CONTEMPLATING FATIMA

Today is one of my favorite celebrations of our Lady in the Catholic calendar, the Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima. It memorializes one of the few modern, "certifiable" and certainly the most documented series of miraculous occurrences confirmed with objective proofs.

We actually have photographs of "the Miracle of the Sun" which appeared in the skies of the country of Portugal. Thousands of people experienced this phenomenal event, which was reported upon in the newspapers of the day.

Thousands of people watch "The Miracle of the Sun"

near Fatima, Portugal

Today marks the first of a series of apparitions seen by three children who lived in the tiny neighborhood of Aljustrel, which was part of Fatima Township. The apparitions began on May 13, 1917 in a place called Cova da Iria, part of the land that belonged to the parents of Lucia dos Santos. Lucia, age 10, was playing with Francisco (9) and Jacinta Marto (7) when the children suddenly saw two flashes like lightning, the announcement that something cosmically important was about to happen.

Jacinta Marto, Francisco Marto, and Lucia dos Santos

Seers of the miracle of Our Lady of Fatima

During that first apparition, Our Lady floated above a giant Holm Oak tree (which still exists today) and spoke to the children, specifically Lucia, and explained that she was from Heaven and had come to ask the children to come back to that same spot on the thirteenth day of the month for six months, at the same hour.

She told them many things, including the disposition of the souls of loved ones and extracted a very special promise from the children, that they would "offer themselves to God to endure all the sufferings that He may be pleased to send them, as both an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners." They were promised that they would have much to suffer, but that God, by his grace, would comfort them.

The Holm Oak

At such a young age, to agree to such a life of suffering, is really a remarkable thing, in my mind, and highlights the unique temperament of these children. God doesn't pick these people randomly, you see.

Now, I could stop this story right here, and we already have a substantial orientation for contemplation and meditation. First, we would circle our mind around the tableaux of the three children encountering the Blessed Mother unexpectedly in an out-of-the-way place; their breathless, rapt attention to her image and her words and requests; and the astonishing agreement to live a life of suffering in reparation of the sins of the world. Could we make such an agreement?

The three child seers, intent upon the image of

Our Lady

Imagine oneself as one of the children, gazing upon the image of Our Lady, and place Her in your heart, gazing upon her there. Focusing upon her image, sit with Her and wait for Her to speak to your heart. If distracting thoughts come, put them aside and return your attention to our beautiful Lady within yourself.

There is much more to this story, as I've mentioned, including "The Miracle of the Sun" witnessed by thousands, and you can read about all these in the internet articles and the books written about this remarkable series of events. In fact, I encourage you to do so, partly because the astounding appearances HAVE been verified by so many and we have newspaper pictures and accounts. Thus, we can absolutely rely upon the veracity of the story and can safely take guidance and inspiration from it.

Enjoy this beautiful day!

Silver "Rose"
Copyright (c) 2019
All rights reserved

FATIMA, RUSSIA, AND DONALD TRUMP

Jeff Sessions, swearing to tell the truth

Just when I thought I could settle into the routine of my daily life, a fresh horror presents itself that, frankly, needs the attention of every American.

Last night the news broke. Jefferson Sessions, in his Senate hearings, emphatically claimed that he never met with any Russians during the Trump campaign. It turns out he lied. He met twice with the Ambassador of Russia. One meeting was public. The next was a private meeting, in Sessions' office.

Sessions now claims he didn't lie because he met with the Ambassador in his capacity as a senator, but that is not what he said in his hearing. He said he had NO meetings when he answered questions from Senator Franken.

There is a reason why our Lady asked that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart. There are some who are claiming that this consecration didn't happen in the proper way and therefore didn't meet the instructions of our Blessed Mother. I can't make a comment about that. I don't presume to know her mind. I DO know that the Fatima "miracle of the sun" was witnessed by more than 70,000 people, including newspaper reporters, that there are photographs of the people and the sun that appeared in the newspapers, and that this miracle was forewarned for the specific date and time that it was going to happen. This is one series of apparitions that simply cannot be discounted and explained away.

It has been almost exactly 100 years since the first apparitions at Fatima to the three children, and we find ourselves up to our elbows in scandal about Russian interference with American democracy, and a president and his staff who can't seem to tell the truth when it really counts. The Russian elephant in the room is getting bigger and bigger, and I keep thinking about our Lady's concern about Russia and the peculiar timing.

I watched tonight various clips of Donald Trump, over the years. First, he is bragging about his relationship with Putin, then he claims he never met the man. There were many clips, and in each one he makes a different claim. Currently, he is claiming he's never met the man. Who knows the truth? Only the Lord...and 17 different intelligence agencies.

Politicians, in general, have the reputation for lying, with a few notable exceptions that prove the rule. We have become used to it, except that the type, nature and topic of the lies coming out of this White House are blaringly hot, pants-on-fire alarming.

Something which did not make a big splash in the news, but which I find equally stunning, is that Wilbur Ross, the new Secretary of Commerce, is part owner of CYPRESS BANK, where Russian mafia launders its money, and where Putin and other Russian Oligarchs funnel money back and forth with America.

At this point, Donald Trump has a cabinet that is stuffed with billionaires who either have explicit financial ties with Russia, or who have spent their lives working against the very departments over which they have been put in charge! Betsy de Vos, another Trust Fund baby like Donald Trump, has spent her whole adult life funding a movement to eliminate the Department of Education, of which she is now in charge. The new head of the EPA has spent his whole working career as CEO of EXON, which has 68 million acres of land in Russia that they cannot drill until the sanctions are lifted. Oh...and he has also sued the EPA multiple times in an effort to get the regulations lifted. Trump's right hand man, Steve Bannon, another person with no government experience, has been quoted in the past as saying that his aim is to destroy the entire government edifice in America and that he admires Lenin for doing that in HIS country.

Trump's son has previously boasted that Russian money has come "pouring into" the Trump businesses. It is easy to see that, due to Trump's numerous bankruptcies and his well known inability to make a success of any business, that none of the American banks would lend him money. He probably HAD to go to Russia, and now they have him over a barrel.  Just speculating here, but it is a likely scenario. Did the Commerce Secretary get that job as partial payment for loaning Trump money from CYPRESS BANK?

What is NOT speculation is that 17 intelligence agencies have confirmed that Russia DID hack into our computer systems in an effort to defeat Hilary Clinton. The news reached the Obama White House, and Obama and his team made sure that this information was documented in such a way that the incoming Trump team could not make it disappear. During that time, when everyone on the Hill knew that contact with Russia was a problem, Jeff Sessions met with the Ambassador to Russia...and didn't remember it...but said he definitely did not discuss campaign matters...or something.

How much more information do you need to see into the future plans of Trump and his gang? This is the plan, as I see it: Destabilize the government to loosen all protections for America in order to accomplish some sort of deal with Russia that is going to financially benefit the billionaires, the banks they own, and the oil and gas companies with which they have ties. Trump has never been a charitable guy. In fact, he has, on several occasions, figured out how to get credit for OTHER people's charitable contributions, while putting none of his own money on the line.  So, why did Trump want to become president at age 70? Did he have a vision? Did an angel visit him and tell him to do it? Or is he just pursuing the next big deal?

Remember - just about all his businesses went into bankruptcy, and the only reason he had any money to begin with was because he INHERITED it. He isn't a "successful businessman" and never has been. Like everything else in Trump's life, it is all a lie. His income source in these later years is almost exclusively from adding his name to the work of OTHER people - other people's buildings and golf courses and country clubs. Even now, he is taking credit for the achievements of the LAST president, whose policies have resulted in an unemployment rate sinking from 10.5 percent to about 4.5 percent.

My writing skills do not veer in the direction of journalism. I advise you to do what I have done. Read everything you can get your hands on, watch EVERY news channel, and then PRAY and FAST. The fate of our country, the fate of American democracy, is at stake. I am not overstating the case. I am not an alarmist. I typically do not care much about politics, except to the degree that political decisions hurt the poor. If left unchecked, this flow of events will lead to much more than just an increase in the number of poor people in our country.

I can see that America will look like Russia before long if we don't put the brakes on. I don't want to be right about this. Please pray and fast for freedom from Russian aggression and American cooperation with it.

Silver Rose

THE VISIONS OF MEDJUGORJE

Two of the "visionaries" of Medjugorje

Until the Catholic Church has made its final decision as to the authenticity or lack thereof with regard to the supposed visions of Medjugorje that have been said to have occurred regularly since 1981, events promoting it have been prohibited.  In 2013, a letter was sent from Cardinal Mueller to all U.S. Bishops that stated "clerics and the faithful are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or celebrations during which the credibility of such "apparitions" would be taken for granted."

In response to the claim that the visionaries

receive daily messages, Pope Francis said,

"But look, our Lady is the mother of everyone!

And she loves all of us!  She is not a postmaster,

sending messages every day."

Pope Francis has also denounced the spirit of curiosity that seeks after miracles, saying:

" The Kingdom of God is among us:  do not seek 

strange things, do not seek novelties with this worldly 

curiosity.  Let us allow the Spirit to lead us forward in 

that wisdom, which is like a soft breeze.  This is the 

Spirit of the Kingdom of God, of which Jesus speaks."

Recently, a visions-on-demand event had been arranged by Medjugorje supporters in St. Louis, MO, with 1,000 people having paid for tickets to witness this circus.  The CDF had to intervene and require that, in obedience to the current ban on such events, the planned event had to be cancelled.

Visionary Ivan Dragicevic flouted the clear intention of the ban and held the events at a private home.

Further details can be found on the Te Deum Laudamus Blog and several other websites you can Google.

The idea that our Blessed Mother would adhere to someone's schedule and appear on demand, at the place and time required by this "visionary" Ivan Deagicevic, is ludicrous on the face of it.  When, in all the history of the church, has God, his saints or his angels appeared to man on demand?  Never. The idea that any human being would claim to have that degree of control and authority over the Divine seems, obviously, to be the height of either lunacy, fraud, or both.

Opportunities to express devotion to our Blessed Mother and to make requests for her to pray for us to her son, Jesus, are plentiful.  Why insist on promoting this dubious cause when so many authentic avenues of piety have always been open to us?

Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes

One glaring fact stands out in my mind.  Instead of demanding that the Mother of God appear to us at a time and place of our choosing in order to satisfy our desire for a mystical connection, we have consistently been exhorted to approach the Lord, his saints and his angels with our prayers and especially our praise and gratitude.  We are to lay ourselves before the Lord and submit ourselves to His will, to cooperate with His timing and to be receptive to His Word when He chooses to say it and through whom he chooses to say it.  Obedience to his commands and his wishes are what is required. It is through His church which He started and to which He gave authority that we can reliably receive his message to us.

Jesus gives the keys to the Kingdom to Peter

Jesus promised that his church would stand for all time and that even the gates of hell could not prevail against it.  We can take comfort and have trust in the church, as a result.  It is the voice of Jesus in matters of faith and morals.  Certainly, some individuals in the church have behaved badly in the past.  That's no secret.  We are all sinners.  But those are individuals who disobeyed Church teachings.  The teachings themselves are pure.  The Church remains infallible in matters of faith and morals.  Obeying its dictates will never hurt us.  It may inconvenience us or cause us to avoid doing things we really really want to do, but what of it?

If the Medjurogje visions are authentic, which I doubt, but if they are, will it damage you if you have not supported them or made pilgrimage or participated in one of the banned events?  No.  There is nothing in scripture, tradition or common sense that demands that you must do any of these things to be saved.  We already have all the instructions we need to become saints and go to heaven when we die.  No one can add to it because there is nothing to add.  Jesus gave us everything we need.

If the Medjugorje visions are fraudulent, which I believe them to be, then flouting the Church's ban on participation in events or promoting same, CAN hurt you.  So, if even for the sake of enlightened self-interest alone, it only makes sense to avoid this entire matter until the Church has announced if Medjugorje is a legitimate expression of supernatural events.

In the meantime, unless you have studied all the material that is available about all the saints and visions that have already been approved by the church, you can start reading everything you have missed.  That should keep you busy for more than a few years.

Fatima visionaries

While you are at it, why not go to daily mass where the real miracle occurs, and then follow Jesus' instruction to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the sick?  Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, give it to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.  Volunteer at a homeless shelter, a nursing home or a prison so you can visit the sick or the imprisoned and bring a little spot of Jesus' light into the sad lives of those who are incarcerated in institutions of one sort or another?

Homeless Woman

Our lives are full of opportunities to experience Jesus.  You can see him in every hungry, lonely face.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose Parnell