Fatima Today

2nd Week of Advent: The Betlehem Candle

Second week of Advent: FAITH in the Journey to Bethlehem
“I feel myself in a mystery of Light—this mystery that comes from Faith in God, God in me and I am nothing, lost in the Light as a small drop thrown in the flame, and I was in the flame, where I found strength, grace, life, peace and love.” Sister Lucia of Fatima
How fitting that we celebrate the great feast of the Immaculate Conception during the Advent season. Mary conceived without sin was the start of our salvation and the fulfillment of the promise of a Messiah. It was the prophet Micah who foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. The second candle we light this Sunday is called the “Bethlehem Candle”; it represents FAITH, recalling the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. 
Let us make the journey with them during this Advent season.  As we do, we can go forward with the certainty that God has a plan for us, a destination where we will encounter Him.  Like Mary and Joseph, we may not know the challenges and disappointments we will face along the way.  But, our Faith tells us to trust that God has everything in His most capable hands.
The journey to Bethlehem is one we must undertake if we are to live and grow in FAITH. The darkest path there will lead us to a great Light.
“He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the Lord, in the majestic name of the Lord, his God” (Mc 5:3).

Advent begins with hope in the Lord

"All our hope must be placed in the Lord, because He is the one true God who created us with eternal love and redeemed us by sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, 
who suffered and died for our salvation."  Sister Lucia of Fatima
Advent begins a season of prayer, penance and sacrifice in anticipation of the coming of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Advent wreath is the sign of our faith in this truth. The four candles that are lit over the four weeks of Advent each represent 1,000 years, which together add up to the 4,000 years that humanity awaited it's salvation, from the time of Adam and Eve to the birth of Jesus.
Christmas is celebrated during the darkest time of the year, so the contrast of the Light of Christ is even more brilliant on the earth. As we light a new candle each week, we dispel the darkness, making way for His coming into the world.  Our prayers and sacrifices throughout the Advent season help shine His light where there is none. 

Living the message of Fatima through simple daily acts of faith, Interview with Barb Ernster

Real Presence Radio hosts Michael Wilde and Fr. Will Thompson spoke with Barb Ernster about how we can live out the message from Our Lady at Fatima through some simple daily acts of faith.

The question came up: How do I continue to trust in God when everything around me is falling apart?

 
The question came up:  How do I continue to trust in God when everything around me is falling apart?
That is a loaded question!  There is a lot that can be unpacked from it such as experiences that reflect family turmoil, financial upsets, spiritual dryness, disappointments, and betrayal.  Let me try to answer by giving you a perspective based on my own convictions.
 
 
 
 

Fatima Presents - On Love and Devotion to Our Lady, Lucia Bem-Merle

Lucia Bem-Merle, a devotee of Our Lady shares her beautiful story of love and devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.

Fatima and the vocation of marriage and family

Barb Ernster interviews Dr. Mary Shivanandan, a retired professor of theology from the John Paul II Institute of Studies on Marriage and Family. She has authored a new book: The Holy Family, Model Not Exception, and discusses the Church’s teaching on marriage and family, in light of Humanae Vitaeand the works of St. John Paul II, the particular role of St. Joseph, and the Fatima call to live God’s design for marriage and family in the image of the Holy Trinity.
 
 

The Feast of the Birth of Our Lady, a reflection by Fr. David Kime

The Feast of the Birth of Our Lady, a reflection by Fr. David Kime
 

A call to keep our swords in hand at this time in the Church - Official Statement from Our Lady's Blue Army

Fom the Desk of the Executive Director - David Carollo
Official Statement from the World Apostolate of Fatima -  Our Lady's Blue Army - A call to keep our swords in hand
I want to speak with you about the troubling happenings in the Church which have dominated the news these past few weeks.
Certainly it is sad when anyone acts contrary to the laws of God, and it is even more troubling when those that we look up to and trust fail to live up to their responsibilities. The very foundation of our Faith is shaken.
Certainly those who are guilty of crimes and those who helped facilitate these actions must be punished, but we must be careful not to support actions that will do serious long term damage to the Church of Christ. Her enemies are many and are ready to attack as a wild beast attacks a wounded animal.
Thou art Peter the rock and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The optimal word here is prevail.
Throughout history the Church has suffered persecution and difficulty.  It is no different now. Whether these attacks are from the outside or from within they are non-the-less attacks against the Body of Christ.
There are many good priests and bishops, truly the majority, who labor faithfully in the vineyard of the Lord. They work daily for the salvation of souls. We must support them and the Church.
At Fatima Our Lady warned of the many difficulties that would envelope the world if her requests were not headed. The Church is not immune from these difficulties.
 Instead of the Church transforming culture as is its mission, in many quarters the culture is transforming the Church.
The Cure of Ars once said the there is no such thing as a bad priest just those who have not been prayed for enough. Our job as members of this apostolate is to pray for the sanctification of our clergy so that they can effectively transform the world.
He also said:
“If a priest is determined not to lose his soul, as soon as any disorder arises in the parish he must trample under foot all human considerations as well as the fear of the contempt and hatred of his people. He must not allow anything to bar his way in the discharge of duty, even where he is certain of being murdered on coming down from the pulpit. A pastor who wants to do his duty must keep his sword in hand at all times.'”  
We too as laity must keep our sword in hand at all times. Our sword is the rosary, the weapon as St. Padre Pio called it.
101 years after the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima the many things that she predicted have come to pass. Unfaithfulness in all walks of life has become the norm. One half of all marriages end in divorce, even Catholic marriages. Many religious vocations are abandoned. The problems which we are witnessing in the Church reflect the problems of a society that has turned from God and decided to set its own course. We as the Church of Christ must make an even stronger effort to be faithful to Him.
We are calling for a new initiative of prayer for priests. Let’s help them be soldiers in this war. It is indeed a war, and the consequence of losing this conflict is eternal loss of God.
The Fatima message is one of prayer, penance and sacrifice. Let us make a new effort to bring holiness back in to the world. The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, promised by the Queen of Heaven will come when we have merited it by our faithfulness. 
Our website bluearmy.com has many resources to help you grow spiritually. Join us in this effort to convert the world.
God bless you!
 
A Prayer for Priests
O Almighty Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Son, and for the love of Him who is the eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation, which is in them by the imposition of the bishop’s hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.
O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory. But above all I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted, and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly N. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.  (Richard Cardinal Cushing, 1895-1970, Archbishop of Boston)