Tit Bits III: The Blessed Virgin Mary's Message For Our Time

The Church approved Marian apparition of Lourdes, France.
Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous on February 11, 1858.

Joe writes:  

Question: Why should I bother with apparitions and Mary's messages when I have the Bible?

Argument:

The Virgin Mary was a very devout woman, who bore the Son of the Most High but nonetheless she remains a creature and Catholics have turned her into a goddess. This takes away people's focus from Jesus Christ who is the sole mediator between Almighty God and humanity.

The dead know nothing (Eccl. 9:5) and by invoking them, we anger God, why should we listen to the spirit that comes as the Virgin Mary?

Catholic Teaching (CCC #67):

Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfilment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations."

Answer:

It is wise for the faithful to worry about Marian apparitions in this age of deception where the true doctrine is being suppressed. A number of apparitions have caused discord in the Body of Christ with a view to confuse the messages of Fatima. Marian apparitions are judged by the Church in accordance with Sacred Tradition, Magisterial teaching and adherence to decreed doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church uses Our Lord's admonition "to test the spirits" and "that a tree is known by its fruit" to decide in the final analysis what to make of a given apparition given that public revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle and will come again on the second coming.

Apparitions to be judged as Constat de supernaturalitate (formerly called worthy of belief) should manifest signs or evidence of being an authentic or truly miraculous intervention from heaven. This judgment is possible when there is evidence of supernatural phenomena, sound doctrine, moral probity, mental health and sound piety of the seer(s) and enduring good fruits among the faithful. [1]

Having said that, there are about 39 [2] private revelations that have been approved by the Church as "worthy of belief" and chief among these for our time is Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of La Salette. These apparitions call us back to true faith guided by the doctrine of the Church that has been inspired and preserved by the Holy Spirit. This is in line with the teaching of Almighty God in Jeremiah 6:16 “Thus says the Lord: Stand on the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: We will not walk.” In these apparitions, the Blessed Virgin Mary who is our mother and the woman of Revelation calls her children to true faith and to watch that we may not be deceived by the smoke of Satan and the errors of Modernism. Here we are reminded that 'that which was a sin is always a sin'.

Conclusion:

Our Lady of Fatima spoke about the errors of fashion and that people should always adorn themselves in modest attire. She spoke of sins of the flesh and showed the three seers a vision of hell to warn us of what awaits those who do not heed the Gospels and the authentic teachings and the commandments of God. With the Blessed Virgin Mary, we adore God as we should, we are encouraged to walk in the path that leads to Him and we are given the grace of 'the fear of the Lord' which is said to be the beginning of all wisdom (Proverbs 8:13 and 9:10; Psalm 111:10; Isaiah 11:3). In the approved apparitions of our mother, we are taught to pray and to live the message of the Gospel in humility and obedience to the Will of God.

A lot of modern day apparitions are indeed not to be mistakenly attributed to the Blessed Virgin because they promote disobedience to the Church and teach error, and the faithful are warned by the Magisterium of the Church to listen to the teachings of the local Bishop wherever a particular apparition occurs. It is the duty of the local Bishop as shepherd of the flock to warn against false apparitions and in other cases, such as Medjugorje, the faithful have refused to listen.