August 12, 2018 - "The International Gathering of Teams or Our Lady"

I have returned after a wonderful trip to Portugal where I attended the twelfth International Gathering of Teams of Our Lady (Équipes Notre-Dame) in Fatima from July 16 to July 22, 2018.  I have wanted to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima for many years, so I am was very happy when this opportunity came up.  The theme of the gathering was “Reconciliation: A Sign of Love.”  Nearly 9,000 Team Members came from 80 countries.  We completely filled the little town of Fatima.  Every hotel room was taken.  Some even had to stay in private homes. 
 
The opening night of the conference featured a word of welcome and blessing from Pope Francis, who sent a message that looked at the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  The Holy Father hoped that all of the participants would relax in the father’s loving “hug,” be reconciled with each other, and join in the celebration of the return of the Prodigal Son.  We listened to some wonderful meditations each day based on this Parable by Archbishop José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça who was recently appointed by Pope Francis to be the archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church.
 
Another highlight for me was a presentation by Sister Angela de Fatima Coalho da Sousa on the Fatima Apparitions.  Sister is well qualified to speak on this subject as she was appointed the Roman Postulator for the canonization of the little shepherds Francisco and Jacinto.  Pope Francis canonized them on May 13, 2017.  They made history in that they were the first child saints to be canonized who were not martyrs.  Now she has been appointed vice-postulator for the Beatification cause of Sister Maria Lucia de Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart, OCD (1907-2005), cousin of Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta and the third visionary of Fatima.  Sr. Angela is an effective communicator of the message of Fatima to men and women of the twenty-first century.  She remarked that we can experience God through Our Lady.  Fatima is a school of faith with the Blessed Mother as our teacher.  Between 1916 and 1929 the three children held fast to the instructions of Our Lady, never deviating from the stories that embodied their teachings.  They lived her message loyally.  Through them we know the love the Blessed Trinity has for us.  Sr. Angela also related that despite the difficulties of our time, God always continues to walk with us.  Yet God also entrusts us to the welfare of our brothers and sisters.  We cannot turn our back on the needs of others.  It is essential that we do as Our Lady wishes.  As Cardinal Ratzinger teaches, Our Lady is our model for Christ.  She appeals to all of us to pray the Rosary.  We must trust her in the Rosary, for it transports us to join her and mold us.  Mary leads us directly to her son Jesus Christ.
 
A third highlight for me was a talk by Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the recently created Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.  He began his talk by looking at developments over the past fifty years.  Blessed Paul VI wrote that we needed to consider how the environment affects the people who live in it.  Paul VI called this natural ecology.

Saint John Paul II took this thought and developed it further.  John Paul wrote that every human being lives within a personal environment, which he termed “human ecology.” Pope Benedict XVI took this a step further still when he remarked that people also live together and hopefully in peace.  This is social and peace ecology.  Finally, Pope Francis has remarked that all of these ecologies work together and become integrated human ecology.  Three points that really struck me were his remarks that without God we revert to paganism, an attack on God is an attack on humankind, and finally when human dignity is degraded, this leads to a culture where humans are used.  From there we move to a culture of death. 
 
There is more I want to tell you from my time in Fatima.  I’ll save that for next week!
 
Until then,
Fr. John