Our Lady of Fatima and Francisco - Oct 13 - 100th anniversary of Apparition

For the past three days, in your triduum, you must have already an earful about the apparitions in Fatima and its message to our world today.  And so instead of looking at the apparitions of Fatima as one big picture allow me to look into the effects of these apparitions on the life of Francisco. How did the miracle of Fatima transform Francisco? 

First effect on Francisco –humility and simplicity.  Of the three children si Francisco ang kulihot.  Ngaa?  Kay all throughout the apparitions Francisco never heard the Blessed Mother. Wala sia kabati sang tingog sang Mahal nga Birhen.  And yet wala man sia nagsiling, "ngaa daw pierdi ko ya haw, siguro indi ako palangga, ngaa la-in iya ang pagtratar sa akon.  Ngaa sila lang, ako ya wala?"  Francisco never said that.  He never felt humiliated, he never felt he was less.  He was happy kon ano man nga grasya ang ihatag sa iya.  Kontento sia kon ano man nga grasya ang matupa sa iya.  If it is given it is not because I deserve it, but because it is a gift.  Everything is a gift.

Nadumduman ko anay ang siling ni Msgr. Piamonte  sang bata pa ko nga pari kag nagahara-hara pa ako luyag ko to also make a name for myself.  Siling niya patun-on ko na sia tani sa Roma galing athritison, basi maputo ang diocese kon magmasakit na sia didto..  Kon kaisa you begin to hate your situation because of dreams you cannot fulfill.  But then as you grow older and as you pray harder, you begin to see giftedness everywhere, even in your pain.  Everything is a gift.  And so we look into a very important effect of the apparition of Fatima in the life of Francisco – learn to be humble and simple in your faith. Everything in your lie is a gift, something undeserved, even.

Second, learning to surrender.  For a time bisan nakita na sang duha ka bata ang mahal nga Birhen si Francisco iya wala pa sa gihapon nakakita.  It was only when Lucia asked the Blessed Mother why Francisco cannot see her, the Blessed Mother told Lucia, "tell him to pray the rosary."  Francisco did, and after the seventh Hail Mary he finally saw our Lady.  Sunod lang sia, in all simplicity he obeyed.  He did not ask why, he did not ask for an explanation, he did not verify the logic involved in the request.  He simply followed.

The bible is full of stories like this – Naaman, that proud general who was asked to very simply wash himself on the river Jordan seven times so that his leprosy would heal.  He resisted out of pride.  But when he surrendered, the miracle happened.  Miracles happen when we surrender, when everything has been tried and failed, nga makasiling na kita, "ikaw na bahala Lord, kapoy na ko."  Then you realize that everything just falls into place.  Sometimes you get to wonder how a very simple prayer, the rosary, bisan gamay nga bata kabalo, why is it called a powerful prayer?  Why?  Surrender.  Because in the rosary, you notice, you talk about what God did and not what you did or do or need.  It is a prayer of surrender where we allow God to be God.  I believe God knows how to run the world without us telling him how, indi bala? And that's how the rosary makes us pray.

Third, Francisco was so horrified when he realized how the sins of men and women saddened God and so this little 8 year old boy would try to find ways and do what he can so that he can console the heart of God.  He would think of ways of making God happy.  And so he would do extra prayers, he would get out of his way to do a good deed to others, . . . for what? ... to make God happy.  This is what we refer to as reparation plain and simple - thinking of ways to make God happy today!  

Actually, this is what Jesus did.  By his cross Jesus made reparation – he ransomed us from our sins, he paid what is due to us by offering his life.  It is not as if God wants us to suffer and is happy when we suffer.  No.  The Father was happy not because Jesus suffered but because Jesus was obedient even in suffering.  Jesus obeyed God's will even if he had to suffer a lot for it.  And this is what Francisco also did. 

Most of us observe the commandments, but like Francisco is there is preoccupation in us to make God happy?  To do something to console God by doing good deeds –sharing what you have, doing something for somebody in need, sacrificing something, sacrificing your convenience, doing and accepting God's will even if it will require us to suffer - like Francisco.

And so these are the effects of the apparitions of Fatima to little Francisco.  Like Francisco let us allow the incident in Fatima 100 years ago to transform our faith today.