Our Lady of Fatima and Following Christ!

Monday, May 13, 2024

Acts 19:1-8; Jn 16:29-33

Today’s Gospel reminds us of the challenges in following Christ. 

Jesus’ statement reminds me of a quote: ‘If your dreams are big, your effort must be bigger.’ 

Oftentimes, Christian life counts only blessings while brushing aside the responsibilities that come with it. 

The privilege of being a Christian consists only in offering testimony to Jesus. 

In this regard, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima reminds us of our Christian duty. 

We find Our Lady of Fatima’s relevance asserted in many different ways in today’s Church. 

Pope John Paul II thanked Our Lady of Fatima for sparing him from assassination in 1981. The Church released the ‘Third Secret’ of Fatima in 2000. Pope Francis proposed the Fatima visionaries as models for the whole Church in 2017. St. Jacinta Marto died in lockdown during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1920 – exactly 100 years before the Covid-19 pandemic began locking down our world. 

Moreover, Our Lady of Fatima reminded us of the power of prayer, penance, and reparation to change the world. 

Echoing the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel, Our Lady revealed when she invited us to ‘bear all the sufferings God sends you – in atonement of the sins that offend him and for the conversion of sins.’

A transformed living following the model of Christ is Our Lady’s recommendation for us. 

Let us pay heed to Our Lady of Fatima to faithfully follow Christ. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar