Apparitions today at Knock Mayo

 
About 15 people said they saw the Blessed Virgin Mary appear in a great light flanked by St Joseph and supposedly St John at the gable wall of the Roman Catholic Church in Knock on the 21st August 1879. A lamb standing on an altar was also reported. A cross was standing behind the altar.
 
Knock hit the headlines in October 2009. Clairvoyant Joe Coleman predicted that Mary would appear to him and others there. Thousands gathered into Knock to witness the visions. Thousands ignored an invitation to attend Mass in the basilica because they wished to stay outside looking at the sun in the hope of a sign instead. The fact that those people showed more enthusiasm for "visions" predicted by somebody engaging in the sin of clairvoyance than for the allegedly true visions at Knock in 1879 and for the Mass raises the question of, "How Catholic are those people?" A genuine Catholic would not believe that Mary would give messages to a practicing clairvoyant. The Knock "Catholics" preferred signs to Masses and believing the Church that clairvoyance is wrong. It is certainly a testament to the fact that most people who are into religion are only after spiritual thrills and pleasures. And many did report seeing things in the sun at Knock.
 
If miracles happen too often and if they are absurd like people seeing the sun turn blue etc such as at Knock they cease to be impressive. They also cause trouble. They appeal to people who need to believe they saw something so that they can feel special and chosen. The fact that the bishop who appeared at Knock in 1879 carried a gospel book shows that the apparition was evil or a fraud. How? Because it indicates approval for the gospels which report that Jesus did many miracles - many of them totally unnecessary just to get a following. Jesus gave a really bad example.
 
If I go to Knock and see something strange such as the sun turning blue and apparently spinning, that is obviously a false sign and wonder like the ones Jesus talked about. If it is a real sign, then there is no way to tell false signs apart from real ones. If seeing the sun change is not a false wonder then what is? To suggest somebody who already believes needs such a useless sign is an insult to God. Is God more interested in showing off with his miracle power instead of helping some sick person? It encourages those who run to fraudulent apparition sites and who imagine they see the sun change.
 
A new false sign happening at an established apparition site may indicate that the original apparition is a hoax or from Satan. If the sign is an illusion, Satan the deceiver has had something to do with it at least indirectly. Satan would not do any sign, even a bad one, that seems to attract attention to a real apparition from God. Would he do a false sign to make it seem that the apparition must have been from him even though it was not? That would not be a very good way of discrediting an apparition. A miracle or sign you see yourself is more important than a miracle or sign that has been reported by others. A miracle is so out of the ordinary that you should only believe in it if there is no doubt that it is real. If you experience a miracle that is absurd and which purports to support a claim made by someone else that they had an apparition, then you will certainly disbelieve in the apparition if you have any sense. The sign is that some deceiving miraculous power is trying to fabricate evidence for the apparition and draw attention to it.