Posted on 10/24/2015 9:52:17 AM PDT by Salvation
Msgr. Charles Pope
Question: A friend of mine is forever mentioning Fatima. What am I, as a Catholic convert, to make of this? Am I required to accept it?— Name withheld, Austin, Texas
Answer: There is probably no other prophecy so well attested and verified as that of Our Lady of Fatima. That said, the Church has never required Catholics to believe private revelations as a matter of faith. The Church, however, does hold up for the faithful certain apparitions, devotions and private revelations as worthy of acceptance and pious adherence.
The teachings of our Lady at Fatima in 1917 have proven trustworthy and been verified both by signs and by the simple fact that they all came true. Her warnings of dire consequences if we did not pray and convert have sadly proven to be accurate. She warned of another, more terrible war (World War II). She said Russia would spread errors, and she warned a pope would be struck down.
These messages were verified by two signs predicted by Our Lady. The first was the miracle of the sun, where more than 70,000 people saw the sun dance and move as if falling from the sky. She also spoke of great lights in the sky that would serve as a final warning before the terrible war of which she had warned. Those lights appeared all over Europe just before Hitler invaded Poland in the form of a stunning display of the aurora borealis.
A third secret spoke of a bishop dressed in white garb who would be martyred. Many link this to the assassination attempt on Pope St. John Paul II, wherein he escaped full martyrdom by the prayers Our Lady had asked for.
A final and belated prophecy from Fatima seems to have come in the form of a letter written by Sister Lucia dos Santos to Cardinal Carlo Caffarra. The year was 1981 and, according to the transcript of an interview with Cardinal Caffarra, she wrote the following:
“[T]he final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Don’t be afraid, she added, because anyone who operates for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be contended and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. And then she concluded: however, Our Lady has already crushed its head.”
And once again, the prophecy seems accurate, because this is exactly where we are. So, while belief is not required, it does not seem rational to reject these apparitions, either, due to the evidence. Finally, it never hurts to pray for peace and the conversion of sinners, which is the fundamental request of Our Lady of Fatima.
Funny statement coming from someone who continuously asserts every Christian IS Catholic! Since Roman Catholicism claims to be the one, true church of Jesus Christ, shouldn't that make whatever they claim the business of ALL Christians? We are called to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God". That's what we are doing.
It's really evil of Satan to set up the "Lord's Prayer" as a vain repetition "like the heathens do". The Prayer is a model for prayer and there is no mention of Mary at all.
His greatest gift to mankind would be Christ.....would it not?
Nice dodge.
Which, of course, no Christian thinks.
No Christian actually thinks that way. No Christian interprets Scripture to say that.
The only time I've ever heard of that is by Catholics who wish to discredit non-Catholic believers by accusing them of easy believism.
And of course, with it is the clear implication that works are necessary for be saved and stay saved, which they are not.
Works are the fruit, the result of salvation, not the cause of it.
Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Of course not, but without that to accuse believers of, the Catholics wouldn’t have much left in their arsenal.
“Nice dodge.”
No dodge at all. Everything I said is true.
Don't know many Christians, do you??? All Catholics, all Orthodox, all Coptics, several non Catholic christian groups do.
Christ's greatest gift to mankind was His sacrifice of His life for us and His greatest gift was to leave Himself in the Eucharist that we might have His physical presence with us forever.
You're right, all baptized Christians are Catholic and the church does claim that whatever they say pertains to ALL Christians.....The problem with the Protestants was that they decided, when they "tested"(by what new standards I don't know) the "spirits"...they went off on their own and decided that they knew better than more than a thousand years of learned church fathers who had studied and interpreted, with the authority of Christ, what scripture taught and meant. Suddenly there were a thousand different "truths" being proposed to people who sadly were led astray.
The Catholic church welcomes all of you back whenever you realize that they were right in the first place....No, you can't make up your own truths, no, you can't deny reality, no, none of us are allowed to interpret the Bible as we see best describes what we think is fact.
"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you (John 16:7 NASB).
Per the Word He has given us the Helper to be with us.
The Mass is a re-sacrifice of Christ again and again and again and again and again, etc, etc, etc.
He died one time for us....He doesn't need to continue to be sacrificed. This is the error of Roman Catholicism.
The disciples had read the OT and understood the prophecy of the coming Messiah. They recognized Jesus as such.
Mary had read the OT and recognized the prophecy.
The Bereans searched the Scriptures.
So, yes....we can read the Word and understand it ourselves.
If one keeps the Word in context, understand the original languages, one can understand the Word.
Remember, we have the Holy Spirit guiding us as we study.
So is this you admitting you were wrong to say we should “mind our own business” concerning the issue of Fatima? Don’t dodge the question, please.
How about you backtrack a bit and understand WHAT Eagleone said no Christian he knew thinks in the way you sarcastically implied all Protestants do?
That silly little stick some FRoman Catholics use here is as limp as a wet fettuccine!
We don't need Christ's physical presence with us, especially bound up in little wheat wafers people have to eat to access Jesus.
He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of believers forever, thus enabling us to do greater works that His.
It's the Spirit who gives life, so that when the Holy Spirit enters the believer's heart through faith, He seals us for the day of redemption, thus securing our salvation FOREVER, not until we need to eat Jesus in a wafer again.
Not at all, I said it was a mind your own business type question meaning that if you didn't believe,at all, in Fatuma, what do you care if some do.....and Millions do.
the Apostles were inspired by God to read and interpret the old and read, interpret, organize, edit, transcribe what became the new testament. He gave the newly formed church ( Catholic ) the sole authority to determine just what the new testament was to be.....they wrote it and that's what it is.
We do not have the authority to change anything that's in it, can't take out books that don't suit your needs, and can't read between the lines to fill in what you would like it to say.....When Christ said "THIS IS MY BODY", He meant it.
You get to believe anything that you want to, but that's not what the church, which Christ Himself founded,taught. They all believed in the Eucharist and it was not until well after Luther's time that protestants decided that they didn't need it any more...good grief, that was some 1,600 years after the fact.
What books have been removed from the Bible?
so....you are saying that no protestants believe in OSAS???
do any protestants participate in the Sacrament of reconciliation (Penance...confession)????
if OSAS, and no need for confession is your claim....then what keeps you from living whatever lifestyle that you choose.
You are saved...PERIOD...Christ did it.......you do something wrong, oh well, all has been taken care of..
I don't see where you feel that you are responsible for anything that you do...there always seems to be the excuse that all was forgiven even before you did it???? I truly don't understand that concept.
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