Homily for Our Lady of Fátima

“Look at the Sun!”

That’s what Lucia, the oldest of the three Fátima shepherd children, cried out on that cold, wet October day — surrounded by 75,000 people, all huddled together in the pouring down rain in the Portugal countryside. It had been raining relentlessly all day up to this moment, and everyone was drenched and covered in mud, despite their umbrellas.

After arriving at the holm-oak tree, over which the Blessed Mother had been consistently appearing to the three children on the 13th of every month since May of 1917, Lucia asked everyone present to shut their umbrellas — apparently while it was still pouring down rain! — and join her in praying the rosary. They all listened to the tiny little girl’s instructions, getting even more and more soaked.

It was about that time, according to eye-witnesses, that the rain suddenly stopped. Lucia was conversing with Our Lady about many things, one of which being the great and terrible First World War, that had been raging through Europe for what seemed an eternity and resulted in the death of millions. 

Mary promised Lucia point blank: “The war is going to end.”

Just as the rain had suddenly stopped, the war would stop too!

What words of encouragement and hope! “The war is going to end.” We may even hear Our Lady of Fátima speaking words of peace to us again today: “The quarantine is going to eventually end!” This modern day World War against Coronavirus is not permanent. It will pass like every other moment of distress in human history! We need to hold fast to hope.

After her conversation with Mary, Lucia then felt compelled to cry out:

“Look at the Sun!”

70,000 pairs of eyes drew their attention upward to the Sun, which according to eye-witness accounts began to dance around in the sky, showering down light and color, before appearing to plunge down towards the earth, sending everyone into terror. It was spectacular, it was horrifying, it was a miracle! The Miracle of the Sun!

But that’s not all that happened. As the sun returned to its former place, all 75,000 people began to notice something else bewildering: They were all now completely dry.

This story fills me with so much hope. The people were soaked to the bone — but in the flash of an instant, they looked to the Sun, and became perfectly dry!

In the midst of today’s health crisis and at all moments in history, this is precisely what Our Lady invites us to do: “Look at the Son!” Look at her Son — Jesus. Look to the Lord! Look upon Him whom we pierced. His glorified wounds save us! He is risen.

Jesus gives us peace. He dries out our sin-soaked souls in an instant. He fills us with strength and perseverance, with charity and boldness as soon as we look to Him, as soon as we invite Him into whatever we are going through. He’s eager to give us grace to be holy, to be saints. We have nothing to fear. We don’t need to be drenched with the panic and despair that the world constantly pours down on us.

“Look at the Son!” Remain in Him. He is the Vine, and we are the branches. We have life and hope in Him. In Him, we will bear much fruit.