Brothers and sisters, it is a great privilege to speak to you today in the Chapel of the Apparitions, the place where Our Lady appeared to the three shepherd children. It is also the place where the miracle of the sun took place. This morning, we were walking here in the rain, and someone said that it would be nice if we could experience the miracle of the sun again today.
My vocation is very much connected with Our Lady of Fatima and the three shepherd children. During my university studies, I really needed a deeper conversion to the faith of my youth, of my childhood. My mother often gave me books and brochures to inspire me to return to this faith, but I was very stubborn.
One day, however, she gave me a small brochure about the three children of Fatima and the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. I was deeply moved by the sacrifice of these little children, their sufferings and prayers, which inspired me to return to the faith. When I began to practice my faith more deeply again, through books and magazines I discovered our Marian Congregation in the United States and began to write to the vocation director. That was in 1985.
At that time, I corresponded with him, and then I had the opportunity to come to Fatima and visit the Shrine of Our Lady, but I still had not met any member of the Congregation of Marians in the United States in person. The vocation director wrote me a letter suggesting that when I went to Fatima, I should try to find the religious house of our Congregation. So, I did.
At that time, we did not have a hotel. We had a small guesthouse called Pensão São Paulo, a religious house, and a minor seminary. There I met Fr. Jose Morais, a Marian who is now deceased, and talked with him. I told him that I was writing to the Marians in the United States and was thinking of joining them, and he asked me how old I was. I replied that I was 24. He said that 24 was the perfect age. Twenty-three was too early. Twenty-five was too late. Join now, he said. I think he said that to every candidate for the Congregation, regardless of age.
But I received a great grace here in Fatima. I had doubts about my vocation and how everything would turn out. Maybe God would send me abroad and I would have to speak in a foreign language, and I wouldn’t be able to speak it and no one would know what was going on. But the Lord removed my fears and doubts, I returned to the United States and joined our Congregation.
As we reflect on vocations during this convention, I think it is good for all of us to reflect on our individual callings from the Lord, because everyone has a personal calling. We should also reflect on our response. How do we respond to this call? For the Lord does not call us only once in our lives, and we do not respond only once. The Lord calls us every day, especially those of us who are religious. Every day of our religious life, the Lord calls us and expects our response every day of our religious life.
In today’s Gospel, we heard about the call of the Mother of God, the call of Mary, who was open to this call. She said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Mary is therefore a model for us. She can inspire us to give our lives to the Lord, to His plan for us. Fatima also reminds us of the visit of the Mother of God. She came here to visit the shepherds, and through them she visited the world to encourage us all. In the Gospel account of the Visitation, Mary brought the presence of Jesus to this scene with her cousin Elizabeth, and everyone in this scene was transformed because Jesus was present there; everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit and joy. And that is really our calling, to go out into the world, to bring the presence of Jesus to the world and to transform the world — because we can do nothing without the presence of Jesus. So, we want to proclaim Jesus through the way we live. We want to live in community. We want to live in our ministry. We want to live in our prayer. We want to be transformed by the presence of Jesus in our lives.
We want to worship the Lord like the Mother of God, and we want to be filled with joy and hope, like Mary. As we live out our vocation, let us ask for the grace to be ever more authentic in our vocation. And if we do so, the Lord will surely send others to live with us, to live our charism, and to proclaim Jesus to the world. Amen.
