2009年2月9日星期一

續評〈默主哥耶朝聖的感想〉

尹雅白神父的大作〈默主哥耶朝聖的感想〉(二),刊登於今期公教報第8頁。

當中,他不斷列舉「朝聖」者何其眾多,以及韋寶榮(Wayne Weible)述及默主歌耶訊息的著作何其暢銷的現象。

小弟認為,從倫理角度而言,單以「朝聖者」數目的多寡、及「獵奇書籍」的銷情,來考慮某些聲稱啟示或顯現的真實性,則有若緣木求魚,且極之誤導。

Donal A. Foley在他的《Understanding MEDJUGORJE - Heavenly Visions or Religious Illusion?》中(p. 221),曾提及過這例子:

To use a concrete example, suppose a person has a $10 bill or a €10 note in their possession. How do they know that it is not counterfeit? Suppose it is believed that forgers have been working in the area, and that there is a possibility that an appreciable amount of forged currency is in circulation. The person has two basic options: they can either take the suspect note to the bank and have it checked, or they can just pass it on to the next person. They might argue that if that person accepts it then they will assume it is good, and if they don't, then they will regard it as a forgery. But that is faulty from a moral perspective. If someone has good reason to believe that a banknote is forged then it is their duty to have it checked.

If we apply this to the question of true and false visions, then it is obvious that checking the note with a bank is like finding out what the official spokesman of the Church - the bishops - have said about a particular vision. But just ignoring the status of the vision and relying on the alleged good fruits is like passing on the note the next time we shop - all that concerns us is whether or not the shop accepts it, and not whether it is forged or genuine. It might be said that a few forged notes in circulation are not going to do much harm, and that is true enough. But if the forgeries reach a certain percentage of the money in circulation then it will start to lose its value - the principle of bad money driving out the good comes into play. If the process goes on unchecked, ultimately the economy of the nation concerned will collapse, because its money will become totally worthless.

按理而言,聲稱啟示支持者們所熱烈標榜的各種「善果」(不少人的心靈皈依、勤領聖事等),往往與人們「信以為真」的程度成正比,但它們卻完全建立於不甚穩妥的基礎上。當中涉及的倫理考慮、以及與公共啟示所要求的超性信德之間的關係,其實比起不少輕信之徒所想的,要複雜得多。

6 則留言:

Calvin 說...

以想同思維:
很多人都吃大麻、毒品,連著名泳家都吸食大麻,所以大麻的「反應」是「正面的」!

匿名 說...

I think we owe it to ourselves to view this event from both side. I personally do not believe in The Phenomenon of Medugorje. However, I will leave it to you to make your own judgement. Jesus' resurrection is the greatest miracle of all and I do not understand why people still need more miracles to make them a believer.


The truth regarding the events in Medjugorje as noted by Msgr. Pavao Zanic, Bishop of Mostar:

According to the Bishop:
1. ex-franciscan priest Ivica Vego - According to the diary of Vicka and the statements of the "seers", Our Lady mentioned 13 times that he is innocent and that the bishop is wrong. When his mistress, sister Leopolda, a nun, became pregnant, both of them left Medjugorje and the religious life and began to live together near Medjugorje where their child was born. Now they have two children. His prayerbook is still sold in Medjugorje and beyond in hundreds of thousands of copies.

2. The credibility of the "seers" - Mirjana Dragicevic. One month after the beginning of the "apparitions" I went to Medjugorje to question the "seers". I asked each of them to take an oath on the cross and demanded that they must speak the truth. (This conversation and oath was recorded on tape). The first one was Mirjana: "We went to look for our sheep when at once..." (The associate pastor in the parish interrupted and told me that they actually went out to smoke, which they hid from their parents). "Wait a minute Mirjana, you're under oath. Did you go out to look for your sheep?" She put her hand over her mouth, "forgive me, we went out to smoke." She then showed me the watch on which the "miracle" occurred because the hands of the watch had gone haywire. I took the watch to a watch expert who said that the watch had certainly fallen and become disordered. After bringing the watch back to her I told her not to mention that a miracle occurred. Yet, on cassettes taped later on, she went on to speak of how a miracle occurred with the watch and that initially they had gone out to search for their sheep.

Later on, she spoke that Our Lady said that all faiths are equal. How much can we believe Mirjana?

More to come ....
1) copy and paste the link:

http://www.unitypublishing.com/newswire/compose.html

Composing Heaven's Messages: Fr. Vlasic caught authoring "messages" on film

2) Commericalization of Medugorje
copy and paste the link:
http://www.eastwestreport.org/articles/ew07401.htm

3) comments from a tourist who vistied Medugorje in 2008


http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina/South/Mostar/blog-342915.html

Edward 說...

Dear friend,

Thanks for your comment.

Edward

匿名 說...

as suggested by one of your previous posts. I emailed my opinion to the Archdiocese of Toronto concerning the comments made by Father in Kung Kao Po. Too bad that I do not have much time, otherwise I will translate all these articles into English and email to the bishop of Toronto.
However, I think more people should email to

archbishop@archtoronto.org

denouncing their local church placing Medjugorje status on the altar.

I wrote the following:

I am writing to you asking you to look into the following matter. In one of your local Chinese Catholic Church, we are told that the Medugorje status is prominently placed on the altar and is worshipped by all churchgoers. To me, this is idol worshipping becuase the appartition is yet to be confirmed and should be stopped. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you.

匿名 說...

Edward,
Just want to let you know the Toronto Bishop is going to look into this matter.
I would encournage more people to email to them so that they know we are serious about this.

Edward 說...

Dear friend,

I think it is a quick response.

It is my hope that your diocese will take proper action soon.

Meanwhile, let us focus on our own spiritual growth by means of legitimate paths.

In Christ,
Edward