Messages from Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three visionaries 100 years ago

Our Lady of Fatima

 

 

On 13 May 2017 the Church celebrated the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady to three young children in Fatima, Portugal. In those apparitions Our Lady gave the world important messages, which are as relevant today as they were in 1917. In this meditation we consider some of these messages in order to see how we can put them into practice in our own lives:

 

  • Say the Rosary, everyday if possible
  • Pray for peace
  • Do penance
  • Pray for the conversion of sinners so that they don’t go to hell
  • Foster devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart
  • Strengthen faith in God

The road to Emmaus

The Road to Emmaus is one of the more renowned stories of Jesus's appearing to his disciples after His resurrection.

Jesus walked with two disciples on the Road to Emmaus. The latter did not recognise him until later when he sat with them and broke bread.

 

On the first Easter Sunday, two disciples left Jerusalem discouraged because the one they hoped would redeem Israel had died. On their way to Emmaus, Jesus walked beside them and explained the Scriptures to them. These two in some way represent all of us. We too have our times of trial, of worry, of discouragement, and Jesus seeks us out, even though we do not recognise him. In this meditation we consider how:

 

  • We all have our crosses, our difficulties in life, which can make us discouraged or worried
  • Jesus does not leave us alone but seeks us out and walks beside us
  • We find Jesus in our prayer and in others who are there to help us
  • We too can be there for others who are going through difficult times

Holy Week close to Christ

Holy week starts with Palm Sunday.

    Jesus enters Jerusalem and is well received, a feast we celebrate on Palm Sunday–the start of Holy Week.

 

In Holy Week we follow Christ from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through his institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood on Holy Thursday, to his passion and death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. If we follow him closely throughout our life we will not abandon him as did the apostles and we will rise to eternal life with him when we die. In this meditation we consider how we should:

  • acknowledge our weakness and our possibility of denying Our Lord as did Peter
  • attend Mass often and receive Holy Communion well in order to strengthen our love for Jesus
  • stay awake in our prayer in order to draw ever closer to Christ
  • follow Christ closely, not at a distance, avoiding lukewarmness
  • avoid attachment to creature comforts and things in order to have our heart free to love God
  • take up our cross daily and follow our Lord in his passion
  • follow Christ closely throughout our life in order to rise with him to eternal life

 

Love one another

Christ washing the feet of his disciples

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, washing the feet of his disciples, the night before he suffered and died on the cross.

 

Before beginning his Passion, Christ washed the feet of his disciples and gave us the new commandment to love one another as he has loved us. In this meditation, using texts from Scripture and St Josemaria we consider how:

  • Christ poured himself out in love for others, loving them to the end by his death on the Cross
  • God has loved us first and so the more we love him the easier it will be to love others
  • Love begins in the family, with those closest to us
  • We should learn to spend time, to listen, to be kind, to forgive
  • Mother Teresa of Calcutta teaches us how to love
  • We should love even our enemies
  • We can change our world for the better by building a civilization of love

The Annunciation

The Annunciation, shwoing St Gabriel announcing to Mary the good news.

The annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel telling out Holy Mother the good news of her being chosen to be the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

 

On the feast of the Annunciation we celebrate Mary’s yes to God, which brought the Son of God into the world and our redemption near at hand. It was a momentous moment in the history of salvation and it all depended on the response of a young girl. In this meditation we consider:

  • Why we needed to be redeemed and why God chose this way to bring it about
  • The call of Mary and Joseph from all eternity to fulfil their roles
  • The eminent virtues of Mary and Joseph
  • The significance of the angel’s message to Mary
  • A prayer to Mary by St Bernard calling upon her to say yes
  • Mary’s response and our own promptness and saying yes to God

Jesus and the Eucharist

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, depicted with the Holy Eucharist, a sacrament He founded during His Last Supper.

In the words of St Josemaria Escriva, the Eucharist should be the “centre and root” of the spiritual life. After all, the Eucharist is Jesus himself, who gives himself to us as the nourishment of our soul and who waits for us in the “prison of love”, the tabernacle. In this meditation we pray about how we can grow in love for Jesus in the Eucharist, using words that Catalina Rivas puts on his lips in her book The Passion, published by the Apostolate of the New Evangelization. We consider:

  • Why Jesus washed the feet of the apostles before instituting the Eucharist
  • The many fruits that come from receiving Jesus well in Holy Communion
  • The sorrow of Jesus when people receive him unworthily
  • The story of a Chinese girl who was killed  for her love of the Eucharist
  • How we can grow in love for Jesus by keeping him company in the tabernacle

Unity in the Church

St Peter's Basilica

St Peter’s Basilica

In the Last Supper Christ prayed that all might be one. He wants all in his Church to be united with the hierarchy and with one another. Sometimes this unity can be lacking. In this meditation  we make use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and writings of the Fathers of the Church, to pray about:

  • The three bonds that unite all in the Church: our common faith, worship and government
  • How we can live each of these bonds better
  • How important it is to foster unity in the Church

Rechristianising society

City street image

Christian influence in today’s society is challenged in many ways.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ sent twelve men out to change the world. They succeeded. Within some 350 years, under the Emperor Theodosius the Roman Empire, that had persecuted the Church for 250 years, declared Christianity its official religion, giving rise to the Holy Roman Empire. Now the Christian influence in society is waning and is under attack. All the baptised are called to bring Christ and his teaching back into society.

In this meditation we consider how:

  • Christ sent the apostles out to teach all nations and they were very successful
  • The Christian influence on society is now challenged in many ways
  • The Second Vatican Council called all the baptised to help rechristianise society
  • We should not be daunted by the immensity of the task
  • St John Paul II called upon the youth to improve their world
  • We begin by growing in holiness ourselves
  • There are many things each of us can do to make a difference
  • Our Lady, Help of Christians, is our advocate in this task

As a new year begins

new-calendar-year

The beginning of a new year is a good time to take stock and make plans and reslutions for the rest of the year.

 

As a new year begins it is good to stop and reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the one just beginning. In this meditation, following a custom of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, we:

  • Give thanks for the blessings of the past year, including the crosses God has sent us
  • Ask pardon for our many failings
  • Ask God to help us carry out our new year’s resolutions to grow in holiness

Mary, teacher of faith

nativity-scene showing Jesus with Mary and Joseph

Mary and Joseph with the newly born infant, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith is one of the most important virtues and is always a gift from God. In this meditation we consider that:

  • Our Lady throughout her life teaches us how to live this virtue
  • We need faith both to believe in the truths revealed by God and also to believe that nothing is impossible with God
  • Faith helps us to know that God is with us in the trials of life
  • Faith gives meaning to life