Many have heard of the three secrets of Fatima which Our Lady imparted to the shepherd children, and those secrets have been interpreted in a variety of ways over the last century. Whatever the meaning of these three Fatima secrets, the central meaning of the message of Fatima is no different from what the Church has always taught: as Pope Benedict the XVI put it, the message of Fatima is “the exhortation to prayer as the path of “salvation for souls” and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion.”
Prayer, penance, and conversion. During the Easter season we consider how each of us are called to engage in the mission of the Church, and no doubt the message of Fatima gives us some insight into what that personal engagement looks like. Prayer, penance, and conversion. We are to pray for the salvation of souls, particularly the rosary. We are to do penance for the salvation of souls—as we do during the season of Lent, all year round there needs to be some penance done by each of us. And conversion—each of us are to seek personal conversion of sin—for a holy soul is a magnetic soul, a soul which draws others to Christ.
Many have felt Fatima to be a sort of wake-up call from our Mother Mary, to recommit to the Gospel in order to avoid unnecessary evil and suffering. Sadly, we’ve seen Our Lady’s message ignored—atheism, hedonism, violence, ignorance of Christ have spread not just in Russia but in our corner of the world, in our neighborhood.
And yet, we take solace in what is perhaps the most well-known utterance of Fatima, in which Our Lady promised that no matter what, in the end, her “Immaculate Heart will triumph”. Pope Benedict interpreted this utterance as follows: “The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Savior into the world—because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word.”
With the help of Our Lady may we be faithful, as we prayed in the opening prayer, to persevere in penance and prayer for the salvation of the world, that we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ.” For the glory of God and salvation of souls.
- - -
Trusting in the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and inspired by her call to prayer, penance, and conversion, we bring our prayers before the Lord:
For the holy Church of God, that she may always heed Our Lady’s message of Fatima by proclaiming and living out the call to prayer, penance, and conversion with renewed fervor,
For peace in our world, that through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, hatred may give way to reconciliation, violence to justice, and war to enduring peace,
For the conversion of sinners and the renewal of faith in our world, especially in places darkened by atheism, hedonism, and indifference to Christ,
For those who suffer, especially the poor, the persecuted, and the forgotten, that they may know the comfort of Mary’s maternal heart and the strength of her Son’s redeeming love,
For the dead, that they may be received into the glory of heaven where Mary reigns as Queen
O God, who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to bring your Son into the world, hear our prayers and strengthen us in faith, hope, and charity, that we may one day share in the triumph of her Immaculate Heart. Through Christ our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment