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A Still, Small Voice: A Practical Guide on Reported Revelations

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Perhaps one of the defining characteristics of the Catholic Church in the 20th century has been the proliferation of private revelations from Fatima to Medjugorje to Conyers, Georgia. Not every reported revelation is truly from God and not even those private revelations inspired by God but relayed through flawed human beings are free from all error.

How does a faithful Catholic determine which apparition or vision to listen to and which to ignore? And what do we do about those inner promptings we feel when we pray, those inclinations that we believe are God guiding us?

Fr. Benedict Groeschel uses his education in theology and psychology and his incisive wisdom to offer a practical guide to dealing with private revelations, visions, and other phenomena. This book is neither a skeptic nor a credulous observer, but takes the position that the Lord wishes to communicate with His people and does so in varied ways that required careful discernment by them.

First, Fr. Groeschel observes an historic perspective on private revelations and offers a fundamental basis for looking at them. Above all, private revelations are different from the one, complete public revelation in that they reveal nothing new and that the must only be observed in so far as they reflect the teachings already present in Scripture and Tradition, the two sources of the Word of God, public revelation.

Second, the book then delves into the Church's criteria for investigating and then deciding on the authenticity of revelations, a long, laborious process that gives comfort in that error is assiduously avoided through diligence. Among the surprising discoveries presented by Fr. Groeschel is that some revelations by canonized saints were later debunked, even before the canonization was complete. The declaration of courageous holiness does presume inerrancy for all statement . If that were true, then there would be no canonized saints among flawed humanity.

Fr. Groeschel provides many examples of errant revelations, including St. Catherine of Siena's famous declaration that the Virgin Mary herself revealed to the saint that she was not immaculately conceived. How could this be if the Church later declared it a dogma? Fr. Groeschel reveals that the role of the psyche in religious experiences is not completely understood -- and likely never will be -- and we do not know to what extent it will "taint" the vision or revelation. And that is another way in which private revelation is different from the public revelation: the Holy Spirit intervenes in public revelation to prevent the taint of untruth.

The book also makes clear that just because a saint is wrong in one area, it does not invalidate other apparitions or revelations made by him. This is why a Catholic must presuppose a primary obedience to the wisdom of the Church in her declarations of validity. Even if we are convinced of the authenticity of a vision or apparition, and even if we are later proven right when the Church declares a previously invalidated revelation to know be licit, we can never go wrong seeking the wisdom of the Church. After all, reported revelations do not reveal anything that is not already in the Word of God.

Bottom Line : A Still, Small Voice is not a scholarly book, if by scholarly we mean a technical reference for theologians and the like. Instead, it is a practical guide for everyone, from those who eagerly greet each reported revelation as an opportunity to see the Lord's intervention into history to those who cautiously stand back waiting for the Church's declarations. And even more so, it is a practical guide for each Christian who prays, seeking the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the guidance of God, so that we may truly discern our own desires from God's own promptings in our heart.

If you find yourself not knowing what to believe and what not to believe this book can help.

The always articulate Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. offers an excellent examination of how the faithful should approach extraordinary religious experiences such as New Age encounters and the reported Marian apparations at Medjugorje.

Groeschel offers practical steps for how the faitful are to evaluate such claims and summarizes the Church's teachings on private revelation.

Groeschel uses Saint Therese of Liseux who offers an example of a humble and prayerful approach to life which will lead the reader to discern God's presence in their life.

I secured a copy of Fr. Groeschel's book to help me better understand and evaluate a good friend's claims of having messages and visions from God. A cradle Catholic, she began receiving revelations about 5 years ago at age 45--from St. Joan of Arc, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Thomas More, St Patrick,Blessed Mother Mary, Jesus, and God the Father. I am a university professor trained in the philosphy of science, and was at first skeptical but soon began believing her claims. After all, she is a rational person and an administrative law judge to boot. Through the four years of our friendship, I listened to her revelations, with a mixture of awe, a residual skepticism, and some envy because God is silent for me. But I tell myself that God's silence is entirely understandable given the sinner that I am, having only recently returned to my faith after an agnostic lapse of 30 years.

As time passed, her messages grew in frequency. I increasingly began to doubt her. Not only were her messages coming at a daily rate, they were also unfailingly self-serving: God loves her, calls her his "daughter," and promises to protect her from all her enemies who will be "defeated before they even begin." All this to an individual who constantly "strokes" herself, is always right and never wrong, and whom a priest once identified her chief sin as that of pride.

Fr. Groeschel's book has been extremely illuminating and helpful. He cautions skepticism toward all claims of diviine revelations, noting that the Vatican itself is very careful in certifying them. He divides bogus claims into varioius types: some are outright frauds; some are psychologically disturbed; still others are simply self-deluded because of their strong need & desire to believe. Most importantly, he reminds us that God expects more from those whom He favors with revelations--the apostles were often reprimanded by Jesus. The last chapter of the book is especially consoling. Not only has Fr. Groeschel himself not been graced with messages and visions--and I consider him to be a holy man--he reminds us that not all religious experiences have to take the extraordinary form of visions and messages. God speaks to each of us in His own way. As Groeschel put it: "Everyone reading this book has had some remarkable religious experiences in life. Remarkable, but not extraordinary. Unfortunately, we tend to overlook them, to forget them, to tuck them away, to allow them to lapse into oblivion. And yet, they are the words of God spoken to us as real as the words spoken to Abraham, Moses, and St. Paul."

Although I've enjoyed visiting the famous religious shrine at Lourdes, France and spent many tourist days attending daily Mass at Rome's St. Peter's Basilica, it's nevertheless a tough sell for me to appreciate the mystical or supernatural side of any human being's spirituality. Loving God and devotion to the sacred scriptures are lots different than talking to the saints or seeing visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Honestly, those fascinating phenomena are alien to a mortal soul who works hard to practice my Roman Catholic faith, like me. Therefore, I'm absolutely consoled by "A Still, Small Voice", by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, because he explains how, oftentimes, even the saints themselves i.e., Saint Catherine of Siena, for example, as well as others around them could be deceived by mystical revelations. As human beings, saints are subject to a memory snafu once in awhile. Many ordinary people do not disclose personal revelations to others until some life event or spiritual director allows them to recount their experience, like Saint Catherine Laboure, for example. Also explained, in wonderfully ordinary prose, is the nature of revelations, how they can be misrepresented and justifiably even dismissed as being real. This summary account of how to better understand mystical or supernatural revelations is an appetizer into other, more in depth, readings by quoted writers like Father Thomas Dubay, author of "The Fire Within", plus the mystical writings of St. Teresa of Avila. Thoroughly footnoted, the information provided in this wonderful read gives credibility to a field of religion many professional clergy would just as soon avoid. I will send copies of this book to several clergy friends of mine who are spiritual guides themselves, because I believe it is a must read for everybody who claims to experience divine revelations but, mostly, it's a source of comfort for those of us who are simply in awe of these profoundly mystical experiences. Moreover, "A Still, Small Voice" stands alone as meditation by itself, even for a skeptic or non-religious person.

Father Groeschel has written a comforting, clear and practical book on personal visions and aparitions and the New Age. Drawing on the wisdom of the saints, particularly St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa as well as his own learning, he gives a simple rule for discerning whether your vision is true or whether to believe in an aparition you may have heard of. He also discusses the Course in Miracles and how destructive it was to the woman who wrote it and how it is still dangerous today.

This is a deep subject obviously, but Father Groeschel writes in such a down to earth way that you don't need to be a theologian or a mystic in order to digest this excellent book.

I have always appreciated Fr. Benedict's succinct way of giving us the teachings of the Church in a manner the average person can easily understand. This book does just this on the subject of revelations. If you have ever wondered about the difference between public and private revelation or if you or anyone you know believes they are the recipient of revelation, read this book.

Father Groeschel has packed a great amount of information in this seemingly small volume titled "A Still Small Voice."

While not a comprehensive study on the phenomena of private revelations, Father Groeschel manages to squeeze a great deal of essential information into the 175 pages which compose this concise book.

Father Groeschel takes a look at many differing reports of alleged revelations and visions that have been documented throughout the centuries and explains the process one should take when discerning such incidents. Saint John of the Cross, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Saint Bernadette, and many others are some of the notable figures cited throughout the study.

Discernment is key with private revelation, and it always need be. Father Groeschel states that one should always resort back to the Gospels and to traditional church teaching when encountering any such phenomena. If one does not take a strictly biblical and thorough approach to the validity of a claim, the doors to deception, misinterpretation, and fraud will swing widely open.

Being a psychologist as well as a priest, Father Groeschel lends great insight to the role of the human psyche in such revelations and visions. He recognizes the fallibility of the human condition, and warns that even Saints can be misled, or simply mistaken in their interpretations of locutions, visions, etc.

Father Groeschel lends such incredible clarity and pastoral insight on this vast encompassing phenomena; regarding one of which is quickly becoming a norm, so to speak, with people claiming to see everything from angels to spirit guides, ascended masters to fairies, you name it...

Groeschel's discourse on the ever popular New Age "Bible," "A Course In Miracles," is very sobering, and goes to demonstrate the fragility of the human psyche when one encounters such supernatural locutions. Sadly, as was the case for Helen Schucman, without proper discernment she eventually fell into "the blackest psychotic depression" Father Groeschel had ever witnessed.

A great little book to any interested in private revelation, locutions, or visions. Highly recommended!

AAn excellent source for discerning fact from imagination in the spiritual life by a recognized and respected authority. Priests, spriritual directors and interested laymen should have this in their library for reference and study.

An interesting but cautious and fairly dry attempt to discuss how conservative one must be when identifying faith related experiences.