The Easter season stretches over a span of fifty days. With the Sundays of Ascension and Pentecost remaining, let’s be sure to finish well! St. Paul reminds us: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Some practical tips on how to always be an Easter People. Give thanks where it is due … to God! Do we begin each day with thanksgiving? When we wake up, do we immediately count our blessings? When we grumble and complain, do we try to counteract that by focusing on the good in our lives? Do we choose to count everything joy because God is God? What obstacles are getting in our way and preventing us from living a life that responds to the Resurrection? Let’s look for ways to remember that, in Christ, we are a new creation; we are no longer dead in our transgressions. Let’s throw off whatever hinders us and live for Christ!
Feast of Our Lady of Fatima: Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “What is the central meaning of the message of Fatima? Nothing different from what the Church has always taught! It is the exhortation to prayer as the path of ‘salvation for souls’ and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion.”
Perhaps the most well-known utterance of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima was her confident declaration that “My Immaculate Heart will triumph.” Pope Benedict interpreted this utterance as follows: “The heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Savior into the world—because, thanks to her Yes, God could become flesh in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God Himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: ‘In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world.’ (Jn 16,33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise.”
