We Are All God’s Dear Children

In almost all of the alleged messages attributed to the apparitions in Medjugorje, Our Lady addresses us as “Dear children.”

As an aside, while traveling to and from Medjugorje this year on Turkish Airlines we thought it was special that the recorded voice used to make announcements over the PA in English was a woman’s, and she addressed the cabin, “Ladies and gentlemen, and Dear Children...” We thought it was a special thing.

Anyway, that’s how Our Lady sees us. She is our mother, and we her “dear children.”

The expression “dear children” may seem incidental, or merely sentimental. I hadn’t thought too much of it myself beyond thinking it lovely. But I think maybe there is something to be learned from it.

There’s a lot of talk in the Catholic Church these days about the different religions of the world and our relationship with them, or rather, about our relationship with God compared to them. We know we have a special relationship with God because we are Christians. But what about other people? How does God see them?

Pope Francis recently gained attention for saying to young people in Singapore that “all religions are paths to God.” But what could he have meant? After all, we know that Jesus is the fullness of the revelation of God, the very “refulgence of God.“

Christ even taught His disciples to address God as “Father,” a name for God that is considered blasphemy by the Muslim airline we flew to Medjugorje. Nor do Hindus think of God in a way similar to us. Buddhists generally do not think of God at all.

Still, Our Lord did reveal God’s love for all peoples, including those of other religions, by the sign of His own affection for, say, the Roman Centurion and the Queen of Sheba.

But to say that God loves all people does not mean that all religions are the same. Some religions are born of heresy, which is a distortion of the truth. Others are old vestiges of the concept of God, begotten of a people groping in the dark for centuries.

In the Acts of the Apostles we read that Saint Paul said to the Greeks, “I see a statue here ‘To An Unkown God.’ That is the God I want to speak to you about. He has revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus of Nazareth. We know Him now. Come out of the dark.”

So while the Pope’s comment about all religions being “paths to God” may serve inter-religious dialogue, it remains true that the Catholic religion possesses the fullness of the truth that God revealed to humanity. Nor is there darkness or error in our doctrine, which, even as it develops, remains true in every generation.

Nor is there salvation outside of Christ and His Church. There is no other name under heaven by which a person can be reconciled to God. I would say it this way: there is no other religion as dear to God as the Catholic religion.

That’s why I think it’s helpful to consider Our Lady’s choice of words for us, her Catholic children. We are not her only children, but we are her “dear” children.

So when the visionaries say things like, “Our Lady always stresses that there is but one God, and one cannot truly believe, be a true Christian, if he does not respect other religions as well,” we can hear Our Blessed Mother calling us to love all peoples. The expression “respect other religions as well” means that we, as God’s dear children, should love God’s other children in such a way as to introduce them to His love.

When Pope Benedict was asked in an interview, “How many ways are there to God?” he replied, “As many ways as there are people.” He wasn’t saying that there are ways other than Christ. Rather, he was saying what the Catholic Church teaches in the Catechism, namely, that God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but He Himself is not bound by His sacraments (CCC 1257).

The Catechism also teaches that other religions can act as preparation for the Gospel (CCC 843), but it doesn’t mean they are all equal. Many hold to outright contradictory claims about God and the meaning of life. But the people of those religions are known by God, and He has sent His Son because they are also dear to Him. How do we know that they are dear to Him? Because we are dear to Him. And we have done nothing to deserve the gift of Faith. Rather, it has been entrusted to us that we might share it with others. I can sympathize with Pope Francis desire to start a dialogue with the peoples of other religions. I, too, would like everyone to know how dear they are to God.

How important, then, for us to repent for, and to heal from, the wounds inflicted by the clergy sex abuse scandal. The smoke of Satan truly has entered the Church, as Our Lady said in Fatima in 1917, not in its openness to dialogue, but in its institutional corruption, and worse, in its forsaking the most vulnerable of God’s children.

To that end, you may see that the press has been covering the Diocese's bankruptcy case. As you know, the Diocese has been in bankruptcy since 2020. The goal is to equitably compensate survivors of abuse, to end all historical lawsuits against the Diocese and parishes, and to allow the Church to continue her mission.

In order to compensate survivors and protect parishes from lawsuits, the Diocese and every parish will be making a contribution to the settlement. The settlement total has been accepted. However, to protect the parishes from any past liability, it will be necessary for every parish to enter into an abbreviated Chapter 11, including our own.

This does not mean that the parish is in jeopardy or closing. Our Chapter 11 status should end within 48 hours. But it is necessary. It is being done so that the parishes can obtain releases for their protection from liability going forward. In the coming weeks, I’ll provide more detailed information here in the bulletin.

Thank you for your love for the Church, for your affection for the parish, and for the goodness you show all of the different peoples who come here on Sundays, especially the Baptism families and their children. +