I watched a National Geographic program yesterday entitled Explorer: The Cult of Mary.
The program was about people who had travelled to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where six visionaries had seen an apparition of Mother Mary regularly since 1981.
One lady travelled to Medjugorje in the hopes of finding a cure for her terminal brain cancer. Although she died five months later, her mother said she had become more at peace following her experience in Medjugorje.
Another lady who had travelled to Medjugorje began to have visions of her own, upon her return to Emmitsburg, Maryland USA, and was shown relating a message directly from Mother Mary during the program, saying: “Even if all of the people of the world prayed for a few minutes, wars could be stopped.”
A man who had travelled to Medjugorje returned to Birmingham, Alabama, USA, where one of the visionaries became a frequent visitor. The man established a community there, and there was much controversy around this establishment. Although the founder seemed to espouse the messages of peace and love from Mother Mary, the cult he formed divided families, and encouraged its members to sell all they owned and donate the proceeds to his organisation.
A failed priest who had visited Medjugorje returned to Mexico, turning his life around and helping prisoners to do the same.
I felt troubled by this film. Whilst I was happy to see Mary’s message of peace and love spread around the world, I was concerned by the way both the Catholic Church and those sharing the message tried to control people and the way they think.
I know we all try to control the way people think to a certain extent. We all think that others would be better off thinking as we do, and the world would be a much better place if they did. However, rather than being a source of peace as Mother Mary is trying to be, attempting to control others thoughts has been a source of wars from the time of the Crusades until the time of ISIS.
I know that Mother Mary has appeared to many people over the years, in Lourdes and Fatima to name a couple. Annie Kirkwood wrote a book, which I read, called Mary’s Message to the World, in which Mary warned the world of disasters which were to befall us if we didn’t start to change our ways. There have been sightings of Mother Mary in places all over the world, even in Australia, and many have had conversations with her.
I should tell you a little about my attitudes to Mother Mary and her son, Jesus, which may colour my views somewhat.
I am not a Catholic, but was raised by a Congregational minister to believe in God and the truth of the Bible. Yet the discrepancies I found between the God of wrath of The Old Testament and the God of love of the New Testament led me to question many beliefs of Christians. I certainly was never taught to revere Mother Mary the way most Catholics have done.
Even though I learned to love and respect Jesus and his mother, Mary, I came to see them both as Ascended Masters who, although they contributed a great deal to the world and its people, were no greater a son or daughter of God than we could all aspire to be.
With similar background and beliefs, Angela, the character in my book, We Are One, was just as surprised as me to hear her own message from Mother Mary:
Yes, Angela, I wanted to tell everyone that what you say is correct. Everyone needs to band together in the brotherhood and sisterhood of men and women. We are all one, as you have learned from this book. All of the people of the Earth can band together to bring about the New Spirituality, that has been talked about here. Have no fear. You are all children of God, and as you have been told, you can create your own realities. You can create the reality that you choose, where every man, woman, and child, every living thing, can live in harmony together and with Mother Earth herself. Where there is a will, there is a way. Find the will, and you will find the way. Follow the path of love, and you cannot fail to reach the destination that you choose, of a peaceful Earth. Go now and love the world, as you have been taught here. Love will bring about the changes that you wish to see. Be love, think love, and act with love, and you cannot fail. Be at peace.
I realised that this was the reason for my feeling disconcerted during the documentary. We are all children of God. We all have the ability to hear and/or see Mother Mary, given enough faith. We all have the ability to contribute to the world we desire.
Whether you hear from Mary directly or through a visionary, her message would no doubt lead us in the same direction – to unification, to love. I would feel disconcerted by any purported message from Mother Mary which seems to promote one group over another or is divisive in any way.
What do you think about the apparitions of Mother Mary?
Do you think there is a Cult of Mary?
Whatever your thoughts about the veracity of the apparitions of Mary, I hope that you can join me in following her suggestions to Angela – to band together and follow the path of love to peace on Earth.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/explorer/videos/alleged-miracle/
http://www.medjugorje.ws/#latest-message
http://www.medjugorje.com/medjugorje-america/history-apparitions-bedroom-field.html
http://www.marysnewsletter.com/index.html
http://christchurchyankalilla.org/shrine.html
hi Lorelle, my name is Robert Anderson, Marys message to the world is a great book, a friend of my mothers gave it to her, she read it and gave it to me to reed, i have read book on Edgar Cayce, Ruth Montgomery, Arthur Ford and others so she knew i would like to reed it, the things i read in these book felt right and made much more sense then what some of these hell fire and brimstone preachers where saying, but i was raised going to different churches with preachers talking about hell and damnation, i wanted to believe in what she had to say, but i was confused, so one day while reading the book i stopped and prayed, i told God, God if your up there, and i believe you are, and you created every thing, and you know every thing, then there is only one truth, and its yours, please tell me your truth, im confused, the preachers are saying one thing, these books are saying another, but they feel and sound right, i dont want to go to hell, i want to go to heaven, you say in the Bible, if you seek then you will find, if you knock the door will be open, will father God, im seeking and knocking at the door, please help me, i want to know the truth, your truth, the only truth, please help me God, then i went back to reading, well two weeks latter im alone sitting on my couch reading the book over again, the curtains where shut and the only light that was on was my little lamp, all of a sudden the whole room filled with a bright white light, i thought my mother came in without me hearing her and turned on the lights, but she didnt, no other light was on in the whole apartment, it was a bright white light brighter then the sun, but it did not hurt my eyes, and it had no physical source, then i heard the words,(this is what you ask for, this is the truth), next thing i knew i was out of my body, i was still in the living room on my couch, but a the same time i was looking down on the world like i was in space, i was at total peace,and i was totally free and light as air, i was shown many great things, and i understood that Gods plan is perfect and every thing will be ok, some things i could explain, some are beyond the physical mine to comprehend, i could not put it in to words, i dont know how long it lasted, it was like i was beyond time and space, i did not see the being that spoke to me, i only heard the voice, it was the most beautiful voice i have ever heard, so i dont know what Angel it was, or if it was mother Mary herself, i like to think it was, they verified to me that the book was true, so was what i had bin reading from Edgar Cayce, Ruth Montgomery, Arthur Ford, and some others, i was also given a much better interpretation of the bible, then next thing i know i was back in my body and the beautiful white light gradually faded away, and i was left sitting there in total awe and amazement, and a feeling of lightness in spirit, mind and body, i dont know how long i sat there just thinking and trying to understand the amazing thing that had just happened to me, when mom came home i tried to tell her all about it, but i could not put most of it into words, but she understood, she had a visitation a few years before where God heeled her hands of crippling arthritis, i dont remember a time i did not believe in God, my mother and i have had so much happen in our lives as absolute proof that God is reel, i hope there are many more people out there that have had the same kind of experiences as we have, Annie Kirkwood also has another book called messages to our family, if you have not read it i would highly recommend that book to anyone, its great, anyway i know this is a long story but its all true, i hope you will read it, and i hope you enjoy it, i am glad i found you here, God Bless you and your family, have a great day and thank you. Robert Anderson.
What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Be at peace.