A sober reflection on the subject of mystics and private revelations

I have a good friend who is on the path to conversion to the Catholic church and we have had some very frank and honest conversations. Last night we spoke until about 1:30 AM on that stickiest of sticky wicket subjects- mystics and private revelations. The term sticky wicket actually derives from a damp or soft pitch in the ground that can affect the spin or trajectory of a ball.

The subject of mystics and private revelation and miracles of that nature can be just that type of thing. It can be embraced as the marvelous confirmation of a growing and building faith or it can be the confirmation that it's all the hocus pocus superstition of an ideology based on myths and fairy tales.

So how does an informed catholic place the ball, so to speak? You better get this one right, or you can be the very person who scandalizes a potential convert.

First, choose carefully. Fatima, Portugal? Yes.

In this very patch of sky in Fatima, Portugal, 70,000 eyewitnesses saw the sun dance and shoot off shafts of multicolored light. The documentation of the miracle as well as the credibility of consistency of the message are beyond assailable.

More than 100 years later, millions of pilgrims per year flock to this hamlet in this agrarian nation to stand where these people stood.

On September 24th, 25th and 26th, I was blessed with the privilege of being one of them.

It is estimated that visions of the Virgin Mary have been reported as many as 21,000 times but literally 99.99 % + stand rejected or unapproved.

A believer in miracles has to be discerning and completely unwilling to jump on the bandwagon of every person who has claimed to see a miraculous vision or heard a miraculous voice.

True, visible, public miracles are very rare and that's what makes them so extraordinary.

On the other hand, claimed miracles and miraculous places are in abundance. and some of those places and stories are dubious to say the least.

Medjugorje, Bosnia? Absolute, no.

This is a place where no public miracles have ever occurred, no cures, no proven signs or verified prophecies of any kind have been shown. Yet, 6 filthy rich hucksters have convinced millions that the Virgin Mary has been appearing in this forsaken place for more than 40 years. This is place where the 6 actually claimed that the Blessed Mother of God became filthy from being touched by the sinful pilgrims and that she was about to destroy the world over a bloody handkerchief.

This is the place where we have actual video proof of a faked encounter with the Blessed Mother.

Watch this video, especially from 1:00 and there can be absolutely no question that you are witnessing a fraud. It's really not even deniable. Even the Ruini report admitted that they were spiritually immature, self-absorbed liars.

At the time I discovered this evidence, rejecting Medjugorje was not a comfortable position to take in my circle of friends but what choice did I have? If I were to try and go to my persuadable friend and tell him that this video does not prove Medjugorje to be a fraud, he would immediately write off the credibility of every other claim I have made- and rightly so.

Simply put, Catholics who blindly believe in every alleged miraculous event are just as bad as people who blindly reject everything miraculous.

If a Catholic wishes to add private revelations, miracles and mistakes to his apologetics repertoire, he had better stick to the very few that are beyond dispute. That means crackpot factories like Medjugorje, Garabandal, Bayside and San Damiano are out. The same is true with nut jobs like Maria Divine Mercy and Maria Valtorta and Luisa Piccaretta. A cursory reading of their writings show these people to be unstable.

So, what's left?

In terms of volume? Not a lot. In terms of treasure? Much.

There are a precious few mystics or visionaries officially recognized by the Catholic church and canonized as saints. It's a very small number. For example, the number of Doctors of the Church is less than 40 and the number of approved Marian apparitions is less than 30. The number of Eucharistic miracles approved is 120.

Knowing that I have been to places associated with the persons and events included on those select lists, is humbling indeed.

How to broach the subject with your protestant friends.

First, the distinction must be made between private and public revelation, it's value and its purpose.

Public revelation is what has been divinely entrusted with the church from its foundation. First and foremost are the 73 books (not 66) of canonical scripture. Private revelation that seeks to nullify, change or undermine the Divine truths of revealed scripture are to be always rejected without exception.

I could give a hundred examples. Mohammed and Joseph Smith are two that come quickly to mind and the nature of God stand front and center. Mohammed denies the Divinity of Christ and Smith posits a polytheistic mess of endless gods.

So, that's the starting point. What is a new revelation vs what is an exposition as to what has been revealed?

I'll give some practical examples.

The Resurrection

No Christian can accept the assertion that Jesus did not physically rise from the grave. That is dogma and divinely revealed. However, Scripture is not explicitly clear on the calendar date of the Resurrection and is silent on the exact time. Early church tradition pointed to the date of March 27th. In fact, the commemoration of the death of Saint Dismas (the good thief) still occurs on the 25th, which would support that Resurrection date. However, much research on the matter points to April 5th, 33 AD as a far more plausible fit for the Resurrection and certain celebrated mystics of the church place the time at 3:00 AM.

Whether you believe Jesus was raised on March 27th or April 5th, at 3:00 AM or at an undetermined time is a detail you are free to speculate on. It does not add to nor detract from the deposit of faith.

The Immaculate Conception

Some non- Catholics assert that it was very convenient that Mary showed up in 1858 to confirm to Bernadette the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, as if to assert that the church looks to the events at Lourdes as the foundation of this doctrine. They would have a point if Lourdes had occurred in 1854 and the doctrine were defined in 1858. What happened was the reverse.

The church based its pronouncement on this doctrine based on what is reveled in Sacred Scripture. The word Kecharitomene used in Luke 1:28 indicating the fullness of her Grace and the position of enmity which she holds with the serpent in Genesis 3 and Revelation 12, for example.

Though I as a Catholic, could theoretically believe that Mary never appeared at the grotto in Lourdes, I would nevertheless still be compelled to uphold the doctrine of the Immaculate conception under pain of sin. This is not in addition to what has been revealed in Scripture but precisely from what has been revealed in Scripture.

The Eucharist

Considering the extreme gravity in the words of John 6:53 and 1 Corinthians 11:29, the need to settle the debate of a literal vs figurative Eucharist seems particularly relevant. Thus, the issue isn't about creating a new debate or teaching, but in definitely settling an existing one. With salvation literally hanging in the balance, the idea that God would leave this riddle unsolved even to the sincerest truth-seeking soul, is absurd.

It is one thing to hear about and read about the blood of Christ. It is another thing to look at it with your own eyes. The above image is exactly what I saw- with my own eyes- in Santarem, Portugal. That is a literal Eucharistic host stained with the literal blood of the literal Jesus. Read that again.

Need just one piece of empirical evidence?

AB+ blood is the only universal recipient type. It is present in about 3.4% of persons according to the Red Cross. AB+ is the blood type found in every Eucharistic miracle and in the Shroud of Turin. Many miracles over many centuries in many places. Always the same result.

Grok places the numerical probability at 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000021454.

Examples of Salvation

Giving three foundational doctrines presented as examples, the importance of heavenly manifestations and visitors to us can be understood. However, the greatest example I can give of these important people and events and teachers is the straightforward, rubber- to- road struggle of how genuine faith leads to genuine conversion of the person.

These few chosen people are beacons of what genuine faith looks like and how very difficult, yet very rewarding the path of faith can be,

Thousands of pages have been printed by people giving their own interpretation of scripture and what the process of salvation actually looks like. It is one thing to read someone's opinions and conclusions, but it is another thing altogether to read the witness of heaven itself to these select few souls who are living witnesses to the truths expressed in the gospels.

These people, by their testimony, do not add to the gospels but they bring them to life. It is one thing to read blessed are the persecuted, but it is another thing to read the actual stories of real people who faced real persecution because of their love of God.

That testimony starts with the willing martyrs who were murdered in unspeakable, and very public, ways for the testimony of Jesus. We see this well under way in all the pages of the New Testament. However, the martyrdom of Christians didn't end with the deaths of the Apostles or even with their successors or even with their successors' successors. The truth is that people are suffering and dying for the name of Jesus Christ even to this day.

Most of us, however, do not die in public martyrdom for the Christian faith but that does not mean heaven is inaccessible to us. We physical beings need to see that and be reminded of that from time to time and God has raised up, from time to time, Saints to show us what kindness looks like- Saint Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa, what wisdom looks like- Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, what humility looks like Bernadette, Therese of Lisieux, what deep penetration of the mysteries of the purgative, illuminative and unitive ways mean- John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila.

The worldly understanding of mysticism is the selfish attempt to transactionally gain advantage through secret knowledge, particularly of future events. In order to set myself up for gain, I could seek to take advantage of opportunities others cannot and avoid pitfalls and events they could fall victim to.

This is so radically different from Catholic mysticism that lets me know, in no uncertain terms, that life is no rose garden and that the only true and tried path to heaven is to die to self, pick up your cross and trod the hard, narrow and difficult way. The Gospels very clearly already show this but it's a bitter message and we foolish humans are quite adept at trying to talk ourselves out of it.

God removes any pretense when He gives us as messengers, the poor, the destitute, the uneducated, the humble, the sick, the young.

If we humans could choose our heroes, we would certainly not choose Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Bernadette Soubirous or Theresa Martin (Therese of Lisieux). We would never even notice these people much less contemplated their words, their examples or the sufferings of their short lives. We would see the imprisonment of John of the Cross as a cruel, historical footnote, to be sure but would never dream that his Dark night of the Soul is a roadmap for us to reach the light.

All of these people have taught us that salvation is within reach for each of us simply by how willing we are to embrace the trials set right before us, where we are, and allow our hearts to receive the graces Jesus fully wants to give us at this moment, in this place.

The most remarkable thing about these saints and mystics is how truly unremarkable they were so that we would never suspect, for a second, that they were the cause of the magnificent truths and miracles God has chosen to manifest through their simple, humble obedience.