FT Chapter 1 (Foundation)


FT Chapter 1 (Foundation)

Today, I will begin writing weekly (Fridays) about the book Fatima for Today by Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR.  This book teaches about the apparitions of Mary in Fatima.  This is an important message for us to know.

We all know that building a good foundation is very important.  Buildings with weak foundations have issues, and don’t last.  We want to build on a good foundation.  We want to build our houses on rock.  Rather we want to build our foundation on the ROCK. 

“Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen often said that Jesus was the only man whose coming into the world was preannounced.  No other great world leader or religious figure ever had his coming foretold” (Fatima for Today, 1).  This is huge to think about and it is part of our foundation.  Of all the religions that are out there, Catholicism is the only one whose leader’s birth was foretold.  No other religion in the world can state that.  And it wasn’t only His birth that was foretold, but His Mother’s as well. 

Our foundation is made up of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  He is the stone rejected by the builders.  “The Blessed Virgin Mary is a central figure in God’s plan of salvation” (Fatima for Today).  God has a plan for the world, and Mary, His Mother, has a very, very major role in this. Fr. Apostoli names the next section so well, “Mary’s Important Role as the New Eve” (Fatima for Today, 2).  Eve was the Mother of all the living, but with The Fall she helped to open the way to Original Sin.  Our foundation was gravely weakened.  Still, God had a plan and Mary, the New Eve, is part of the foundation for saving humanity.  “At the annunciation, Mary fully accepted God’s will for her life in humility and obedience” (Fatima for Today, 3).  Mary said “Yes” to giving birth to the Savior.  She was willing to play her role in salvation.  Mary gave birth and took care of Jesus.  “Mary is also the New Eve in the way she joins in the redemptive mission of her son to save the world” (Fatima for Today, 4).  It was at the Wedding Feast in Cana that Mary basically said to her Son, “It is time to for you to do what you have come to do.”  Archbishop Fulton Sheen says (I am paraphrasing), “Jesus took on flesh for one reason, to die on the cross for our sins.”  Now Mary was telling her Son that it was time for Him to go to His death.  Mary never left Him and she was with Him until the end when He gave His life on the cross.

Mary still has never left her Son; she continues to work to bring us to Him.  “By her exemplary virtues, by her powerful prayers and by her motherly protection, our Lady is even now fulfilling her role as the Eve, which is marked by her ongoing opposition to evil and her concern for us.  These features of Mary’s role that we see in the Gospels can also be seen in her apparitions” (Fatima for Today, 5).  Mary is always interceding for us.  She points out her Son to us.  Mary longs for us to serve Him alone.  “Beginning in the sixteenth century there have been a few great apparitions with signs and wonders witnessed by many people and messages intended for the whole world” (Fatima for Today, 5).  Guadalupe, Rue du Bac (Paris), Lourdes and Fatima were some of these apparitions.  Each of these impacted Catholicism greatly.  And the messages from these continues to influence the Church today.  We should know these messages because all Mary wants to do is to help us to worship her Son and to be faithful to Him. 

It is interesting to think that when Our Lady began to appear in Fatima, in the context of the world, World War I was raging on.  “To end the conflict, Pope Benedict XV began a novena to the Queen of Peace on May 5, 1917” (Fatima for Today, 7).  The Holy Father was asking the world to pray to the Mother of God to intercede for peace.  “On Sunday, May 13, the eighth day of the novena, our Lady responded to the prayers of the Pope and her children in this valley of tears by appearing for the first time at Fatima” (Fatima for Today, 8).  Probably, most likely, the Holy Father was not directly aware that Our Lady was appearing in Fatima, but it was an answer.  “The aim of this book [Fatima for Today] is to present the full story of Fatima and explain the way we must now respond to our Lady’s call for peace in the world through the salvation of souls” (Fatima for Today, 8).  Our Lady comes to bring peace, but we have to respond to what the Lord is calling us to do through her.  She continues to help us individually and as a Church to build our Foundation on her Son.  He is the only one that can save us.