What Did Mary Know?
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I've been participating in a Sunday morning class and discussion group on Saint Faustina, the Polish nun born as Helena Kowalska, which raises some intriguing points. (First, you can learn more about this video series on the Augustine Institute's website here.) We came into the Catholic Church from the Protestant tradition, and I don’t accept new things easily. However, one of the reasons we ultimately joined the Catholic Church was the ministry of John Paul the Great. In short, when I understood that this man supported this message and made it his life’s mission no less, it seemed apparent that there must be great truth in what Saint Faustina brought to the Church.
I have always been interested in eternal time, and a tiny facet of our Sunday discussion hit upon this concept. I tried to go back to the video we viewed to watch the section of interest again, but this is something my parish purchased. I then thought, ‘I will view a video of the August 17, 2002, dedication of the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow-Langiewniki, Poland,’ but that was easier said than done. Several sites had John Paul the Great’s Homily, but no one had the event video. After an hour of searching online, I changed my search terms to Polish via an online translator. This led me to the link below; I found only one.
After all this, I’m not sure my humble observation is worth sharing. So, the video from the Augustine Institute that I mentioned in the first paragraph explained that the dedication itself fulfilled the prophecies of Saint Faustina. This raises an interesting question. Assuming that the prophecies were indeed fulfilled, were they fulfilled to a degree through John Paul the Great’s own knowledge and readings of the saint’s predictions before that day or by something more external? In other words, was this a self-fulfilling prophecy? (Another similar example of this is found in the Third Secret, which concerns killing or grave injury to a pope. Were the prayers of the faithful for John Paul the Great following the assassination attempt enough to alter one unfixed possible outcome of the world's timeline?)
However, I then considered one difference between fulfilled prophecy, as seen in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and, for instance, those revealed in Greek tragedies. In Sophocles’ Oedipus, for example, while the man at the center of the Oracle of Delphi indeed did those terrible things, his involvement or knowledge of his demise was shut off from him; he was not a party to the necessary insights. The character’s movements amount to a kind of meaningless flailing towards his own demise. One finds a similar sort of lack of cooperation in the classic tragedies. On the other hand, consider the passage below.
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. * 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
PRESS, IGNATIUS. Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Burgundy - Second Catholic Edition (p. 2434). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.
There is an interesting sense in which a person (such as John Paul the Great) is invited to participate in God’s plan of free will. In contrast, Greek literature may betray a different, more predestined sense. Of course, looking beyond the tragedy genre, we see examples in Greek literature where the protagonists use the information from the oracle for their own advantage, such as when Odysseus visits Teiresias. I don’t believe this sort of cooperation lessens the significance of an associated prophecy being fulfilled. In fact, I think the voluntary cooperation may even further solidify it.
The Augustinian Institute video also touches on coincidences, saying there is no such thing in God's plan. While this may be a slight overstatement, it's largely accurate. It also holds true for the author. Nothing more quickly sends a work of fiction to the trash than the author relying on haphazard coincidences to move the plot forward. Of course, this only makes sense since God is the Author with a capital A. This introduction to Saint Faustina, however, has a way of infusing one's imagination with the mysteries all around us.
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Karl Erickson has called Monmouth, Oregon home since 2016. He lives there with his wife and one adult child who is a university senior as of 2023. (The Newfoundland named Chester mentioned here in the past is sadly no longer with them.) While he's been state employee for nearly three decades, Karl identifies himself primarily in the role of an author and essayist. He's the writer of two lighthearted children’s books: Toupee Mice and Tristan’s Travels. Both are published by Rafka Press. His wife, Kimberly Erickson is their wonderful illustrator. He is also the writer of a new mystery, The Blood Cries Out. Besides writing fiction, his articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications—from America, The National Catholic Weekly and Seattle Pacific University’s Response to a guest opinion writer for both the Portland Tribune and the Statesman Journal. Karl also enjoys nature and travel photography. In June 2018, Karl was part of the last graduating class from Marylhurst University, where he graduated with honors with a BA in English Literature and New Media.
For more information on Karl, go to http://www.karlerickson.com/publications.html
See his newest novel, The Blood Cries Out
