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.
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.
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