As we just celebrated Mothers Day this
past weekend, we also celebrate the entire month May as the month of Mary. As the Gospel tells us, Jesus gave as Mary as
our Mother, as a special component of our faith. I am currently reading a book written by
different priests, talking about the special relationship priests have with
Mary and how she supports us in our vocation as pastors in the Church.
As we celebrate May as the month of Mary,
today we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Fatima, commemorating the
appearance of the Virgin Mary to three Portuguese peasant children in
1917. Mary asked the children to pray
the rosary for world peace, for an end to WWI, for sinners, and for the conversion
of Russia. The local bishop in Portugal
approved this day to commemorate Our Lady of Fatima in 1930 to mark the date of
the first appearance of the Virgin Mary to these children. This date has been celebrated as a part of
our Church's worldwide calendar since 2002.
The main message of Fatima is for us to
constantly pray. And through praying with Mary through the rosary and other
Marian devotions, she always points us closer & closer to her Son. Our Prayers connect us to God, to his real
presence with us, just as we are connected to his Son through the Eucharist
meal we share each time we celebrate mass together. May we feel this strong
connection to Jesus & his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, & may we
celebrate today the many ways that Jesus & the Blessed Virgin appear to us
in our lives.
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