{"id":2695,"date":"2017-05-31T10:31:23","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T15:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/mysticpost\/?p=2695"},"modified":"2017-05-31T10:31:23","modified_gmt":"2017-05-31T15:31:23","slug":"medjugorje-rationalism-death-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mysticpost\/2017\/05\/31\/medjugorje-rationalism-death-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"MEDJUGORJE, RATIONALISM, AND THE DEATH OF MYSTERY"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-30104\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism2-1024x905.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism2-1024x905.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism2-300x265.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism2-768x678.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism2.jpg 1500w\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"521\"><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As I wrote in\u00a0<em>On Medjugorje, <\/em>objectively,\u00a0we have in this single apparition site\u00a0one of the greatest sources of conversion in the Church since Pentecost;\u00a0hundreds of documented miracles, thousands of priestly <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18749 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/marymedj_Fotor.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 231px) 100vw, 231px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/marymedj_Fotor.jpg 231w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/marymedj_Fotor-214x300.jpg 214w\" alt=\"\" width=\"231\" height=\"324\">vocations, and countless ministries throughout the world that are\u00a0a\u00a0<em>direct\u00a0<\/em>result of Our Lady appearing there. Recently, it was made public that a\u00a0Vatican Commission appears to have accepted the apparitions, at least in its early stages. And yet, many continue to dismiss this obvious <em>gift\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>grace\u00a0<\/em>as a \u201cwork of the devil.\u201d\u00a0If Jesus said\u00a0<em>you shall know a tree by its fruit<\/em>, I can\u2019t think of a more irrational statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.markmallett.com\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">By Mark Mallett<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>WHEN\u00a0<\/strong>one\u00a0approaches a haze in the distance, it may seem\u00a0as though you\u2019re going to enter a thick fog. But when you \u201cget there,\u201d and then look behind you, suddenly you realize you\u2019ve\u00a0been in it all\u00a0along. The haze is everywhere.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-30102\"><\/span>So it with the spirit of\u00a0<em>rationalism\u2014<\/em>a mindset in our times that hangs like a pervasive haze. Rationalism holds that reason and knowledge alone should\u00a0guide our actions and opinions, as opposed to the intangible or emotion, and especially, religious beliefs. Rationalism is a product of the so-called Enlightenment period, when the \u201cfather of lies\u201d began to sow one \u201c<em>ism<\/em>\u201d after another over the span of four centuries\u2014deism, scientism, Darwinism,\u00a0Marxism, communism, radical feminism, relativism, etc.\u2014leading us to this hour, where atheism and individualism\u00a0have all but supplanted God in the secular realm.<\/p>\n<p>But even in the Church, rationalism\u2019s toxic roots have taken hold. The past five decades, in particular, <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30107\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism3-1024x773.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 318px) 100vw, 318px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism3-1024x773.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism3-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism3-768x579.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"318\" height=\"240\">have seen this mindset tear away at the hem of\u00a0<em>mystery,\u00a0<\/em>bringing all things miraculous, supernatural, and transcendent under a dubious\u00a0light. The poisonous fruit of this deceptive\u00a0tree infected\u00a0many pastors,<br>\ntheologians, and eventually lay people, to the extent that the Liturgy itself was drained of signs and symbols that pointed to the Beyond. In some places, church walls were literally white-washed, statues smashed, candles snuffed, incense doused, and icons, crosses, and relics closeted.<\/p>\n<p>Worse, far worse, has been the neutering of childlike faith in vast portions of the Church such that, often today, anyone who displays any kind of real zeal or passion for Christ in their parishes, that stands out\u00a0from\u00a0the status quo, is often cast as\u00a0suspect (if not cast out into the darkness). In some places, our parishes\u00a0have gone from the Acts of the Apostles to the Inaction of the Apostates\u2014we are limp, lukewarm, and devoid of mystery\u2014a childlike faith.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>SEMINARIES\u2026 OR LABORATORIES?<\/p>\n<p>Priests have recounted to me how more\u00a0than one seminarian has had his faith shipwrecked in the seminary, where more often than not, the Scriptures were dissected like a lab rat, draining\u00a0the lifeblood <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-30103\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism-1024x682.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 305px) 100vw, 305px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rationalism-272x182.jpg 272w\" alt=\"\" width=\"305\" height=\"203\">of the Living Word as if it were mere textbook. The spirituality of the saints was dismissed as emotional meandering; Christ\u2019s miracles as tales; devotion to Mary as superstition; and the charisms of the Holy Spirit as fundamentalism.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, today, there are\u00a0some bishops who\u00a0frown on anyone in ministry without a Masters of Divinity; priests who\u00a0balk at anything\u00a0mystical; and laypeople who scoff at the evangelical. We\u00a0have become, especially in the West, like that band of\u00a0disciples who rebuked the little children when they tried to touch Jesus. But the Lord had something to say about that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. (Luke 18:16-17)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Today, the mysteries of the Kingdom are being revealed, not so much to scholars burrowed in intellectual pride, but to the little ones who do theology on their knees. I see and hear God speaking in tradesmen, housewives, young adults, and quiet priests and nuns with a Bible in one hand and rosary beads in the other.<\/p>\n<p>So immersed are we in the fog of rationalism, that we can no longer see the horizon of reality in this generation. We seem incapable of receiving God\u2019s supernatural\u00a0gifts, such as those souls who receive the stigmata, or visions, locutions, or apparitions. We perceive them, not as possible signs and communications from Heaven, but as inconvenient interruptions to our tidy pastoral programs. And it seems that we regard the charisms of the Holy Spirit, less as a means to build the Church, and more so\u00a0as manifestations of mental instability.<\/p>\n<p><em>O God, save us from ourselves! Deliver us from the spirit of rationalism!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A few examples come to mind\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>RATIONALISM AT THIS HOUR<\/p>\n<p>Medjugorje<\/p>\n<p>As I wrote in\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/19\/on-medjugorje\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">On Medjugorje<\/a>, <\/em>objectively,\u00a0we have in this single apparition site\u00a0one of the greatest sources of conversion in the Church since Pentecost;\u00a0hundreds of documented miracles, thousands of priestly <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18749 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/marymedj_Fotor.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 231px) 100vw, 231px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/marymedj_Fotor.jpg 231w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/marymedj_Fotor-214x300.jpg 214w\" alt=\"\" width=\"231\" height=\"324\">vocations, and countless ministries throughout the world that are\u00a0a\u00a0<em>direct\u00a0<\/em>result of Our Lady appearing there. Recently, it was made public that a\u00a0Vatican Commission appears to have accepted the apparitions, at least in its early stages. And yet, many continue to dismiss this obvious <em>gift\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>grace\u00a0<\/em>as a \u201cwork of the devil.\u201d\u00a0If Jesus said\u00a0<em>you shall know a tree by its fruit<\/em>, I can\u2019t think of a more irrational statement. Like Martin Luther of old, we too seem to ignore those Scriptures that don\u2019t suit our \u201crational\u201d theological worldview\u2014despite the evidence.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>These fruits are tangible, evident. And in our diocese and in many other places, I observe graces of conversion, graces of a life of supernatural faith, of vocations, of healings, of a rediscovering of the sacraments, of confession. These are all things which do not mislead. This is the reason why I can only say that it is these fruits which enable me, as bishop, to pass a moral judgment. And if as Jesus said, we must judge the tree by its fruits, I am obliged to say that the tree is good. <\/strong>\u2014Cardinal Sch\u00f6nborn, \u00a0<em>Medjugorje Gebetsakion<\/em>, #50; <em>Stella Maris<\/em>, #343, pp. 19, 20<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Someone wrote me today saying, \u201cNo true apparition would be happening every day for almost 40 years. Plus the messages are flaky, nothing profound.\u201d This seems to me the height of religious rationalism\u2014the same kind of pride that Pharaoh possessed as he\u00a0rationalized away the miracles of Moses; the same doubts that dismissed the Resurrection; the same misguided reasoning that led many\u00a0who witnessed Jesus\u2019 miracles to declare:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?\u2026\u00a0So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there. (Matt 6:2-5)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yes, God has a hard time working mighty deeds in hearts that are\u00a0not childlike.<\/p>\n<p>And then there is\u00a0Fr. Don Calloway. The son of a military man, he\u00a0was a drug addict and rebel, led out of Japan in chains for all the trouble he was causing. One day, he picked up a book of those \u201cflaky and unprofound\u201d messages of Medjugorje called <em>The Queen of Peace Visits Medjugorje<\/em>. As he read them that night, he was overcome with something he had never experienced before.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Although I was in serious despair about my life, as I read the book, I felt as if my heart was being melted. I hung on to each word like it was transmitting life straight to me\u2026\u00a0I have never ever heard anything so amazing and convincing and so needed in my life.<\/strong> \u2014testimony, from\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/ministryvalues.com\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=1007&amp;Itemid=125\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ministry Values<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The next morning, he ran to Mass, and\u00a0was infused with understanding and faith in what he was seeing unfold during the Consecration. Later that day, he began to pray, and as he did, a lifetime of tears poured<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-30134\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Fr._Donald_Calloway_MIC.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 276px) 100vw, 276px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Fr._Donald_Calloway_MIC.jpg 407w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Fr._Donald_Calloway_MIC-272x300.jpg 272w\" alt=\"\" width=\"276\" height=\"304\"> from him. He heard Our Lady\u2019s voice and had a profound experience of what he called \u201cpure maternal love.\u201d <sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup>\u00a0With that, he turned from his old life, literally filling 30 garbage bags full of pornography and heavy metal music. He entered the priesthood and the\u00a0Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. His most recent books\u00a0are powerful calls to Our Lady\u2019s army to defeat Satan, such as\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fathercalloway.com\/books-and-gifts\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Champions of the Rosary<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If Medjugorje is a deception, then the devil doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand? (Matt 12:26)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One has to question: if only the early apparitions are deemed authentic, what about the last 32 years? Is the vast harvest of conversions,\u00a0vocations, and healings;\u00a0the continued miracles and signs and\u00a0wonders in the sky and on the hills\u2026\u00a0the result of six seers who truly encountered Our Lady\u2026 but who are now deceiving the Church\u2014and still producing the same fruits? Well, if it\u2019s a deception, let\u2019s pray that the devil continues to prolong it, if not bring it to every Catholic parish in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Many cannot believe that Our Lady would continue to give monthly messages or continue to appear\u2026 but when I look at the state of the world and the unfolding schism in the Church, <em>I cannot believe that she wouldn\u2019t<\/em>. What Mother would abandon her toddler as he plays on the edge of a cliff?<\/p>\n<p><em>O God, save us from ourselves! Deliver us from the spirit of rationalism!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Renewal<\/p>\n<p>Next is\u00a0the continued dismissal of\u00a0the Charismatic Renewal.\u00a0This is a movement of the Holy Spirit explicitly embraced by the last four popes.\u00a0Yet, we\u00a0continue to hear priests\u2014good priests in their own right<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30108\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/JPIISpirit.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 296px) 100vw, 296px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/JPIISpirit.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/JPIISpirit-300x290.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"286\">\u2014speak in ignorance against this movement as if it, too, is a work of the devil. The irony is that these \u201cgatekeepers of orthodoxy\u201d are directly contradicting the Vicars of Christ.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><strong>How could this \u2018spiritual renewal\u2019 not be a chance for the Church and the world? And how, in this case, could one not take all the means to ensure that it remains so\u2026 <\/strong>\u2014POPE PAUL VI, International Conference on the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, May 19, 1975<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ewtn.com\/expert\/answers\/charismatic_renewal.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">, Rome, Italy, www.ewtn.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><strong>I am convinced that this movement is a very important component in the total renewal of the Church, in this spiritual renewal of the Church<\/strong>. \u2014POPE JOHN PAUL II, special audience with Cardinal Suenens and the Council Members of the International Charismatic Renewal Office, December 11th, 1979, http:\/\/www.archdpdx.org\/ccr\/popes.html<\/p>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><strong>The emergence of the Renewal following the Second Vatican Council was a particular gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church\u2026. At the end of this Second Millennium, the Church needs more than ever to turn in confidence and hope to the Holy Spirit\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014POPE JOHN PAUL II, Address to the Council of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office, May 14th, 1992<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\">In a speech that leaves no ambiguity over whether or not the Renewal is meant to have a role among the <em>entire<\/em> Church, the late pope said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><strong>The institutional and charismatic aspects are co-essential as it were to the Church\u2019s constitution. They contribute, although differently, to the life, renewal and sanctification of God\u2019s People<\/strong>.\u00a0\u2014Speech to the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/roman_curia\/pontifical_councils\/laity\/documents\/rc_pc_laity_doc_27051998_movements-speech-hf_en.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.vatican.va<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But once again, the uber-rational mind in our day has rejected the charisms of the Holy Spirit because they can be, frankly, messy\u2014even\u00a0if they <em>are<\/em> mentioned in the Catechism.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Whatever their character\u2014sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues\u2014charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church.<\/strong> \u2014<em>Catechism of the Catholic Church,\u00a0<\/em>n. 2003<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Nonetheless, those rationalists who encounter the manifestations of the Spirit (and often the emotions these evoke) often dismiss them as\u00a0the fruit of hype, instability\u2026 or drunkenness.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim\u2026\u00a0They were all astounded and bewildered, and said to one another, \u201cWhat does this mean?\u201d But others said, scoffing, \u201cThey have had too much new wine.\u201d (Acts 2:4, 12)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There is no question that certain people in the <a href='https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/library\/pentecostal' target='_blank'>charismatic movement<\/a> have done it great damage through unguided zeal, rejection of ecclesial authority, or\u00a0pride. But on the other end of the spectrum, so too, in the movement back toward the Latin Rite of the Mass, I have also encountered men with unguided zeal who have rejected papal <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-30109\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tridentine-1024x993.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tridentine-1024x993.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tridentine-300x291.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tridentine-768x745.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tridentine.jpg 1100w\" alt=\"\" width=\"302\" height=\"293\">authority, and done so out of pride. But in\u00a0neither case should a handful of individuals cause us to outright dismiss an entire grassroots movement of praise or piety. If you\u2019ve had a bad experience with the Renewal\u2014or with a so-called \u201ctraditionalist\u201d\u2014the correct response is to forgive, look beyond human weakness, and continue to seek the wellsprings of grace that God wants to give us\u00a0through a <em>multitude<\/em> of means, that yes, includes the charisms\u00a0of the Holy Spirit and the beauty of the Latin Mass.<\/p>\n<p>I have written a seven part series on the Charismatic Renewal\u2014not because I\u2019m its\u00a0spokesman, but because I am a Roman Catholic, and this is part of our Catholic Tradition (see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/category\/charismatic-daily-journal\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><i>Charismatic?<\/i><\/a>). But one last point, one that\u00a0Scripture itself makes. Jesus said that the Father \u201c<em>does not ration his gift of the Spirit.<\/em>\u201d <sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[2]<\/sup> And then we read this in the Acts of the Apostles:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What you just read was not Pentecost\u2014that was two chapters earlier. What we see here is that God does not ration His Spirit; the Apostles, <em>and we<\/em>,\u00a0can be filled over and over again.\u00a0That\u2019s the purpose of the Renewal movement.<\/p>\n<p><em>O God, save us from ourselves! Deliver us from the spirit of rationalism!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Christian Unity<\/p>\n<p>Jesus prayed and willed\u00a0that Christians everywhere be united as one flock. <sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[3]<\/sup> This, said Pope Leo XIII, has therefore been the goal of the papacy:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"LEFT\"><strong>We have attempted and persistently carried out during a long pontificate towards two chief ends: in the first place, towards the restoration, both in rulers and peoples, of the principles of the Christian life in civil and domestic society, since there is no true life for men except from Christ; and, secondly, to promote the reunion of those who have fallen away from the Catholic Church either by heresy or by schism, since it is most undoubtedly the will of Christ that all should be united in one flock under one Shepherd<\/strong>. \u2014<em>Divinum Illud Munus<\/em>, n. 10<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, once again, the religious rationalists of our times, because they are often closed to the supernatural activity of God, cannot see the Lord working outside the boundaries of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"text\"><strong>\u2026many elements of sanctification and of truth\u201d are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: \u201cthe written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.\u201d Christ\u2019s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to \u201cCatholic unity.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"text\">\u2014<em>Catechism of the Catholic Church, <\/em>n. 818<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I think many are going to be shocked someday when they see \u201cthose Pentecostals\u201d dancing around the <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30110\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Unithy-684x1024.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 273px) 100vw, 273px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Unithy-684x1024.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Unithy-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Unithy-768x1151.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Unithy.jpg 1335w\" alt=\"\" width=\"273\" height=\"409\">Tabernacle like David did around the Ark. Or former Muslims\u00a0prophesying from the pews. Or the Orthodox swinging our censors. Yes, a \u201cnew Pentecost\u201d is coming, and when it does, it will leave the rationalists sitting in a puddle of intellectual silence in a wake of the supernatural. Here, I am not suggesting another \u201cism\u201d\u2014syncretism\u2014but the true unity of the body of Christ that will be a work of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>The Catholic Church, which is the kingdom of Christ on earth, [is] destined to be spread among all men and all nations\u2026<\/strong> \u2014POPE PIUS XI, <em>Quas Primas<\/em>, Encyclical, n. 12, Dec. 11th, 1925; cf. Matt 24:14<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Jesus did not only send us the \u201cSpirit of truth\u201d\u2014as if the mission of the Church has been reduced to an intellectual exercise of guarding the deposit of faith. Indeed, those who wish to reduce the Spirit to a \u201cgiver of rules\u201d have often neutered the unction that the Lord has tried to bestow upon the\u00a0Church and the world. No, He also sends\u00a0us the Spirit of \u201c<em>power<\/em>,\u201d<sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[4]<\/sup> who transforms, creates, and renews in all His wonderful unpredictability.<\/p>\n<p>There is only <em>one<\/em>, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. But God is much bigger than the Church, working even <em>outside<\/em> of her\u00a0in order to draw all things to Himself. <sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[5]<\/sup><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Then John said in reply, \u201cMaster, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.\u201d Jesus said to him, \u201cDo not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.\u201d (John 9:49-50)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Let us pray, then, that none of us, out of ignorance or spiritual pride, becomes an obstacle to grace, even if we don\u2019t fully understand its workings. Stay united with the Pope, despite his faults or failings; remain faithful to\u00a0<em>all\u00a0<\/em>the Church\u2019s teachings; stay close to\u00a0Our Blessed Mother; and <em>pray, pray, pray<\/em>. Above all, have an invincible faith and trust in Jesus. In this way, you and I may decrease so that He, the light of the world, may increase in us, dispelling\u00a0the fog of doubt and worldly reasoning that so often pervades this spiritually impoverished generation.<\/p>\n<p><em>O God, save us from ourselves! Deliver us from the spirit of rationalism!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\">ABOUT MARK<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div id=\"pl-280\" class=\"panel-layout\">\n<div id=\"pg-280-0\" class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\">\n<div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-280-0\">\n<div id=\"pgc-280-0-0\" class=\"panel-grid-cell\">\n<div id=\"panel-280-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\">\n<div class=\"so-widget-sow-image so-widget-sow-image-default-813df796d9b1\">\n<div class=\"sow-image-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"so-widget-image\" title=\"Mark with Pope Benedict XIV\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Pope-Mark-2.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Pope-Mark-2.jpg 799w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Pope-Mark-2-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Pope-Mark-2-768x516.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Pope-Mark-2-272x182.jpg 272w\" alt=\"\" width=\"799\" height=\"537\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"pgc-280-0-1\" class=\"panel-grid-cell\">\n<div id=\"panel-280-0-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\">\n<div class=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\">\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n<p><strong>MARK MALLETT<\/strong> is a Roman Catholic singer\/songwriter and missionary. He has performed and preached throughout North America and abroad.<\/p>\n<p>The messages posted on this website are the fruit of prayer and ministry. Any posting which contains elements of \u201cprivate revelation\u201d have been subjected to the discernment of Mark\u2019s spiritual director.<\/p>\n<p>Visit Mark\u2019s 0fficial website and explore his music and ministry at:<strong><br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.markmallett.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I wrote in\u00a0On Medjugorje, objectively,\u00a0we have in this single apparition site\u00a0one of the greatest sources of conversion in the Church since Pentecost;\u00a0hundreds of documented miracles, thousands of priestly vocations, and countless ministries throughout the world that are\u00a0a\u00a0direct\u00a0result of Our Lady appearing there. Recently, it was made public that a\u00a0Vatican Commission appears to have accepted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2537,"featured_media":2308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medjugorje"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>MEDJUGORJE, RATIONALISM, AND THE DEATH OF MYSTERY<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As I wrote in\u00a0On Medjugorje, objectively,\u00a0we have in this single apparition site\u00a0one of the greatest sources of conversion in the Church since\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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