It was at Medjugorje for those millions who subscribe to these apparitions that, asked about one of her "secrets," a seer once replied that it involved "the upheaval of a region of the world."
"Upheaval." Here we find a "watch word" for our time, especially now, especially after Dallas and Minnesota and Baton Rouge and Orlando, now back to Minnesota and New York and Phoenix: upheaval.
A black sniper kills white police, white police officers kill seemingly unarmed blacks (we await further information), a Muslim kills dozens of homosexuals, Mexican immigrants protest a presidential candidate ("Make America Mexico Again," says one of their avid signs), blacks attack Asians (in areas like Brooklyn), and Hispanics firebomb homes owned by blacks.
The Bahamas has even issued a travel advisory for young males traveling to the U.S.!
There seems only, on the horizon, further division. At the moment it is a dim prospect, that any of the presidential candidates will unite the "United" States.
When that seer, Mirjana Soldo, mentioned "upheaval" in a region of the world, did it pertain to an entire area of the globe like the Middle East, where upheaval is always likeliest, and is currently ongoing, or something geophysical; or, social discord, as mentioned, in -- America, which (excuse the term) seems hell-bent on emulating the uprisings in the third-world nation of Venezuela, pretty much in accordance with the prophecy of a famous (and soon to become even more famous) near-deather named Howard Storm, who claimed he was shown America descending into third-world status.
It can be stopped only through: prayer and fasting.
Praying without fasting is like entering battle as a soldier on one leg (in the words of another seer from Medjugorje, which may one day, whether sooner or later, be designated as a shrine, or at least placed under the stewardship of the Vatican; meantime, a major movie about Howard Storm's experience reportedly is in the making.)
Here is a message (for discernment only) from another alleged visionary, in South America (June 11, 2016):
"Dear children, you are free. Do not allow the devil to enslave you. You belong to the Lord and He is the only one you should follow and serve. I ask you to be defenders of the truth. You live in a time of great spiritual confusion. Do not allow doubts and uncertainty to separate you from the way of my Son Jesus. The truth of my Jesus is in His Gospel. Listen as well to the true Magisterium of His Church. You are moving toward a future of sorrow. A great religious war is coming and my poor children will drink of the bitter chalice of suffering. Pray. Only through prayer can you withstand the weight of the trials that are already on the way. Courage. Do not stray from the truth. This is the message which I transmit you today in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. Thank you for allowing me to reunite you here once again. I bless you in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Stay in Peace."
Rifts everywhere. (Look at the New York Daily News.)
The most current emphasis is on the divide between Caucasians and those with darker skin. Very serious is this and a shame when, upon the election of the first Afro-American president, the U.S. had an opportunity to finally get over the racial divide -- past the notion of judging a person by race or ethnicity.
Instead, relations are worse than at any time since the 1960s due to: incendiary remarks by broadcasters who opposed Obama for nearly eight years now; radical protests by groups such as "Black Lives Matter" (who simply refuse to acknowledge the tremendously successful efforts to extinguish racism); measures taken by the president that infringe on religious liberty (which built distrust); and the inexplicable behavior, in some cases (though not in all; again, let's hear more facts), of police officers.
Add to that how the media focuses on enmity between the races instead of what was unprecedented comity and integration (with so many young blacks joining the mainstream and functioning well at jobs previously held only by Caucasians).
Satan is doing well indeed in his strategy of "divide and conquer." (Why in America do we have to choose, asks a columnist, between caring for Philando Castile and the Dallas police?)
It was also at Medjugorje -- as "Queen of Peace" -- that the Blessed Mother once caused a stir by mentioning the exemplary holiness of a certain woman in Sarajevo.
The stir was because the woman happened to be Muslim.
How could someone who practiced that faith -- Islam (which does have deeply rooted problems) -- have such sanctity, many wondered?
(Did it not show, they argued, that the apparitions were errant?)
At Medjugorje -- where Catholics, Orthodox, and Muslims live side by side (as is the case elsewhere in former Yugoslavia, sometimes very tensely and even violently; sometimes in upheaval) -- Mary allegedly said during the early years, when a priest asked why an Orthodox boy had been cured but not a Catholic one (though thousands of Catholics have also been cured there):
"Tell this priest, tell everyone, that it is you who are divided on earth. The Muslims and the Orthodox, for the same reason as Catholics, are equal before my Son and me. You are all my children. Certainly, all religions are not equal, but all men are equal before God."
Belonging to a specific religion, she seemed to be saying, is thus not the sole standard in God's judgment.
At the same time (and underscore this:) the Blessed Mother allegedly said that "it is not equally efficacious to belong to or pray in any church or community, because the Holy Spirit grants His power differently among the churches and ministers. All believers do not pray the same way. It is intentional that all apparitions are under the auspices of the Catholic Church."
In the wake of all the recent events, and what seems like a reluctance to use the term "radical Islamists" (when it is so apparent that radical Islam is a problem), the question has arisen of whether President Barack Obama himself, first black president, is a Muslim.
We don't know. We don't pray with him. Recently we carried a photograph of him dressed in Islamic garb at a Muslim wedding a while back (it was his brother's bethrothal, and his brother, as was his father, is Muslim) while years ago, in an effort at objectivity, which is in very short supply, we also carried a photograph of a Miraculous Medal that the president keeps, along with other "blessed" items, in his pocket. (If there is the obvious Muslim influence, he was also educated, for a time, at a Catholic school).
One can say this: Muslims are currently the front-running candidates when it comes to causing turmoil (and thus "upheaval") and so when any policy ignores the term "radical Islamists," it inspissates an atmosphere of rancor. Over the weekend, a Christian preacher was decapitated in Nigeria by Muslim radicals and her head placed on a Bible.
Many are disturbed, understandably, in our time, at the violence perpetrated by Muslims against Christians (white lives also matter), while there are so very few instances of violence by Christians against those who practice Islam.
There seems to be great sensitivity toward allowing Sharia law but no similar sympathy for Christian prayer (or statues or crosses in public). One is more than concerned to read of a Muslim gang terrorizing a neighborhood in Minnesota with no intervention by police (who fear charges of "racism"), or of a Muslim store clerk refusing to serve a woman wearing a Cross (insisting she cover it first).
This is America?
Yet we must always keep in mind those many Muslims who whatever one thinks of their religion are sincere in trying to connect with God. Finding common ground with Islam is important, at the same time that Muslims must do the same toward Christians. It is important to acknowledge the wrongs of whites against blacks and blacks against whites. Here's a strong talking point: both Christianity and Islam honor Mary.
Since 911 (and Fort Hood, and the Boston Marathon, and the D.C. sniper, and the shoe bomber, and San Bernardino, and now Orlando) Muslims have been portrayed -- bafflingly -- as the victims.
They are not. We need accountability (justice, as much as mercy) on both sides.
For it is truth -- not political correctness, not spin, not one-sidedness from either side -- that sets us free, not sugar-coating errancy.
[resources: My Heart Will Triumph by Mirjana Soldo and Spirit Daily pilgrimage, Guadalupe, September 8-13]
