| A SHORT COURSE ON SPIRITUALITY I. “Apparitions - What? How? Why?" Part 1: PRIVATE REVELATION! WHAT IS IT? 1. THE WORD OF GOD AND WORDS FROM GOD Public Revelation = God Himself & His saving will (DV 6). Tradition & Scripture = Deposit of Faith. “No new public revelation” (DV 4); no new doctrine; binding the whole Church; for the salvation of all; valid for all time. Private revelations = since the NT. For the good of the Church (fidelity to the Gospel); in Scriptures and history; Catholics must accept their existence but not any particular apparition; they have been/are willed by God; to encourage/guide individuals or the whole Church during a specific period in history; “They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith” (CCC 67). Public Revelation and private revelation, “differ not only in degree but also in essence” (Ratzinger). One, by its very nature, at the service of the other (Ratzinger: Cf. liturgy & popular piety). 2. PRIVATE REVELATION REVEALED Private revelation, the category of prophecy; “gift of prophecy”; “charismatic gifts”; “special graces”. Foundation = our prophetic office through Baptism (LG 12). They are gratuitous, do not presuppose sanctifying grace, ecstasy, nor a life of virtue. Cannot be merited. Mystical, for the perfection of the recipient (St. Gemma Galgani, 1878-1903). Prophetic, for the salvation of others - gratia gratis data (St. Margaret Mary, 1647-90). 3. THE MANY FACES OF PRIVATE REVELATION Locutions (or Words) - Exterior, Imaginative, & Intellectual. Visions - Exterior, Imaginative, & Intellectual. Prophecy – principally “to explain the will of God for the present, and therefore show the right path to take for the future” (Ratzinger). Prophecies of the future must be of a contingent event beyond the possibility of chance or the surmise of the Devil. Prophecies & miracles = “most certain signs of divine Revelation” (CCC 156). 4. CHURCH APPROVAL “Test the spirits to see whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). Approved for public devotion; one may, if so convinced, accept what is claimed. The Danger of Deception - The object comes to us through “the filter of our senses” (Ratzinger). Sr. Lucia: “The interpretation belonged not to the visionary but to the Church”. I. The Witness of Miracles - Either in the nature of the revelation itself or in an event directly associated with it = certainty of divine origin. II. The Integrity of the “Visionary” - Natural qualities: physical, intellectual (normal), and esp. moral. St. John of the Cross - effects in the soul: “quietude, illumination, happiness resembling that of glory, delight, purity, love, humility, and an elevation and inclination toward God”. III. The Orthodoxy of the Message - There must be an absolutely authentic text. Neither add to nor deviate from the deposit of faith. Free from error (faith & morals). IV. “The tree is known by its fruit” - Lasting effects: sound devotion & rich spiritual fruits which last. Beware of false prophets & apparent good fruits. Sound fruits, but from where? Negative signs: seeking of financial profit, seriously immoral acts. The Judgment of the Church - The Holy See virtually never makes its own judgment, but defers to the local bishop. God never permits evil to have all the characteristics of good. 1) Constat de supernaturalitate (Established as supernatural): Fatima (1930). 2) Constat de non supernaturalitate (Established as not supernatural): Vassula Ryden (CDF 1995). Five causes of false revelations: 1. Simulation [in good or bad faith]; 2. Over lively mind or imagination; 3. An illusion of the memory; 4. The Devil; 5. Invention of falsifiers (Poulain, Revelations and Visions, 51). 3) Non constat de supernaturalitate (Not established as supernatural): Medjugorje (1991). “The charism of infallibility has not been given for the purpose of judging apparitions and private revelations” (Jelly, “Discerning the Miraculous”, 46). 5. CAN I BELIEVE IN PRIVATE REVELATIONS? Divine, Catholic faith (theological virtue), received at Baptism, absolute certainty. - object = God himself and his mysteries (public Revelation), mode = grace of the Holy Spirit. Purely human faith (“strong opinion”), according to prudence, moral certainty. - object = the practice of Christian life (private revelation), mode = human judgment. Part 2: PRIVATE REVELATION! WHERE DOES IT FIT IN? 6. TO CONSOLIDATE THE TEACHING OF CHRIST Public Revelation & private revelations have the same Author = complete doctrinal conformity. CCC (67): “Christian faith cannot accept ‘revelations’ that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfilment.” But they can contribute to a new emphasis or devotional form. 7. TO CALL TO REPENTANCE A renewed summons to help us embrace the Gospel. Aids to the worship of God. They seek to direct our conduct. Divine impulses directing the pilgrim Church here and now. Sr. Lucia of Fatima: “the purpose of all the apparitions was to help people to grow more and more in faith, hope and love – everything else was intended to lead to this”. 8. “THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES” Vatican II: “the Church carries the responsibility of reading the signs of the time and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel” (GS 4). This means to accept the urgency of conversion/faith, to know God’s will in a concrete historical situation. Signs of the presence or of the purpose of God” (GS 11) “Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess 5:19-22). Why does God send them? Beware: a piety that shocks the strong; a scepticism that scandalizes the weak. |
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