American Unitarian Conference Forum

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298211,00.html

6 Catholic Nuns in Arkansas Excommunicated for Heresy
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

"At a news conference, Hebert said the nuns "became entranced and deluded with a doctrine that is heretical." He said church officials removed the Eucharist — which Catholics revere as the body of Christ — from the monastery on Tuesday night.

Hebert said the sect's members believe that its 86-year-old founder, Marie Paule Giguere, is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary and that God speaks directly through her.

Excommunication bars the nuns from participating in the church liturgy and receiving communion or other sacraments."
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This is so foreign for us.....medieval etc. It is odd how Mary is the most claimed vision / active presence....not Jesus, not "holy ghost", burning bush - Father etc.

In a very odd way I have to admire the Catholics (wifey was raised Catholic and her parents are still most devoutly Catholic) because if nothing else, they stand for something. Of course I disagree with much of what they stand for, but at least it's there for all to see. Take it or leave it.

Are any other denominations willing to stand up for themselves strongly enough to actually excommunicate someone? Not many, I would think.

I agree....I just find the whole mystical vision issue to be so foreign...it would be great to have such an experience...if it was valid...one has to be open to the possibility of such things if the divine is thought to be active at some level. I just doubt images of Christ on burnt toast, Mary on an underpass or mother and child on a pizza. Visions are controversial....so much psychology in the mix and they are individual experiences... unless experienced directly they are unverifiable.

What gets me is the fascination on supernatural events which make little sense and accomplish nothing substantive. No offense to anyone who finds meaning in it, but Mary's apparition in Fatima did not save anyone from the Holocaust, the Second World War, or the murderous regimes Lenin & Stalin. Hocus pocus does not impress me; appear and repel the bad guys in battle or heal a hospital full of sick children, and I'd be impressed.

See this article

http://www.ucsummit.org/Sermons/RCN/20040509.shtml

Unitarian Universalism and Mysticism
Rosemarie Newberry
The Unitarian Church in Summit
May 9, 2004

"another source of renewal for the human spirit, because they, like mystics, break open form and tradition and language and help us return to the freshness of original experience."

"So maybe we are all poets, all mystics, singing our song. "

These are part of the last few lines of the above referenced sermon.

Inspirations and/or mystical experiences come in a form the individuals are willing to receive. If we loose the wonder of what life can bring and loose hope in the future, then maybe a mystical experience brings back that hope.

Much of life is still a mystery to us. I for one will not discount the value of mystical experiences.

With love,

Rev Dorris