From the Mass for the Visit of the Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima
26 June 2017
Msgr. Thomas Gervasio
Today, we might well paraphrase the words of St. Elizabeth “But who are we, that the Mother of our Lord, should come to us?” What a great privilege it is for us to be part of this unique celebration during the centennial observance of the apparitions of our Blessed Mother at Fatima. In the sacred image carried solemnly into this church, we welcome Our Lady into our hearts so that she might speak to us. We welcome Our Lady so that we might come to hear again and appreciate her message at Fatima which is as timely and urgent today as it was a century ago.
This evening I would like to use as the basis of my homily, the message of Our Holy Father at Fatima last month.
On the evening of May 13, 1917, St. Jacinta told her mother, “Today I saw Our Lady.” She, along with her brother Francisco and cousin Lucia, had seen the Mother of heaven. Many others hoped to share in that heavenly vision in the five apparitions that followed but they would not.
Our Lady did not come to Fatima so that we could see her. We will have all eternity to see our Lady provided we get to heaven. Mary came to Fatima so that we could hear and listen to her message. It is a message centered on the primacy of prayer and sacrifice. It is a message that points us to the Holy Rosary and to the Scapular. It is a message that draws us into her Immaculate Heart.
Our Lady foretold, and warned us about, a way of life that is godless and profanes God. Such a life – frequently risks leading to hell. Hell is indeed a reality. But Mary spoke a comforting and hope-filled message. She reminds us that God’s light dwells within us and protects us. Lucia in fact described her as “a Lady made of light.”
In her account, the three chosen children found themselves surrounded by God’s light as it radiated from Our Lady. She enveloped them in the mantle of Light that God had given her.
Today let us ask Mary to lead us, to show us, the light of Jesus. We can never let this light dim. It must shine brightly in us so that we might share it with others.
It is a light that leads us to pray for our own conversion and the conversion of others. It is a light that leads us to remain close to Jesus ever present in the tabernacle.
Today let us place ourselves under the mantle of Our Lady. As Pope Francis said, “Under her mantle they are not lost; from her embrace will come the hope and the peace that they require, and that I implore for all my brothers and sisters in baptism and in our human family, especially the sick and the disabled, prisoners and the unemployed, the poor and the abandoned.
With Mary’s protection, may we be for our world sentinels of the dawn, contemplating the true face of Jesus the Saviour…Thus may we rediscover the young and beautiful face of the Church, which shines forth when she is missionary, welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means and rich in love.
