A picture I took in Medjugorje
Last weekend I was in my hometown. On Sunday, my mother and I went to the Byzantine Catholic Church as we usually do when I’m home. The last thing I expected was for the priest to give an entire homily on the controversial and unapproved supposed Marian apparitions at Medjugorje, which is found in modern day Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with a Catholic group that I’m part of in my city. Somehow the topic of Medjugorje came up and it became the centre of a long discussion. One girl in her early 20’s talked about how she was going to Europe to drink and party like most people her age would, but she ended up in Medjugorje and that completely changed her plans as she came back to her Catholic faith. Very politely I reminded everyone that we should use caution as this apparition is unapproved. One girl asked if I had been there. I told her that I had been.
I was in Medjugorje in 2014. I didn’t go there on a pilgrimage but as a student. All of my vacations are for education. The idea of sitting on a beach for a week is not my thing. I could maybe do it for a day but no longer. The best learning tool was the experience. I was told by my priest back in 2014 that the only good thing about Medjugorje is confession. They have about 20 confessionals and each one has the languages on them that the priest speaks. You can confess in almost any major European or Catholic language. It’s pretty impressive.
Not every confession was in a confessional. They had open air confessions as well. I saw a teenage girl sitting on a chair with a priest sitting on a chair facing her doing an open air confession. The priest was in a t-shirt, jeans, and a stole. I was pretty angry when I saw that. I mean, why even bother with the stole? I wanted to take a picture of it but out of respect for the girl getting the confession, I didn’t.
I’m not Eastern Orthodox but I found it much more spiritually fulfilling visiting the Orthodox monastery in Mostar and buying several icons; icons that I still have in my house to this day and continue to use for prayer. When I think of my Catholic experience in that country, all I can think of is that priest in lay clothes with a stole.
The priest on Sunday said that the Virgin had supposedly said at Medjugorje that this will be her last apparition. I’m not convinced that Medjugorje is authentic. That statement alone is troubling. Why would this be her last apparition, especially since its so much less impressive than approved ones such as Guadalupe, La Salette, Lourdes, and Fatima? I’m happy for those who have derived spiritual benefit from Medjugorje but I cannot be inclined towards it in any way.
It’s a bit ironic that I’ve recently been in dialogue with a Bosnian Muslim. It’s the same person who I debated at the dawah booth which can be found on my YouTube channel. I want to bring this guy to Christ and His Church. Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said that the Virgin will be the key to converting the Muslims. There is certainly much grace from the Virgin, but I don’t think that I’ll be looking to Medjugorje in any of my dialogues with this man.
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