From Mr Bernard Ellis SIR -If Donal Foley (Letter, August 22) is suggesting that my reason for believing that Medjugorje comes from God is financially motivated then may I assure him it is not. In the same way I do not believe that Mr Foley wrote a book on Medjugorje and distributes religious books just to make money.
To support his judgment that Medjugorje comes from the devil he now not only attacks the happenings there, the visionaries and the Franciscans, but he now accuses Fr Rene Lainentin of deception and me of dubious motives.
There is no point in replying point by point to Mr Foley's letter as he is trying to apply intellectual and worldly logic to a supernatural happening. I am a Jewish man who became a Catholic because I accepted a gift from God calling me to accept Him as my Saviour. In doing this there are things I do not fully understand, such as the mystery of the Trinity and the Mass being both a celebration and a sacrifice. These mysteries I accept in my heart and not by intellectual reasoning. I have the right to choose even though many of my Jewish relatives and friends say what I believe is not true, just as Mr Foley says Medjugorje is not true. I believe that the Gospel is the inspired work of God but my'Jewish relatives tell me it is full of contradictions just as Mr Foley finds reasons not to believe in Medjugorje.
If Medjugorje comes from God nothing will destroy it, but if conceived by man it will disappear. When the time is right it will be up to the Church to decide the truth about Medjugorje and not Mr Foley. He has the right to his opinion but not to appoint himself as an authority and to condemn what others believe and ignore the good fruits and the opinions of those who are more qualified and better informed than him.
I have found peace by becoming a Catholic but if I had listened to my Jewish relatives I would not have become one. Medjugorje enriches my faith but if I listened to Mr Foley or any of the other Medjugorje dissenters I would not be receiving the many graces that God gives us through Our Blessed Mothers appearances there. Why attack what is the source of so much good? I have nothing further to add and I see no reason to continue this current debate.
Yours faithfully, BERNARD FI J IS Bletchingley, Surrey