3 Comments

1. 

   Mark in Canada on September 17, 2010 at 3:35 pm

   I think Joan is a sweet lady. She also has a critical mind, which makes her more credible to me.

   I think that the teenagers probably had real experiences in Medjudore that they attributed to the Virgin Mary. Other people have also experienced real events around Medjudore. But then there have been a lot of perceived and false experiences, which muddies the water. But I don’t think everyone is/was lying. Some people experienced real events.

   I would question if these real events have any connection to the mother of Christ, a man who may or may not have existed. In a less Catholic area, the events could be attributed to ghosts or UFOs. So I think the Catholic goggles worn by the witness affect what they report.

   It did strike me odd that the messages from Mary, the part of the story that seems the most questionable, basically support the official line of the Catholic church: do the rosary and pray. Even Joan admits the Mary’s messages aren’t very interesting. So I’m not sure why Mary would come down from heaven to bring such boring messages.

   I thought it was interesting the local bishop doesn’t support any of this. I’d think that the Catholic church would consider this a boon.

   So, I think some unusual events probably happened or continue to happen but I don’t think they have anything to do with Mary or Christianity. But I also think Joan’s a nice lady and a recent widow who needs any reassurance she can get. If she wants to believe these events are somehow related to Mary, I hope this belief brings her comfort.

2. 

   John Ong on September 19, 2010 at 10:14 pm

   Mark,
   Thanks for your comment.
   I just got a bunch of her books. I will read them, and perhaps have her back. She is indeed a nice and interesting lady. And most certainly knows how to tell stories. I guess that’s why she’s an author.
   I hope to bring her back.

3. 

   Joan Fong on September 26, 2010 at 1:07 pm

   Dear Mark and John,

   Thank you for your kind remarks. I am so glad that John got my books at last, and the delay is no thanks to the increasing volume of global mail. Sorry John. You were beginning to wonder if I ever sent them. Right?
   Mark, I accept that when you don’t believe in the Virgin Mary because she is such a “Catholic thing”, you will find it hard to accept that these six people saw her.
   They persist now, even 26 years later, and they are all married with children, and three of them still see her directly as they have done daily in the past while three see her only on special days — Christmas, or Easter, or their birthdays, on the 2nd of each month.

   They can’t be pretending. You can fool some of the people some of the time, all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but never all the people all the time. Well, the apparitions have been going one for 26 years, and I just went there and came back two months ago with the two widows who shared my hostel room there. They were psychiatric cases who never recovered from the loss of their husbands even after 9 and 15 years. They saw the sun dance on three days, slept like a log from their first night in Medjugorje, and could throw away their sleeping pills. They recovered confidence in life. And it is wonderful for me to witness it.

   There was a special story I told John personally which is really remarkable. A friend took a band of friends to Medjugorje — a Hindu, who started it all, and a Muslim friend of his, a Buddhist, and an Assembly of God member with his Catholic wife and two children. Furthermore they managed to go into Medjugorje in two taxis during the time of war but was escorted in by a Serbian commander. This story is so bizarre, that it has to be true. Nobody would dare make this up. Well, they all saw the sun spinning and doing its thing. You can’t accuse them of bias. You know what I mean — believing is seeing.

   I wanted to put this into the next Medjugorje book. Then changed my mind because I can’t verify the details. Until I met a priest who knew the Hindu, who had approached him for baptism “because of a Medjugorje experience” but didn’t dare say what. All these things are happening to all kinds of people. To talk about them makes other people incredulous. The mad person or liar tells their stories all the time, oblivious of how other people may take it. The sane person feels cowed by sneers. See how I am sticking my neck out?

   But I am not a wonderful story teller who cooks up fiction. I’m not worried if you don’t believe because someday those who don’t believe will go personally to Medjugorje. And then they will see their own strange visions, each different from the rest, and given to them by God to show He exists. Many people go there and “see nothing” meaning no miracles or visions. But they carry back with them some gift that will become apparent in time if not at that time.

   It is also very easy to go to Medjugorje. You book a plane or planes to Split. Then email someone in Medjugorje to reserve you rooms (I can give you an address) and to send transport to the airport at your ETA (expected time of arrival) to take the new highway to Medjugorje. It takes 2 hrs now instead of 3. Expected cost? USD$2,000 starting from SE Asia. That is the airfare, accommodation, food (breakfast and dinner only. Restaurants sell wonderful meals for an average of $10.) Internal taxis take you anywhere in the village for USD$8, and a one-way taxi ride from Medjugorje to the Split airport for about USD$130. That’s about 300 miles.

   I regret comparing Medjugorje to the Twilight Zone, an old tv series on the paranormal. This trivialises it, and mocks it. {Sorry to the Lord and His Mother!} Suddenly, many people have been calling me locally in Singapore about going to Medjugorje, but they don’t know me personally, and they have not read my books nor hear the stories of my friends’ experiences. When you get a strong urge to go, Mother Mary is inviting you, and for a purpose. That, only you will know when you go — for what purpose.

   I will give my two Medjugorje books (two titles) to anyone of you who reads this and wants them. Just email me at ffjoan(at)gmail(dot)com. Copy this and paste into your email “TO” browser and change the (at) to @ and the (dot) to .
   Sorry I won’t write out the email address here — accessible as a link for hackers to use to get into my email address and use it for their purpose.

   Blessings and Peace to all of you.

   Joan

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