Following the disaster in Japan, the world is, thankfully, rushing to assist the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and prayers are being offered. I would ask all members of the Fraternity to include the peoples suffering because of this disaster in their daily prayers.
In relation to this the CNA has an interesting article which looks the apparitions of Our Lady to a Japanese sister in Akita. It seems Akita was near the epicentre of the earthquake, though, thankfully, it escaped the brunt of the disaster. The article takes the message Our Lady gave to the sister, Sr Agnes, and it could be concluded that it is wondering if the message is being fufiled in this disaster, and perhaps even in the others which have hit us in recent years. Here is the article, have a read and a think.
That said, we would do well to acquaint ourselves with the apparition - it being one of the more recent which have approved by the Church and having a message pertinent for our times. To be honest, since she came, the people of the world could hardly be said to have responded to Our Lady's call.
Video on the apparitions:
Akita may not be approved
ReplyDeleteFrom Donal Foley:
I have seen those links indicating Cardinal Ratzinger’s approval of Akita, (e.g. http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/akita.htm) but the info just says:
“June, 1988—Vatican City—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gives definitive judgement on the Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.”
There is no link to a document authenticating this. And as I indicate on my site, there is later info to indicate that Cardinal Ratzinger was not 100% in favour of Akita....
More recently, the situation has been further clarified. It appears that the Vatican has not approved of Akita, as the following statement from the Apostolic Nuncio in Tokyo, Ambrose de Paoli, issued in 1999, makes clear. In response to a query from the editor of a British Catholic magazine, the Apostolic Nuncio stated: “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has asked me to respond to your query re: Akita. ... The Holy See has never given any kind of approval to either the events or messages of Akita.” (Christian Order, December 1999, p. 610.)