(1) THE APPARITIONS AT MEDJUGORJE IN BOSNIA
As I've said, I am a Pentecostal Methodist, not a Catholic. But I feel led of God to defend or at least present biblical perspectives on Catholic distinctives in the hope that they can receive a fair hearing. What interests me far more are the major apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Though the RC Church accepts the authenticity of Marian apparitions at Guadaloupe, Fatima, and Lourdes (among other locales), Rome has yet to pronounce on the validity of the more recent apparitions at Medjugorje in Bosnia from 1981 to the present. I have been impressed by the testimonies of very bright acquaintances (e.g. a lawyer and a behavior psychologist) whose lives have been changed by pilgrimages to Medjugorje, sharing in the visions and experiencing miracles while there. Countless millions of pilgrims have now visited the sites of these Bosnian visions. Please watch this BBC video on the origin of these Marian visions and share your reactions:
Medjugorje Documentary - Bing video
For me, the jury is out on these miraculous apparitions at Medjugorje because of the 10 epic secrets revealed by Mary to the children. The children know the dates on which these events will be fulfilled and promise to disclose the exact dates 3 days in advance of their fulfillment. From their remarks, it seems that some of these events are truly apocalyptic!
As for myself, I visited the alleged house of the Virgin Mary atop a majestic little mountain outside of Ephesus in Turkey and I sensed the loving presence of the Holy Spirit there more powerfully than I did in my trips to biblical sites in Greece and Israel. I visited this house during a "Footsteps of St. Paul" tour out of curiosity arising from a spectacular healing miracle experienced there by a highly skeptical Methodist friend who had visited Mary's house previously. I'll share that experience in greater detail in future posts. Please watch the video before you post a reaction!