TUNING INTO THE MESSAGE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA.

In my childhood days we did not have the digital radios we have today.   You just press a button and get  the station you want and there is no need for fine tuning.   What we had then were valve radios and if you switched it on you had a job sometimes to listen to the station you wanted since  so many other broadcasts were interfering.    So you sat there turning a nob right and left until you got the best reception possible.  You could then sit-down and enjoy your program.

As a Catholic I am a little bit like that, and I am sure there are many Catholics with the same problem.   O yes, we believe and we practice our Faith but perhaps we are not fine tuned into it and the real impact of  the Gospel is not heard as we struggle to hear it in our every day lives where  so many other worldly things interfere.

Let me turn to Our Lady of Fatima.   I have heard from childhood the story of the three children and the appearance of Our Lady, and the miracle of the Sun dancing in the s|ky, and the endorsement of the Church, and I have had not doubt about the truth of what happened there.   I did say the Rosary, so I thought that this demonstrated my commitment to  Fatima and Mary must be pleased with me.   About three months ago I went to Downside Abbey where the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima had arrived with the relics of the now St Jacinta and St Francisco.   I was very pleased to do so since as a 'good' Catholic I felt  it was the right thing to do.    But I felt myself suddenly moved in a way I had never experienced before, and during the singing of the Fatima 'Ave'  tears came to my eyes.   No, I did not see visions nor hear voices, what happened was that for the first time I heard the message of Fatima finely tuned.   I understood the message of Fatima with that clarity I once had been searching for in my valve radio.

And what a wonderful treasure I have found in working with Mary.   I have found since I started praying with her that so many of the struggles I have had in my spiritual life have been taken from me the moment I call on her.   All the words of  the Memorare are really true, she is there if we call on her.   But more than ever I sees how  disappointed Jesus and Mary must be for the Gospel that Jesus died for seems to have had so little impact on a world so full of hate and division and rejection of God Himself.   Mary appeared at Fatima to warn us, yes, but also to give us hope that in he end her Immaculate Heart would triumph.   Please, please, listen to Mary, your Mother.  

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