"Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places like the first apostles who preached Christ and the good news of salvation in the squares of cities, towns and villages.This is not time to be ashamed of the Gospel.It is the time to be proud of the Gospel. It is time to preach it from the rooftops" (Pope John Paul, II; August 15, 1993)
“Do not be afraid!” (The Angel of Peace, Fatima, as he greeted the children, 1916)
For some time now, the Sisters and I have been concerned about the incessant attacks on the sanctity of marriage and the family. These attacks are real, not imaginary, and we cannot ignore them. The attacks are becoming more and more intrusive, and are being delivered in various and subtle ways through entertainment, magazines, television, music, books, politicians … too many and too numerous to list. We must become ever more acutely aware of the ways being used to undermine marriage and the family structure because these methods are indeed affecting our children, our families and society.
Are we fearful to proclaim our love for Jesus in the public aspect of our lives? To embrace the foot of the Cross? To preach from the rooftops, as exhorted by Pope John Paul II? The message of Fatima, 100 years later, is just as relevant as it was at the time of the apparitions. Our Lady’s message is to pray for the conversion of sinners, make reparation for the sacrileges by which He is already so much offended, and as Lucia exhorts us, to defend and protect the family.
Our Lady loves us, she dotes on us, as every mother does. But a loving mother must also correct and teach her children. Our Lady of Fatima taught us the need for penance, reparation, praying the rosary for the conversion of sinners and fulfilling Jesus’ requests for the First Saturdays. Our Heavenly Mother has asked this of each of us in our everyday lives. Perhaps to soften our hearts, Our Lady has chosen children to remind the world of God’s love for His Family and to call the world to conversion.
The Angel of Peace, in his last apparition at Fatima, came holding a chalice in his hands with a host above it. Without a word, the Angel knelt with his forehead touching the ground, leaving the host and the chalice suspended in the air. The Angel prayed, three times, “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly, I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.” Imitating the Angel, with their foreheads pressed to the ground, the children joined the Angel in reciting the prayer three times. The Angel stood up and gave Lucia the Eucharistic Host. Then he gave the Chalice with the Most Precious Blood to Jacinta and Francisco, as he said, “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.” Once again, he prostrated on the ground before the raised chalice and Host, and repeated again the prayer three times, and then he disappeared.
Jesus gave us the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to perpetuate Calvary, enabling us to participate in His work of redemption. Father Frederick Miller writes in his book, The Message of Our Lady of Fatima, “The Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, following Mary as model and guide, unites her self-sacrifice to Christ’s and becomes His co-worker in the world.” Standing beside Our Lady, we are collaborators in her Son’s redemption of the world. In our participation at Holy Mass, Our Lady draws us to be with her at the foot of the cross and there we join our prayers and sacrifices with her Son’s sacrifice, for the salvation of the world.
The Angel of Peace came approximately one year before Our Lady presented herself to the children. The children, forever changed, prayed the prayers taught to them by the Angel and prayed the Most Holy Rosary daily to make reparation. They looked for ways to make sacrifices to console God.
Our own lives should be such. Do we pray and work for the sacredness of marriage and the family? Are we afraid of the truth and teachings of the Catholic Church? Do we pray the rosary every day as Our Lady has requested? Do we look to the Blesseds and the Saints for inspiration? The three children of Fatima were brave little souls and suffered much from their families, the people around them, and the ruling authorities of their time, but they willingly and lovingly laid down their lives for God and the truth of the Catholic Church.
This Lent, during the Centennial year of Fatima, let us heed Our Lady of Fatima’s exhortation to do penance and make reparation. We need to place ourselves under Our Lady’s mantle to receive her strength and grace as we pray for marriage and the family. My Lenten reflection for you this year is to ponder in your own hearts what God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is telling you in these three simple words, “Be not afraid”.
May your Lenten journey be filled with penance, reparation and consoling Jesus at the foot of the cross with our Blessed Mother. May you be filled with joy as you give public praise to the Triune God. May you “be not afraid” as you defend marriage and the family. May your response to our Blessed Mother’s request be extraordinary! May Mary’s Immaculate Heart triumph!
Shout it from the rooftops!