Monday, November 21, 2011

Just Plain Weird.... No, Extra, Special Weird!

I am copying this exactly as I read it...  Either a spoof by someone complaining about Call-to-Action (a rather liberal social justice group in favor of all sorts of unorthodox opinions in the Roman Church) OR it is a real story -- either way, how the ghost of Luther got involved in the internal disputes of Rome is beyond me!

Attendees at the Call-to-Action National Conference, held earlier this month in Milwaukee, were treated to a special announcement that brought cheers and tears of joy:  the apparition of “St.” Martin Luther, who had appeared to an Omaha woman over a period of seven years, has been designated as “worthy of belief” by the CTA Board of Directors.


Marjoram Fennel, a former catechist in the Diocese of Omaha, was warmly accepted by the CTA crowd, as she spoke to them about whom she calls her “special friend”.  “At first I thought I was seeing things, or going crazy,” she explained.  “But I soon discovered that we shared much in common, and his messages to me were comforting and uplifting.”

She was grateful to the Board for their pronouncement.  Fennel told the crowd about the apparition’s circumstances.

“It was 1996, shortly after Bishop Bruskewitz had declared that any Catholics in his diocese who belonged to Call-to-Action would be ex-communicated.  I was so distraught at this injustice.  I remember sitting at my kitchen table, full of fear and uncertainty.  Then, an image of a man appeared across the table from me.  It startled me!  And then the man spoke to me, told me his name, and said ‘I know what you’re going through, trust me.’  He sounded so nice.”

The visits occurred over a seven year period.  “Luther came every month.  He told me to persevere, to fight for justice and never trust the Pope.  His words were very encouraging.  He even suggested I should become a priest, and I still might.”

Fennel kept these visitations private, even from her Call-to-Action friends.  “I didn’t want them to think I was nuts,” she told the attendees.  “St. Martin asked me to write his messages down, and when the time was right, he said, I should make them public.”  Fennel felt that now was the time to publicize her private revelations.  “During his final visit, St Martin told me that a time would come when the Antichrist – that’s what he called the Pope – would change prayers and exert control over the People of God to such a degree that there would be much anger and unrest.  That would be the time to tell others about our meetings.”

That was back in 2003.  Seven years later, when the New Translation of the English Missal was released, she felt that the time had come.  “Not at first, though,” Fennel explained.  “I was still a little fearful.  But finally, about a month ago, I approached the local Call-to-Action chapter, and they immediately took my cause up to the Board of Directors.  They reviewed my journals, spoke with me over the phone, and within a week or so, they came to the decision to approve the apparitions.”

Call-to-Action intends to publish Fennel’s journal in early 2012, much to her delight.

“People need to read these messages,” she said.  And what will people get from Luther’s words?  “Two things stand out for me.  One, don’t trust the Pope.  And two, reason is the enemy of faith.”

This was not the first time CTA has reviewed a private revelation.  Back in April 2005, a purported weeping statue of Hans Kung was investigated and quickly rejected, as it was found to be the real Hans Kung really weeping.

8 comments:

Terry Maher said...

Judas H Priest OSB, where did you read this and why bother?

For starters, Omaha (where I live btw) is an archdiocese, not a diocese. Fabian Bruskewitz was the bishop of Lincoln, not Omaha, though he ticked people off far and wide with the Call To Action thing.

To imagine Luther encouraging WO is beyond absurd. To imagine that this was leading up to the new translations of the novus ordo is beyond delusional. Change the prayers? The novus ordo changed the prayers, and based on a distinctly RC agenda, not Luther's. As someone who spoke Latin rather well, I'd say he would appreciate that the new translations at least actually translate what's there.

Marjoram Fennel need a psychiatrist. If she exists at all. Marjoram and Fennel are herbs, the former classically associated with happiness and the later used by Prometheus to steal the gods' fire. As with all this RC stuff, leave it to the RCs and the RCC.

Rev. Allen Bergstrazer said...

Mystische Dummheit. Never mind what Luther wrote plainly to and about the Papacy, these nit wits need a vision.

"The whole papacy is founded on pure lies and on the denial of the Lord Christ; hence it must be, not the Holy Spirit's but the devil's very oen teaching. It is an utterly and accursed and reprobate thing." (Exposition of John 14:17 W 45, 578)

Anonymous said...

There was an article in the Sunday paper about Call To Action and the dissidents who want to ordain women.

It was interesting to see how the article was soundly refuted by local Catholic laity. The greying heads of Call To Action aren't replenishing their ranks, it seems and they've done such a good job of dissing the church their kids don't bother to go. Seems like their agenda had some unforeseen consequences.

They're a bunch of loons.

SKPeterson said...

I think this is a joke, or rather high satire of the CTA group. Look at the last paragraph on the weeping Kung statue.

Anonymous said...

SKPeterson, you are right on the money. This is a satire appearing on a Catholic blog that pokes fund at dissident groups like CTA:

http://actsoftheapostasy.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/call-to-action-apparition-of-martin-luther-worthy-of-belief/#comments

The blog is pretty hilarious.

Janis Williams said...

The scary thing in all this to me is; CTA also stands for Clarksville Transit Authority....

Terry Maher said...

Thanks for the link, whichever of the Anonymous you are. Just took a peek, or rather a puke. It's wittier than hell, indeed, and pathetic at the same time. The poor bleeders seem to think that the less radical end of what was dissent in my days as an RC is Catholicism rather than the new postconciliar "Catholicism".

That's their problem, not ours, but it made me glad I am free of the reeking cesspool that is the RCC, pre or post Vatican II.

I just roared at this one, which unfortunately is not satire but meant straightforwardly:

What this blog isn’t: Apologetic for being Catholic. It’s how I’m gonna get to Heaven. And if you were serious about getting there, you’d be Catholic too.

Sorry pal, but that's what apologetic literally is. Regardless, get beneath the softer gentler words these days and that's what you find, the one thing that endures through the many faces of "Catholicism" -- the RCC, first, last, and always.

Nobody's getting to heaven by being Catholic. Oh, but Catholic means Jesus, so we're getting to heaven by Jesus -- yeah right; it's a faith in nothing but itself, which since it thinks it IS Jesus, his church etc, therefore it's a faith in Jesus.

Which is why we should leave the RCC THE HELL alone and go our way.

Rev. Allen Bergstrazer said...

Satire eh? I guess the first tip off for me should have been when they said 'he sounded so nice.'