Fatima's Message For Our Times

No, this book does not reveal the 3rd part of the secret Our Lady of Fatima gave to Sister Lucy but it does stress the importance of prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. There were a number of key points made that jump to mind.

1. Our Lady told Sister Lucy that Jesus wanted her to establish a devotion to Mary's Immaculate Heart. "Don't lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God."

2. When the Apostles, James and John first approached Jesus, they asked "Where dwellest Thou" and Jesus said "Come and see". If we were to ask Jesus today that same question, He would lead us to the Tabernacle.

3. (page 13) 'it is through prayer that we come to discover and appreciate and love Jesus, who is "the Way, the Truth and the Life," present in the Eucharist. And it is in daily prayer before "the Way," present in the Tabernacle, that we really come to know Jesus as the supernatural "Truth and the Life." Sister Lucy is saying the same thing when she says, "What I recommend to you above all is that you draw close to the Tabernacle and pray.'

4. On page 19, Sister Lucy relates a particular vision with an angel where they receive the Body of Christ and the Precious Blood and said this prayer three time:

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.

5. Without prayer, as Sister Lucy reminds us, we risk either losing sight of the Christian ideal or of not having the spiritual strength to put it into practice.

The next chapter talked of the "Culture of Death" and the "diabolical wave" that is sweeping the world. How respect for life and practice of virtues are waning.

The final chapter was somewhat of a discourse on Vatican II and Protestantism vs. Catholicism.

I found chapter one (Life) most interesting. I admit that I am curious to know more about the details of the apparitions of Fatima. As the book's title suggests, the story really focuses on the message of Fatima rather than detailing the events that took place.

More and more over the past year, I have turned toward our Blessed Mother for her prayers and intercetion. This is just another reminder of the importance of prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and of devotion to the Mother of God.