May 13 is the Memorial Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, who is Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It is to commemorate that Mary, as Our Lady of Fatima, began appearing to three children, Lucia Santos, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, in Fatima, Portugal on May 13, 1917, for six times, until October 13 of that year. So why are her apparitions in Fatima so important?
Namely, it is because of her messages call us not to
offend her Son but to please him by repenting and praying the Rosary daily for
peace. Jesus began preaching for penance to prepare for the coming of his
Kingdom (Matthew 4:17) and it is his expressed desire that we have his peace
(John 14:27). Her messages warn us against our tendency to forget our need of
penance and not to take the Rosary seriously, contributing to perpetual
sinfulness and preventing peace from prevailing in the world.
During her last apparition on October 17, 1917, Our
Lady of Fatima specifically told Lucia Santos that we need to amend our lives
and ask for forgiveness as we have offended her Son, Our Lord, so much – so that
he may no longer be offended.
Echoing this message of Our Lady of Fatima, St. John
Paul II sees Mary, Our Lady of Fatima as her Son’s messenger:
At
Fatima She echoed a specific word pronounced by her Son at the outset of his
public mission: "The time is fulfilled...; repent and believe in the
Gospel" (Mk 1:15). The insistent invitation of Mary Most Holy to penance
is nothing but the manifestation of her maternal concern for the fate of the
human family, in need of conversion and forgiveness. For the Fifth World Day of the Sick,
February 11, 1997
With this in mind, let us reflect on the Scripture
Readings of the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
In the terse Gospel Reading of the feast of Our Lady
of Fatima (Luke 11:27-28), we see a woman giving a benediction to the mother of
Jesus, saying, “Blessed is the womb that
carried you and the breasts at which you nursed" (v. 27). We also see
Jesus responding to this, saying, “Rather,
blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it"(v. 28).
The woman in the Gospel narrative honors Mary, the
mother of Jesus, for bringing a man, who can exorcise like no other and dispute
a false accusation against him with sound reasoning (Luke 11:14-27). In reply,
Jesus simply emphasizes the importance of the word of God for us to hear and
observe (Luke 11:28). It is like telling, “If you honor my mother, then, know
her desire, and it is to listen to me and do what I tell (i.e. John 2:5), and
my words are the words of God (i.e. John 12:49)”.
In reading this Gospel narrative to honor Mary, the
mother of Jesus, as Our Lady of Fatima, commemorating her apparitions in
Fatima, from May 13 to October 13, 1917, we are reminded how important it is to
be serious about listening to and observing the word of God spoken by her son.
During that period of time, Mary sent very important
messages to us, warning us against our tendency to drift away from her Son and
his words, our habit of not observing the word of God even we hear it, letting
it pass from one ear to the other. In such a condition, what is the point in
honoring Mary, saying, “Hail Mary”, if we do not honor her Son and listen to
and observe his words? As his mother, Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, wants us to
repent and pray the Rosary daily and find peace in her Son’s Sacred Heart
through her Immaculate Heart.
If we truly say, Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed", we listen to her, her messages in Fatima, which direct us to listen to her Son and his words, bringing us into her Son’s Sacred Heart through her Immaculate Heart. So, listening to and observing the word of God spoken by Jesus is our way to honor Mary, in whose womb the Word was incarnated by the Holy Spirit, as Our Lady of Fatima, whose messages are basically a warning against forfeiting the salvation because of our failure to listen to and observe her Son’s words.
Our Lady of Fatima calls us for penance and peace by
heeding to her Son’s words and observing the Word of God in his teaching
because she wants us to enjoy the salvation, for which her Son suffered and
died and rose from the dead. She is not pleased with our superficial “Hail
Mary” devotion. Our Marian devotion only makes sense with our commitment to her
Son’s words. And this is for us to the bridegroom of her Son, as reflected in
the First Reading (Isaiah 61:9-11) and Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 45:11-12,
14-15, 16-17). And this is reflected in John’s eschatological image:
I
also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation
21:2).
As the salvation prevails because of our
faithfulness to the Son and the Word through his teaching, finding peace in his
Sacred Heart through Mary’s Immaculate Heart, heeding to Our Lady of Fatima,
we, as the bride of her Son, are together with him by the river of life:
“I,
Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root
and offspring of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say,
“Come.” Let the hearer say, “Come.” Let the one who thirsts come forward, and
the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water
(Revelation 22:16-17).
As the mother of the bridegroom, Our Lady of Fatima
has sent us the message of penance and peace so that we may be with him,
enjoying the full benefits of the salvation, by the river of life. So, St. John
Paul II said:
Mary
became the spokeswoman for other words of Christ at Fatima. Christ's invitation
especially resounded in the Cave of Iria: "Come to me, all you that labor
and are overburdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). Are the
throngs of pilgrims who hasten to that blessed land from all over the world not
perhaps eloquent testimony of the need for relief and comfort which numberless
persons experience in their lives? Fifth
World Day of the Sick, February 11, 1997
Our Lady of Fatima made six apparitions from May 13 to October 13, 1917, to ensure that we may not forfeit the full benefits of the salvation, for which her Son suffered, died, and resurrected. For this, she reminded us of his teaching on our need for penance and forgiveness - so that we may enjoy the prevailing salvation, which is represented with the water of life (John 7:37-39; Revelation 21:6) together with him as his bride.
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