Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The light that was God.


"The Lord loves his foundation upon the holy mountain." - Ps. 86
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To fixate upon the contents of the Third Secret of Fatima does a disservice to the message of Our Lady and the message of Pope Benedict XVI.
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I think we should listen to the Holy Father.  I think we ought to be amazed and grateful that he has gone to Fatima as a humble pilgrim, announcing as he does so; "I bring with me the worries and hopes of our times, the sufferings of our wounded humanity and the problems of the world, and I place them at the feet of Our Lady of Fatima".
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The Holy Father thus deepens our understanding of the message of Fatima for our times:
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In our time, 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. And not to any god, but to the God who had spoken on Sinai; the God whose face we recognize in the love borne to the very end (cf. Jn 13:1) in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. Dear brothers and sisters, worship Christ the Lord in your hearts (cf. 1 Pet 3:15)! Do not be afraid to talk of God and to manifest without fear the signs of faith, letting the light of Christ shine in the presence of the people of today, just as the Church which gives birth to humanity as the family of God sings on the night of the Easter Vigil.
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Brothers and sisters, in this place it is amazing to think how three children entrusted themselves to the interior force which had enflamed them in the apparitions of the Angel and of our heavenly Mother. In this place where we were repeatedly requested to recite the rosary, let us allow ourselves to be attracted by the mysteries of Christ, the mysteries of Mary’s rosary. The recitation of the rosary allows us to fix our gaze and our hearts upon Jesus, just like his Mother, the supreme model of contemplation of the Son.

The Holy Father focuses our attention upon God, reminding us how Moses recognized Him in the light of the burning bush unconsumed, while in our modern times, the children of Fatima recognized Him in the light which emanated from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who appeared in 1917 upon a bush, upon a mountain, in a lonely pasture.
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"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 (cf. Ex 3:2-5).  We are merely a bush, but one upon which the glory of God has now come down. To him therefore be every glory, and to us the humble confession of our nothingness and the unworthy adoration of the divine plan which will be fulfilled when “God will be all in all” (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). The matchless servant of that plan was the Virgin full of grace: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord: let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). - Words of the Holy Father at the Recitation of the Rosary

From the memoirs of Sr. Lucia of Fatima:
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Lucia relates that as the Lady pronounced these words, she opened her hands, and we were bathed in a heavenly light that appeared to come directly from her hands. The light's reality cut into our hearts and our souls, and we knew somehow that this light was God, and we could see ourselves embraced in it. By an interior impulse of grace we fell to our knees, repeating in our hearts: "Oh, Holy Trinity, we adore You. My God, my God, I love You in the Blessed Sacrament."
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Art: Icon of Our Lady of the Burning Bush.  "In the bush seen by Moses we recognize the preservation of thy glorious virginity, O holy Mother of God, intercede for us." - Ancient antiphon.
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To find out what the sensationalism is about, check out John Allen's piece here.

2 comments:

  1. "Art: Icon of Our Lady of the Burning Bush."

    I like that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Clare Krishan7:08 AM

    oops - I commented at the later 5-13 post, before I discovered this one that says practically the same thing! Please excuse my logorrhoea...

    ReplyDelete


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