IS JOHN M. HAFFERT ONE OF THE MAJOR PROPHETS OF OUR ERA?

In the Preface to the biography, Herald of the Fatima Apparitions: John M. Haffert, I write that: “it is clear that John is not only co-founder of the World Apostolate of Fatima (Blue Army), but also one of the major prophets of our times.” The prophet, John the Baptist, is described in Scripture as “the man the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said: A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord.” (Mt. 3:3) Like John the Baptist, John Haffert is also a prophet. But in Haffert's case he is the herald crying out in the wilderness of our era, to make way for Our Lady of Fatima's messages and the Second Coming of Christ.

Many say that Mary is the Prophet of the End Times and the coming Era of Peace. Just as John the Baptist has been called the preeminent prophet who preached in the time of Christ, is there anyone, other than John Haffert, who could be called the preeminent prophet of the Mother of God in our era?

As we begin this second decade of the third millennium, many have forgotten the predictions of Our Lady of Fatima, the efforts of the Blue Army, and John's role of making the Fatima messages known. In addition, they are either ignoring or disclaiming the warnings of contemporary visionaries, never thinking to ask themselves if their actions are stifling the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Who of us can look at the decade that has just ended, and not wonder if the problems encountered by the whole world, are not vivid examples of the tribulations foretold by Our Lady of Fatima, as well as by many of our contemporary visionaries? But most of us fail to see any connection between the many calamities which occurred during the past decade and the warnings of recent prophets to the effect that, in ignoring God, the human race will continue to bring even more serious catastrophes on itself!

Perhaps, the most striking example of disaster was last year's financial collapse. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in the USA alone, to bail out some of the major banks. And the consequences of the burst real estate bubble have impacted governments and their central banks all over the world. These governments have also implemented huge stimulus programs which portend enormous financial difficulties in the future for many of these governments and their peoples.

John Haffert spent most of his adult life trying To Shake the World into a realization of the importance of Our Lady of Fatima’s apparitions and her “conditional” predictions of disaster that included the prophecy that: “several nations would be annihilated.” It was John’s mission to make known to the world that, if people continued to ignore God, there could be only one result – the world would continue on its downward spiral and many souls would be lost. In other words, the Era of Peace would be ushered in via a purification rather than by grace. And, to think, that this outcome depends on our own choices!

Is It Possible That a Prediction of the Mother of God Would Not Come to Pass?

Many people have entertained doubts about Our Lady of Emmitsburg's [OLOE] messages to Dr. Gianna Sullivan because one of Our Lady's predictions did not seem to come true. This is the prediction that Our Lady made:

"I have waited patiently for 2000 years for my plan to unfold....I requested, over 80 years ago at Fatima, sacrifice for sinners' conversion in reparation for sins committed against My Immaculate Heart....I predicted a future miracle that all might believe; and now as my plan commences, I once again predict a sign for this October." (OLOE 7-13-2000)

On Sept 8, 2000, the feast of the Birth of Mary, Cardinal Keller of the Baltimore diocese issued a statement to the effect that he was going to investigate Gianna Sullivan and that, until further notice, the Prayer Group in St. Joseph's Church should be suspended. Thereafter, the predicted sign that was to occur in October, did not seem to occur in any obvious way. Was this a false prediction or did Our Lady change her plans?

In the past, when I read comments about visionaries and prophets, I was often puzzled by the fact that the commentator would indicate that, while some of their prophecies came true, others did not. I did not know what to make of this. It certainly put doubts in my mind about those alleged saints and holy people.

However, when this prophecy of OLOE did not seem, to me, to have been fulfilled, I felt that there had to be some explanation that I was unaware of. The many years that I had spent reading all the Lessons from Jesus, that Gianna Sullivan had received and the many messages from Our Lady, left me with an enduring conviction that they were, indeed, from God!

Years later, a message from OLOE to Dr. Gianna Sullivan gave me a new insight into this issue. When Our Lady explained that her plans change due to our permissive will, I began to realize how Our Lady could make a prediction that did not come to pass. Our Lady explains:

There are two wills. There is the Divine Will and the permissive will. I have a plan for the salvation of the world for which I have prayed for a very long time on your behalf. Oftentimes, my plan changes, although it will be fulfilled according to God's Divine Will. It changes because you are gifted with a permissive will. You have the freedom to choose. God, in His Mercy and kindness, allows you to choose. He does not force you. (OLOE 8-5-2007)

There is an interesting example in the life of St. Catherine Laboure relative to how Our Lady's plans changed. Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal appeared three times to St. Catherine Laboure in the Chapel of the Motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity in Rue du Bac in Paris, France in 1830. Our Lady asked St. Catherine to have a medal struck which was initially called "Medal of the Immaculate Conception" but is now universally referred to as the "Miraculous Medal," because of the many miracles and wonders associated with the medal.

In this case, we learn that Our Lady's plans changed because of the lack of cooperation of St. Catherine's superiors. Speaking of the pilgrimages and miracles taking place at Our Lady of Victories Church in Paris, St. Catherine said: "You know, these miracles could have happened in our chapel." [Fr. Rene Laurentin as quoted in Roses in December, by Dom Forker, p 43.] Further, St. Catherine said that the pilgrimages associated with both Our Lady of Victories Church and with Lourdes, represented changes in the plan of the Blessed Virgin to compensate for what had failed to occur at the Apparition Chapel in Rue du Bac in Paris.

Another example of how the permissive will of human beings interfered with the original plans of Our Lady, happened at Fatima, Portugal. With regard to the famous Miracle of the Sun, Our Lady is said to have indicated to the visionary, Sr. Lucia, that because the Civic Administrator of Fatima had imprisoned the three little visionaries of Fatima and threatened to boil them in oil, that the predicted miracle would not be as great as Our Lady had originally planned!

It seems to me, that it is highly likely, that when Cardinal Keeler had the prayer meetings in St. Joseph's Church in Emmitsburg, MD halted, that this action influenced Our Lady's plans and that the predicted sign was not given by Our Lady in October 2000.

When the investigations of Dr. Gianna Talone-Sullivan were concluded by the archdiocese of Baltimore, Gianna was told that she could continue to hold prayer meetings, as long as she did not do so in any Church or other property of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Thereafter, the public messages of OLOE to Gianna Sullivan, which had stopped in Sept. 2000, were resumed in August 2002 and continued until Oct. 5, 2008. However, the prayer meetings were not held on any church grounds, etc. of the archdiocese. Then on Oct. 8, 2008, the new Archbishop of Baltimore, Edwin F. O'Brien, issued a Pastoral Advisory regarding Dr. Gianna Sullivan, and once again the OLOE Prayer Meetings were stopped. And once again, Dr. Gianna Sullivan and her husband, Dr. Michael Sullivan, accepted the requirements of the Pastoral Advisory.

Pope Benedict XVI and Prophecy

I just purchased online for $61, including shipping, a newly published book, Christian Prophecy, The Post-Biblical Tradition, written by Niels Christian Hvidt. The list price is $74. The book has a hard cover with approximately 400 pages, printed on acid free paper, and is published by Oxford University Press. As far as I can tell this book, written by Dr. Niels Christian Hvidt whose degree in theology is from the Pontifical Gregorian University, is a major work on Christian Prophecy. It is a must read for anyone who wishes to get a new insight into the Divine interventions occurring today as well as during the last few centuries.

One thing that impresses me is the fact that the Foreword is written by Pope Benedict XVI! He begins by telling us what a prophet is not. He “is not a soothsayer; the essential element of the prophet is not the prediction of future events. The prophet is someone who tells the truth on the strength of his contact with God—the truth for today, which also, naturally, sheds light on the future." He makes an important point in that Moses speaks of himself as a prophet when he says to his people “God will send you a prophet like me.” Pope Benedict XVI says that Moses was a friend of God in a special way. He writes: “I tend to see the root of the prophetic element in that ‘face to face’ with God, in ‘talking with Him as a friend.’ Only by virtue of this direct encounter with God may the prophet speak in moments of time.”

Pope Benedict XVI points out that Niels Christian Hvidt worked within the framework of fundamental theology in his study of Christian Prophecy and therefore “investigates the purpose and preconditions of Christian prophecy in light of developments in the past 50 years in Revelation theology.” Most importantly he says that this book “offers a new approach to the actualization of Revelation, especially in the very life of the Church, which sociological investigations show in an interesting way.” The Pope ends with these words: “Niels Christian Hvidt has trod new theological land and therewith has made important contributions to a theme that needs further thought.”

In what I have had an opportunity to read thus far, I find the book quite deep but very readable. It is a big help to me in understanding not only how prophecy developed, but also its role in the Christian church.

"NEW AND DIVINE" HOLINESS

In my first blog post of 8-18-07 on the subject of the Second Pentecost, I indicated that I was interested in learning more about the “new and divine holiness” which John Haffert mentioned in one of his books. I also wondered if it had some relationship to the Second Pentecost or Second Coming.

Since that time I have done some illuminating research on the internet. I have learned enough to intrigue me, but not enough to end my research on this topic. However, I did learn that Pope John Paul II was one of those who have used the words “new and divine” holiness. In an address the Pope gave on May 16, 1997 to the Rogationist Fathers he said: “The modern means that human sciences and contemporary technology make available and that you rightly try to use in your apostolic work will only be effective if they are sustained and guided by the original charismatic inspiration of the blessed founder, who saw in the ‘Rogate’ the means God himself had provided to bring about that ‘new and divine’ holiness with which the Holy Spirit wishes to enrich Christians at the dawn of the third millennium, in order to ‘make Christ the heart of the world.’”

I also learned that Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi, a theologian, had written a book titled The Splendor of Creation in which he addresses the “coming era of peace.” In reviewing this book, Frank Rega says that it is a “must-have groundbreaking book” that discusses the not-too-distant future, the “coming era of peace known as the Millennium.” He writes that this “figurative thousand-year period” is “definitvely foretold in the twentieth chapter of St. John’s book of Revelation.” He concludes his review by indicating that this book, The Splendor of Creation, is “absolutely essential reading for those who wish to understand the prophecy of the ‘new and divine holiness’ and the ‘new springtime’ spoken of by Pope John Paul II. It will help the reader to stand in the evil day, looking ahead to the victory on the horizon.”