[May 13, 2021,] marks the 104th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in 1917 in the village of Fatima, Portugal. She appeared six times to Lucia, 9, and her cousins Francisco, 8, and his sister Jacinta, 6, between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917. [1]
Quoted in part from The Freeman [2]:
When our Lady appeared to the children, her 1917 messages mentioned her concerns about “the violent trials that would afflict the world by means of war, starvation, and the persecution of the Church and the Holy Father in the twentieth century if the world did not make reparation for sins. She exhorted the Church to pray and offer sacrifices to God in order that peace may come upon the world, and that the trials may be averted.”It is of utmost urgency to note that until now, war, starvation, persecution of the Church and violent trials that Our Lady mentioned in 1917 are still present.The pandemic is this world’s present greatest trial and challenge. Wars are still continuing in many countries and even in certain areas (see below).... Hunger, poverty, joblessness are affecting millions and the end of continuing, simultaneous crises still so remote and uncertain.
Selected paragraphs quoted, in no particular order, from an article dated May 13, 2021, from abc News [3]:
“It’s the same atmosphere of 2014,” Saud Abu Ramadan, a freelance journalist in Gaza City, said, referring to the bloody 7-week war that killed over 2,000 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and inflicted widespread destruction on Gaza's infrastructure. “Warplanes are buzzing, and people are just trying to keep their heads down."“This whole territory is a tiny place. It's a prison. Everywhere you go, you're a target,” al-Rayyes said by phone from a neighbor's house, where she sought refuge with her teenage sons and daughters and a few bags of clothes after the Israeli airstrike that she says came without warning.“There is so much pain, but thank God the children have been through this before and they're strong,” said al-Rayyes, who fled her falling apartment in Gaza City. She corrected herself. “They're pretending to be strong.”
Re-quoting The Freeman from above: "[Our Lady of Fatima] exhorted the Church to pray and offer sacrifices to God in order that peace may come upon the world, and that the trials may be averted." What did the Church offer as sacrifices to God "in order that peace may come upon the world, and that the trials may be averted"?
Sadly, the Catholic Church is more interested in politics than anything else. Without coming to any conclusion as to who is right or who is wrong (only God knows) "regarding the reception of Communion by prominent Catholics who promote abortion and euthanasia." [4]
Quoted from Catholics striving for holiness [5]:
For love of God, let us make sure that we are in the state of grace, that is, without any mortal sins, when we receive Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Communion. Our Lord will be pleased with our Holy Communion, when our soul is clean from grave sins, which is possible only when we confess them, receive the sacramental absolution and fulfill the penance (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 291)Otherwise, if we receive Our Lord without being in the state of grace, without having been absolved from our mortal sins through the Sacrament of Confession, we are committing another sin, that of sacrilege which “consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2120”
How many Catholics have actually confessed their sins and have not committed additional sins before receiving the Body of Christ in a state of grace? Unlike public figures, they are not easily identifiable and the Church remains silent and does not care.
[3] https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/run-fear-gaza-grows-amid-conflict-israel-77662102
[5] https://catholicsstrivingforholiness.org/receive-holy-communion-only-when-in-the-state-of-grace/#:~:text=WE%20RECEIVE%20HOLY%20COMMUNION%20ONLY%20WHEN%20WE%20ARE,%28Cf.%20Catechism%20of%20the%20Catholic%20Church%2C%20n.%20291%29, quoted without emphasis of any kind.
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