Listen to the Pope.
.
Photos like that above always reminds me of some of the visions Bl. Jacinta Marto experienced of the Holy Father, outside of those documented visions of the Virgin to the three children which most people are familiar with now. I have always felt that Benedict XVI is part of the secret Our Lady revealed - along with all of the popes of the mid-20th century onward. People "new" to the Fatima message should understand that the Blessed Virgin revealed one secret which was separated into three parts - all of which have been revealed.
.
Pope Benedict stated in his homily today, "We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete." This statement hearkens back to John Paul II's insistence that "the message of Fatima is more relevant today than ever." Vigilant souls ought to recall that when Cardinal Ratzinger issued a theological interpretation of the third part of the Fatima secret he simply stated, These events "seem to be part of the past" - he never definitively relegated the secret to the past - he simply indicated they seemed to be. Today we know otherwise.
.
Every allocution from Pope Benedict does not really need theological commentary or interpretation, the Holy Father speaks simply and humbly for our instruction, while his actions - his presence and visible devotion at Our Lady's feet - speaks more than words or commentary can convey. Those of you who have hoped that the Holy Father would indicate something hidden regarding the third part of the secret would do well to remember what the theological interpretation of the Fatima Message from the Congregation For the Doctrine of Faith clearly states: "Thus we come finally to the third part of the “secret” of Fatima which for the first time is being published in its entirety." The document was signed by Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2000. (Approved by JPII)
.
Those interested in the Fatima message and secret would do better studying the Vatican documents on the subject than listening to, or reading sensationalized speculation on what the secret really says. The Pope, the CDF, the Church is not out to deceive the faithful, but to save them from error.
.
That said, Rorate Caeli has posted the text of the Holy Father's homily here - without speculative commentary.
In his remarks at Fatima, the Pope "riffed" on an expression unfamiliar to most of us moderns, the "burning bush not consumed" (*)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-29238
"The Pontiff went on to speak of this light we and Mary possess. "Neither Mary nor we have a light of our own: We receive it from Jesus. His presence within us renews the mystery and the call of the burning bush which once drew Moses on Mount Sinai and still fascinates those aware of the light within us which burns without consuming us," he said. "We are merely a bush, but one upon which the glory of God has now come down."
The Pope said that in our day, "in which the faith in many places seems like a light in danger of being snuffed out for ever," the highest priority is "to make God visible in the world and to open to humanity a way to God."
The commemoration of the apparitions on May 13 fell within Eastertide this year, opening a window or perspective on eternal time, ie the relevance of the Revelation of the Father in Christ incarnate to Russia and all peoples kept in the dark by any kind of tyranny of relativism (**) as we celebrate the birth of the one Church at the culmination of the Easter season with the Hebrew harvest festival of Pentecost, aka Shavuot.
(*) in Russian neopalimaya kupina, the name of an icon painted on 3 levels or layers, mirroring a similar symmetry to the three secrets, perhaps? More here on that theme:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2007/05/pentecost.html
(**) More here on Marian apparitions as the Radiation of Fatherhood in dark times:
http://www.catholicculture.com/Radiation_of_Fatherhood.pdf
Enjoy!