SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
JANUARY 1, 2017
IT’S ALMOST 100 YEARS SINCE THE BLESSED MOTHER APPEARED TO THREE LITTLE CHILDREN IN FATIMA IN PORTUGAL IN 1917.MARY GAVE THEM A PEACE PLAN FOR THE WORLD. IT WAS VERY SIMPLE—KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS, SAY THE ROSARY AND MEDITATE ON THE LIFE DEATH AND RESURECTION OF JESUS. THIS WAS THE CORE OF HER MESSAGE
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE CHILDREN REALLY RECEIVED A MESSAGE FROM THE BLESSED MOTHER? OUR BLESSED MOTHER CONFIRMED HER MESSAGE TO THE CHILDREN BY THE MIRACLE OF THE SUN WHICH WAS WITNESSED BY 70,000 PEOPLE. THAT WAS REPORTED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.
AFTER THAT MIRACLE TOOK PLACE THERE WERE SEVERAL CONVERSIONS OF ATHEISTS, AGNOSTICS AND SKEPTICS. A PRETTY POWERFUL SIGN OF AUTHENTICITY.
MILLIONS OF PILGRIMS GO TO MARIAN SHRINES EACH YEAR. THERE ARE MANY MARIAN SHRINES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, IN ASIA, IN EUROPE, IN SOUTH AMERICA AND IN THE UNITED STATES. WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH SOME OF THE LARGER ONES: 20 MILLION PILGRIMS GO TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SHRINE IN MEXICO EVERY YEAR. 8 MILLION GO TO LOURDES. ABOUT 5 MILLION GO TO FATIMA.
MILLIONS OF MUSLIMS ARE ATTRACTED TO THE MARIAN SHRINES ALL OVER THE WORLD. FATIMA IN PARTICULAR ATTRACTS THOUSANDS OF MOSLEMS. WHY WOULD MUSLIMS FLOCK TO FATIMA? WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FATIMA AND ISLAM?
IN EVERY HUMAN BEING THERE IS A NEED FOR MYSTICISM, SPIRITUALITY, TRUTH AND BEAUTY. THESE QUALITIES ARE MORE READILY FOUND IN CATHOLICISM THAN IN ISLAM.
SINCERE PIETY UNITES PEOPLE. MARY COULD BE A BRIDGE BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS.
MOHAMMED LIVED IN THE 7TH CENTURY AFTER CHRIST. HE LIVED IN A SECTION OF ARABIA WHERE THERE WERE A SMALL GROUP OF CHRISTIANS WHO HAD FALLEN INTO A HERESY THAT DENIED THAT THERE ARE THREE PERSONS IN ONE GOD, THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE DOCTRINE THAT WE CALL THE HOLY TRINITY.
MOHAMMED DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY. HE NEVER CALLED GOD FATHER. HE BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS ONE GOD WHOM HE CALLED ALLAH.
SINCE HE DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY, HE DID NOT BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS THE SON OF GOD. AND SO HE DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE DIVINITY OF JESUS. HE RELEGATED JESUS TO THE STATUS OF A PROPHET WHOSE SOLE PURPOSE WAS ANNOUNCING THE COMING OF MOHAMMED.
MOHAMMED SELECTED TEACHINGS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT AND ADDED SOME TRADITIONS OF ARABIA.HE CLAIMED TO HAVE REVELATIONS THAT CAME FROM ALLAH. THERE WERE NO SIGNS THAT THOSE REVELATIONS WERE GENUINE.
THE SIGNS JESUS PERFORMED TO SHOW THAT HE CAME FROM GOD WERE HIS MIRACLES.
MOHAMMED STARTED A NEW RELIGION AND CLAIMED THAT HE WAS THE GREATEST AND LAST OF THE PROPHETS. AGAIN THERE IS NO PROOF.
MOHAMMED CERTAINLY DID NOT HAVE THE CREDENTIALS OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. MOHAMMED COULD NEVER SAY: “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE”. MOHAMMED COULD NEVER SAY: “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE”. MOHAMMED COULD NEVER SAY: “HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL NEVER DIE.”
MOHAMED DIED A NATURAL DEATH IN 632 A.D. HE DID NOT DIE ON THE CROSS FOR THE SALVATION OF MANKIND. AND HE DID NOT RISE FROM THE DEAD.
IF ISLAM IS A HERESY, AS THE HISTORIAN HILAIRE BELLOC BELIEVED IT TO BE, IT IS THE ONLY HERESY THAT HAS NEVER DECLINED. THERE WAS NEVER A TIME IN WHICH IT DECLINED, EITHER IN NUMBERS, OR IN THE DEVOTION OF ITS FOLLOWERS. THERE ARE 1.6 BILLION MUSLIMS IN THE WORLD TODAY.
THE MISSIONARY EFFORT OF THE CHURCH TOWARD THE CONVERSION OF MUSLIMS HAS NOT BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. IN EUROPE, THERE ARE ABOUT 6 MILLION CONVERTS A YEAR TO CHRISTIANITY. THIS IS NOT COUNTING THE ONES THAT ARE NOT REPORTED FOR FEAR OF REPRISALS.
AT THE PRESENT TIME, THE RESISTANCE OF ISLAM TO CHRISTIANITY IS WORSENING AT A TIME WHEN WESTERN CHRISTIANITY ITSELF IS WEAKENING.
ATHEISM AND SECULARISM IN THE WEST HAS WEAKENED CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE AND IN THE UNITED STATES. A FALSE NOTION OF MULTICULTURALISM AND DIVERSITY IS SPREADING THE BELIEF THAT ALL RELIGIONS ARE EQUALLY VALID. TRUE CHRISTIANS DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ALL RELIGIONS ARE EQUALLY VALID.
THESE SECULAR FACTIONS IN THE WEST WOULD RATHER SIDE WITH ISLAM THAN SEE TRUE CHRISTIANITY GROW. AS WESTERN CULTURE IS BECOMING LESS CHRISTIAN THERE IS INCREASING EVIDENCE THAT ISLAM IS SEEKING TO BE A GREAT ANTI-CHRISTIAN WORLD POWER.
LEST WE LOSE HOPE WE SHOULD TAKE COURAGE FROM KNOWING THAT CHRISTIANS HAVE THE WEIGHT OF TRUTH AND REASON ON THEIR SIDE. WE ALSO KNOW HOW THE STORY ENDS. WE KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST THE KING WILL EVENTUALLY TRIUMPH AND BRING ALL PEOPLES TO THE FATHER AND TO HIMSELF. WE DO NOT KNOW HOW OR WHEN THAT WILL HAPPEN. WE BELIEVE IT WILL HAPPEN.
SOME SCHOLARS THINK THAT THE CONVERSION OF THE MUSLIMS WILL NOT HAPPEN THROUGH THE DIRECT TEACHINGS OF CHRISTIANITY. SOME SCHOLARS THINK THAT THE DOOR TO THE CONVERSION OF THE MUSLIMS WILL BE THE MOTHER OF GOD. THIS IS THEIR LINE OF REASONING:
THE KORAN WHICH IS THE HOLY BOOK OF THE MUSLIMS HAS MANY PASSAGES CONCERNING THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. WE FIND HER NAME IN THE KORAN NO LESS THAN 30 TIMES. NO OTHER WOMAN’S NAME IS EVEN MENTIONED. AMONG THE NAMES OF MEN, ONLY ABRAHAM, MOSES AND NOAH ARE MENTIONED MORE TIMES THAN OUR BLESSED MOTHER.
THE KORAN REFERS TO HER IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, AND ALSO HER VIRGIN BIRTH. THE THIRD CHAPTER OF THE KORAN PLACES THE HISTORY OF MARY’S FAMILY IN A GENEOLOGY WHICH GOES BACK THROUGH ABRAHAM AND NOAH.
THE KORAN ALSO HAS VERSES ON THE ANNUNCIATION, VISITATION, AND NATIVITY. ANGELS ARE PICTURED AS ACCOMPANYING THE BLESSED MOTHER AND SAYING: “OH MARY, GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU AND PURIFIED YOU, AND ELECTED YOU ABOVE ALL THE WOMEN OF THE EARTH.”
MARY, IN THE MINDS OF MUSLIMS IS THE TRUE LADY OF THE KORAN. THEY HAVE A STRONG DEVOTION TO HER.
IT IS MORE THAN COINCIDENCE THAT THE BLESSED MOTHER, IN THE 20TH CENTURY SHOULD HAVE REVEALED HERSELF IN THE INSIGNIFICANT LITTLE VILLAGE OF FATIMA IN PORTUGAL.
IT IS INTERESTING HOW THIS LITTLE TOWN IN PORTUGAL GOT ITS NAME. THE MUSLIMS OCCUPIED PORTUGAL FOR CENTURIES. AT THE TIME WHEN THEY WERE DRIVEN OUT, THE LAST MUSLIM CHIEF HAD A BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER BY THE NAME OF FATIMA. THE SAME NAME AS MOHAMMED’S DAUGHTER.
A CATHOLIC NOBLEMAN FELL IN LOVE WITH HER. WHEN THE MUSLIMS LEFT PORTUGAL SHE REMAINED BEHIND, MARRIED THE YOUNG MAN, AND EMBRACED HIS FAITH. THE COUNT CHANGED THE NAME OF THE TOWN TO FATIMA AFTER HIS BELOVED WIFE. THIS IS THE VERY PLACE WHERE OUR LADY APPEARED IN 1917.
THE COMBINATION OF AN ISLAMIC NAME AND ISLAMIC DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY MAKES THE SHRINE AT FATIMA A GREAT ATTRACTION TO MUSLIMS TODAY. MUSLIMS FROM VARIOUS NATIONS, ESPECIALLY FROM THE MIDDLE EAST, MAKE FATIMA A FAVORITE SHRINE.
COULD FATIMA BE A PART OF HEAVEN’S PEACE PLAN? COULD THE BLESSED MOTHER BE THE HOPE FOR THE WORLD? COULD IT BE THAT MARY WHO PROTECTED HER BABY SON FROM KING HEROD COULD BE PROTECTING THE WORLD FROM ANNIHILATION?
WE ARE NOW ENGAGED IN A WAR AGAINST WORLDWIDE TERRORISM. SOME OF THOSE WHO PROFESS TO BE DISCIPLES OF MOHAMMED ARE LEADING THIS ATTACK. MEANWHILE WE IN THE WEST HAVE SURRENDERED MANY OF OUR CORE CHRISTIAN VALUES TO THE CULTURE OF DEATH. OUR LACK OF CONVICTION FUELS THEIR DETERMINATION TO CONVERT US OR DESTROY US.
FOR THAT REASON, WE MUST TAKE UP OUR MOST POWERFUL WEAPON: THE ROSARY. IT HAS PROTECTED US IN THE PAST AND IT CAN PROTECT US NOW.
POPES AND VISIONARIES HAVE TOLD US THAT THE ROSARY OF MARY IS NOT JUST A DEVOTION. RATHER IT IS A POWERFUL WEAPON AGAINST EVIL AND DANGER OF EVERY KIND.
IN MANY PARISHES SMALL GROUPS OF PEOPLE PRAY THE ROSARY EVERY DAY EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE MORNING MASS.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE WEAPON THEY HOLD IN THEIR HANDS IS MORE POWERFUL THAN ALL THE DIPLOMATS AND ALL THE ARMED FORCES OF THE WORLD COMBINED?
HISTORY IS A WITNESS TO THE POWER OF THE ROSARY. HISTORY CAN BE REPEATED.
ANOTHER YEAR IS BEGINNING. LET US PRAY FOR A WORLD STILL ON THE BRINK OF A NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST. HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE………..