One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.  He who saw it has borne witness–his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth–that you also may believe (John 19:34-35).

April 14, 2016                                                                                                                               Good Friday

1) God is in the details

The first thing I noticed in this Apparition is the care that Our Lady takes concerning the small details of life.  The previous month she had dealt with the horrible fact of souls going to hell and terrible persecutions of the Church and the annihilation of nations but here in August she speaks much about things that the world would consider to be of no consequence.

Lucia asked Our Lady what was to be done with the money left in the Cova da Iria and she gives very specific and helpful instructions regarding this matter.  The background to this is that after reports of the Apparitions had begun to spread in the surrounding regions of Portugal people began to visit the site on a regular basis, already esteeming the Cova da Iria to be holy ground.  Spontaneously they began to leave money there as a sort of votive offering to God or in thanksgiving for some benefit received.  Nobody knew what to do with this money.

A local woman, Maria Carreira, found herself put in charge of the money, but did not know what to do with it.  She tried giving it to Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta’s father, but he didn’t want it.  She tried giving it to Lucia, but she refused.  Next she tried giving it to Father Ferreira, the parish priest in Fatima, but he wanted nothing at all to do with anything going on in the Cova da Iria at that point so he turned her down as well.  Confused and distraught she finally asked Lucia after Mass on Sunday morning, August 19, 1917,  to ask Our Lady what she wanted done with the money the next time she appeared to the children.  Well, that afternoon she had her answer.  Who says prayers don’t get answered, and sometimes rather quickly?

It is important to note here that we are not talking about a large amount of money, probably less than 20 American dollars by today’s reckoning, yet Our Lady took the time here to give her full attention to the matter.  We should learn from this to trust God even in the smallest details in our life.  We should never be afraid to ask for help about whether we should turn to the left or to the right in any given situation if we don’t know the answer.  God delights in giving us answers to these questions.  If we do this we give evidence of our trust in Him.  He wants to be involved in every detail of our lives, and if we let Him into those details then it will be the beginning of a life that we never could have imagined.  After all, those twenty dollars left in a pious woman’s charge by those first few pilgrims would in time become this:

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/12/19/120333/

This account is also a reminder to seek the help of intercessors.  Ask people to pray for you, ask the saints in Heaven to pray for you, ask Our Lady to pray for you.  Some people, whether in Heaven or on earth, are simply in a better position to get you what you need.  This is the Communion of Saints: the City of God.  After all Maria Carreira had done all that running around and gotten nowhere, but when she asked Lucia to ask Our Lady she received her answer forthwith.

2) The call to prayer and sacrifice

Our Lady ends this Apparition with the following sad statement:

Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them.

God wishes all to come to Him, and that none should be lost: The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  And He calls us, nay He demands that we participate in this mission of redemption.  He demands that we become little Christs and offer ourselves for sinners just as the Divine Son of Mary offered the last drop of Blood and Water from his most Sacred Heart for our salvation.  Do not neglect this mission all of you who hear this call, or else the loss of those souls will be held to your account, for this is not just a lament here by Our Lady but a warning.  We must be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.  And as his Will is that none should be lost then that must be our will as well.  This is Divine Charity: Deus caritas est : et qui manet in caritate, in Deo manet, et Deus in eo.  God is charity.  God is the outpouring of every last bit of Himself for you and for me and for the people you want to hate and that I want to despise.  So must you be as well, and so must I.  That is the only way, and there is no other.

Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them.