On this Friday after Ash Wednesday during the holy season of Lent, we celebrate the feast day of the siblings Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the visionaries to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. At the time, Europe was entrenched in the violence of the first world war. Portugal and other countries in Europe were experiencing political turmoil. One of the messages of Our Lady of Fatima to the three visionaries was to pray the rosary, to pray for sinners, to pray for the conversion of Russia, and to pray for peace in the midst of Europe being in the midst of war. The final apparition to the children took place on October 13, 1917 before a crowd of more than 90,000 people. Francisco died of influenza in 1919 at the age of 11. Jacinta died on the same ailment in 1920 at the age of 9. Their cousin to whom the apparitions also appeared, Lúcia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun. Francisco and Jacinta were canonized in 2017 by Pope Francis on his visit to Fatima to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first apparition. Around 20 million pilgrims visit Fatima each year.
In our reading today from Isaiah today, we hear about fasting and about repenting for our sins. Isaiah calls the people to wear sackcloth and ashes to publicly declare the desire to repent and change their hearts. We all just received ashes on our foreheads this past Wednesday, as we were told to turn away from sin and to believe in the Gospel. That smudge of ash on our foreheads will not bear much significance if we do not practice peace and justice in our lives. Isaiah suggests that we share our food with the hungry, help shelter the poor and the oppressed, and clothe the naked as a part of our fast, in the practice of peace and justice. Our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and good works are not to be mocked and not to be taken lightly. God calls us to these disciplines to help us in our Lenten transformation, repentance, and renewal.
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