Only Christ is Our Absolute Teacher

Jesus, our absolute teacher, tells us in the Fatima Message, "And you, have you revealed to the world what the Heavenly Mother asked you?"

by Father Nicholas Gruner, S.T.L., S.T.D (Cand.)

              Our Lord admonishes us solemnly, "Neither be you called masters; for one is your master, Christ." (Matt. 23:10) What does this mean? Saint Thomas Aquinas, the greatest theologian of the Church, dealt with this question in his book, De Veritate ("Concerning the Truth").

       St. Thomas explains that we may call man a teacher or master in a limited sense. There are even Scriptural citations that support this. But we are forbidden to treat any mere creature as our master or teacher in the absolute sense. We are forbidden to give a mere man the position of pre-eminence of teaching, which belongs to God alone. To do so, says Saint Thomas, "would be as if we put our hope in the wisdom of men and did not, rather, consult Divine Truth about those things which we hear from man."

       Likewise, Saint Peter said, "We must obey God rather than man". And if man, even if he is our "teacher" tries to teach us something that contradicts God’s truth or God’s law, then we must reject the teaching and/or command of mere man and believe and obey God. It is the Divine truths that God has revealed, and that have been taught by the unbroken, perennial Magi-sterium of the Church, that must be the means by which we judge all things.

       Thus, above all, in matters concerning religion and in things concerning the service of God, we must always accept first and foremost what Christ has taught through His Church, speaking infallibly. If any man — be it a priest, bishop, Cardinal, or even Pope (when not speaking infallibly) — teaches something different from the revealed truth of God, and different from the consistent teaching of the Church throughout the centuries, we must always follow Christ and the infallible teachings and reject any teaching that contradicts them, even if the false teachings come from an "appointed teacher".

       This has a direct implication for those Church leaders today who try to undermine the Message of Fatima. Sacred Scripture tells us "Do not extinguish the Spirit, do not despise prophecy, but test all things and hold fast to that which is good," (1 Thes. 5: 19-21). The Message of Fatima passes this Scriptural "test" and therefore must not be despised or downplayed. It has been tested and proven by both the Miracle of the Sun as well as prophecy that has already come to pass. These are indisputable proofs that the Fatima Message is truly from God. Hence, it must be reverenced and obeyed by all men, especially by Church leaders.

       Thus, we must reject the teaching of Cardinal Ratzinger, Archbishop Bertone, Cardinal Sodano and Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos when they tell us that the prophecies of Fatima can safely be ignored. Cardinal Ratzinger, for example, attempted to reduce the Fatima Message to nonsense when, in his June 26, 2000 commentary, he stated that the triumph of the Immaculate Heart, which Our Lady of Fatima said will take place in the future, actually took place 2000 years ago. He also falsely equated devotion to the unique Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the pious devotion of anyone who simply seeks to be pure of heart.

       We must also reject Archbishop Bertone’s opinion when he speaks as if the triumph of the Immaculate Heart is now! He said "the decision of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, to make public the Third part of the ‘secret’ of Fatima brings to an end a period of history marked by tragic human lust for power and evil." This statement that "a period of history marked by human lust for power and evil" has "ended" is patently false.

       In brief, it is our solemn obligation before God and man to reject the falsified version of Fatima that is being circulated by men in high positions in the Vatican as if it were the genuine message. The proof that these men are falsifying the Fatima Message will be evident to most men of good will. The proof is set forth in the new book The Devil’s Final Battle, available from The Fatima Crusader. (See ad in "The Apocalyptic Answer For Our Times")

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