On Christ's Revelation to the Church

 "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son." Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say... because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.

After reading this passage, it would seem that we have no need to pray to Christ for direction or help.  Of course, the Catechism is careful to explain, in later articles, that this is not the case.  The article above is talking more about the fact that all three Persons of God have been revealed, and there's nothing more after that.  We won't see a fourth person in God, and God won't give us any 'new' ideas on His ways and the truth of life.

For example, there won't be any developments in the doctrine on birth control or on same sex marriages.  The Church has spoken on such matters, not because of revelations that have come since Jesus' time, but because of Jesus' revelations.  We know it's wrong.  We don't need any more clarification.  If someone is struggling with a temptation, he doesn't need to look for a loophole in the laws, or pray for some vision that will tell him the Church was wrong all these years.

Jesus tells us a parable about a man who went to hell, and asked Abraham to tell his brothers of those terrible torments.  What was Abraham's response?  "They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them... If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead."

We can say pretty much the same thing to ourselves, when we find ourselves praying for some kind of special 'permission' to do what is contrary to Church Tradition.

BUT--that doesn't mean God does not communicate to us specifically.  Not everything is revealed to us in our personal relationships with God.  And not every little decision we make will have a predefined algorithm to refer to.  I've looked in the catechism, the Bible, and through old documents to help guide me when I have to decide if my children should be allowed to watch this or that TV show.  The Church has little to say on Hanna Montana, my choice for careers, or on whether or not my wife and I should use NFP.

In those sort of cases, we do have to pray for direction...if not private revelations.  No, the answer generally won't come in the form of visions or mysticism.  But if we leave our ears open, we will eventually hear some sort of advice.  And if we don't, we can always rest assured that we're doing God's will when we stick to the laws and formulas He already gave us in the church.

Now for those visions and mystical experiences we celebrate.  Lordes, Fatima, and countless saints who have produced signs and wonders to show that God has spoken to them.  This is also discussed later in the Catechism.

The thing to remember here is that these revelations are NOT guidelines for writing church doctrine.  Rather, they are helpful reminders that God is still with us, and will continue to guard the Church against the enemy throughout the future. 

Speaking of such visionaries, there is a new book about one of the most famous ones, Francis of Assisi.  You can get a copy of the book here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/5682882