The Fatima Crusader’s Fr. Nicholas Gruner wrote:
Never since the foundation of the world has a miracle been predicted three months ahead of time. The very miracle that the Pharisees asked of Our Lord to give them as a sign in the heavens, Our Lord refused to give it to them. He said you will only see the sign of Jonah.
But the very sign the Pharisees asked for is the sign that Our Lady gave us in our generation. It has never before been done. It is because we are in extraordinary danger and that the times are extraordinary, that we must realize the great mercy that God has given us in the Message of Fatima.
It is puzzling that Fr. Nicholas Gruner states that never since the foundation of the world has a miracle been predicted three months ahead of time. It is hard to understand what he means because it would seem unlikely that he would be emphasizing “three months” as a unique amount of time. It seems even more unlikely that he has not considered the various prophecies contained within the whole of the Bible, such as the prophecy of the virgin birth in Isaiah 7:14,
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
This was fulfilled about 700 years after its writing.
Jesus prophesied the destruction Jerusalem and its Temple in Luke 19:41-44,
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
This was fulfilled in 70 AD about 40 years after Christ’s death.
Fr. Nicholas Gruner writes that the very miracle that the Pharisees asked our Lord to give them as a sign in the heavens Mary has given in our generation and it has never been done before. It is because we are in extraordinary danger and that the times are extraordinary.
In Matthew 16:4 Jesus said,
A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
And in Luke 11:29-32 we find out:
As the crowds increased, Jesus said, ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
Fr. Nicholas Gruner affirms that we are in extraordinary danger and extraordinary times. Yet, Jesus stated, “A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it…” And so, can the “miracle” be accepted as valid? Consider that Jesus said that a wicked and adulterous generation such as ours is not deserving of such a sign.
“…except the sign of Jonah…” is a reference to Jonah’s mission to the Ninevites (see the Old Testament book of Jonah) and Jesus is the sign to His and all generations. The Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now Jesus, one greater than Jonah is here. Jonah’s message to the Ninevites was very simple, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed” (Jonah 3:4). Therefore, the Ninevites did repent, in mourning they put on sackcloth and ashes and so God forgave them in keeping with His promise,
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned (Jeremiah 18:7-8).
Jesus also said,
A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:39-40).
This was a prophecy of Christ’s death and resurrection after three days. In other words the sign for all generations is this, repent for Jesus has atoned for our sin and has conquered death. To ask for yet another sign is truly wicked. We see this sentiment repeated in the story of the rich man and Lazarus:
“I beg you, father [Abraham], send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.” “No, father Abraham,” he said, “but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:27-31).
The same one and only sign is still being offered, the sign of the Risen Lord. If we will not believe in the assurance of salvation that the Scripture offers us and especially if we will not believe in the Risen Christ then one will not believe if an apparition speaks to some children and works “miracles.” To point to an apparition as a sign of God’s truth and provision is to insult the gospel to insult the very teachings of Jesus Christ.