Offer our hearts to her Immaculate Heart
Reflections on the readings for the Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima (May 13, 2020): IS 61:9-11; PS 45:11-12,14-15,16-17; LK 11:27-28
MISSIO offers “Mission In Scripture” to nurture a missionary heart, providing reflections on the missionary themes in the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days
“I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul..."
It was in the midst of the immense destruction of the First World War with its 20 million military and civilian deaths around the globe that the Blessed Virgin made herself known to three children in Fatima, Portugal. Lucia dos Santos was only ten; her cousins Francisco and Jacinto Marto, even younger. They were poor youngsters in a poor town who helped their families by tending sheep. During her first visit with the youngsters, she comforted them and told them not to be afraid. Surely that is a message for all of us, especially in these days. God wants us to trust Him in all things and He sent Mary to reassure His people at a brutal time in human history. During apparitions from May 13 to October 13 of 1917, Our Lady of Fatima told the children that she wanted them to encourage all who would listen to them to pray, particularly through the rosary, and to honor her Immaculate Heart. She wants our hearts to be turned to her own so that she can guide us to her Son – the Son of God. In 1930, the Church authorized devotion to Our Lady of Fatima and devout interest has continued to spread around the world.
The Old Testament reading for today reminds us that the Blessed Virgin Mary always serves Almighty God with her whole being. “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; For He has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice” (Isaiah 61:10). And that dedication and perseverance is what He asks of us as well.
Suggested missionary action: Today we can offer a World Mission Rosary for the sake the Church’s missionaries who serve the world’s most vulnerable communities. And in this time of COVID-19, let us take heart in the message of our Blessed Mother to the children of Fatima: “Do not be afraid.”