What I have been ruminating on today is the world then and the world now of Portugal. Portugal has a Catholic "membership" of 81% of the entire population, but only 19% or so attend Sunday Mass. Same sex marriage and abortion are legal in Portugal. The government is socialist. The apparitions are being forgotten in the very place where Mary appeared.
I have thought for a very long time that Medjugorje takes attention away from Fatima, which is the key set of apparitions for our time. The revelations from Mary are not "nice", not "comforting".
The discussion on purgatory and who is in it and for how long bothers many modern Catholics.
But, Fatima haunts our collective consciousness, especially in Europe and America, where more and more people are returning to prayer, fasting, mortification, all asked for by Mary Our Mother.
At Fatima, we hear clearly the voice of Authority, of the Theotokos challenging us to get ready for tribulations, some of which have already occurred and some of which are to come.
Today, stop and think of Fatima, of Portugal, the apostate nation, of the youth who no longer pay attention, as did Blessed Jacinta and Francisco, to the voice of Our Lady.
Fatima remains a sign for these times.
