In a world where we see wars being played out on the evening news, threats of terrorism both foreign and domestic, and where the faithful are challenged and vilified by a secular society, the message of Fatima is still relevant today. Increasingly we live in a society that does not know God or that keeps him at arm’s length. 

Catholics, through tradition, around the world, have dedicated the month of May to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This singular devotion awakens hearts to Mary as the first disciple, the first to love the precious savior, and the first to lead people to Jesus.

Many of us may feel a sense of deprivation and separation, without a community. Empty pews remind us there’s not much to do, but we should see this as a time of retreat – of getting away from all the noise of this world.

The last two months have been very difficult, to say the least. For some of you, your livelihoods have been shaken, and your faith tested. The impact of the Coronavirus has spread terror across the world, bringing illness and death.  In the midst of this pandemic, however, the Paschal Mystery recently celebrated at Easter assures us that neither anguish nor death will have the last word. “Who can separate us from the Love of God…” (Rom 8:35-39).