. My point is that if you are a devout Catholic and have a penchant for the miraculous than this book will be of use and encouragement to you. Lastly, I find the overwhelming focus on Mary to be rather unbiblical in nature, even to the point of ridiculous.



What did I takeaway from this?

These visions certainly gave encouragement and peace to many in the Medjugorje community as they were going through some devastating times. I'm glad that many were blessed by this experience in many ways. I was glad to see that the visionaries carried out their faith in the Church and in God even after the visions were finished. They seemed to gain a sense of hope from being part of something greater than themselves. I did think that the reserch that Mr. Mulligan did was very good, coverning the Pope's response and the outside world (media, magazines,etc.).



Thanks to Paraclete Press for the review copy of this book.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Rise of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman

  The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman Navigating the culture that we take up residence in, with its laser focus on sexual identity, tolerance, and an individualism that raises its head at every corner, Christians need a robust account of how we got to this point in our Western culture without retreating to our churches nor morphing with the latest trends.   Carl Trueman, professor of religion and theology at Grove City College, brings his keen historical research to bear on this issue in his new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.   Part historical survey and philosophical analysis, Dr. Trueman traces the trajectories of key thinkers such as Rousseau, Freud, and Marx, while also incorporating the insights of Charles Taylor and Phillip Rieff to form a cogent argument as to how we got to this point in our history, both in our expressive individualism and sexual freedom outlooks.   The book is surprisingly insightful and yet demands from the reader the pa

The Conditioned Mind

The Conditioned Mind: Overcoming the Crippling Effects of Sin and Guilt by Michael J. Mannia Counselor and author Michael J. Mannia knows firsthand how the spiraling of sin and guilt can eat away at life.  His new book, The Conditioned Mind, is a look into how believers can overcome the effects of sin and guilt and live in the freedom that we have in Christ.  Through a careful look into the patterns that we develop and the mindsets that we get ingrained in, Michael is able to offer ways through guilt that bring freedom and healing.  I think this is not only a timely but a book that aims toward bringing real healing to its readers. In the first chapter Michael looks at two needs that we have: our need for love and our need for security.  Love isn’t something optional for the human race, but something it needs at its core.  “Additionally, we need to reciprocate love.  We need to feel loved as much as we need to love others (8).”  Love is a two-way street that inv

Passover and Jesus

The Messiah in the Passover , Edited by Darrell Bock and Mitch Glaser Why should Christians celebrate and remember the Passover?   This is a striking question that needs to be understood as well as the historical and theological context of the Passover.   However obscure we sometimes view the Old Testament, there is some significant reasons why we should reach back and study the Passover.   Mitch Glaser in the Introduction states, “When Christians celebrate the Passover, they grow in their understanding of the Old Testament, affirm the Jewishness of the Gospel, deepen our understanding of the Lord’s Supper, and build community with fellow Christians…” (20).   This book is answer to why celebrate the Passover but even more importantly an answer to what the Passover is and what it signifies to us today.   The various contributors of this book, Messiah in the Passover, bring a wealth of ministry experience in relating the Jewishness of both Jesus and the Old Testament to