Who Are We? – World Apostolate of Fatima, USA

by David M. Carollo –

As believers, we accept something that is beyond human reason. Like Mary, Joseph and those enlightened through God’s grace, we know that there is something our senses cannot understand. For that reason, we must not look for acceptance from a non-believing world, but bring the world to accept a God who transcends our understanding.

It was revealed in the Old Testament that a Savior would come and bring us back into favor with God. Why He allowed humanity to suffer from the sins of our first parents is a question that you may want to ask when you are in His presence. My guess is that it will become apparent without asking if we make it to paradise. Heaven is in balance. Our world is not, and it falls further from balance with each transgression of Divine law. The need for a Savior, whether understood or not, is a reality.

The great King David was promised that the Christ would be of his lineage. This flawed but determined man had a heart God saw as true. Despite his transgressions, he found forgiveness through a contrite heart and accepted God’s mercy freely given. God has no desire to punish, but justice demands that He does. Punishment is there to correct errant ways. Eternal punishment is only for those who refuse to do so. 

Every person conceived from the beginning of time has been destined for eternal joy. All those who fall short cause an everlasting void in the fabric of creation. Christ lamented this reality during His passion. For over 2,000 years, the Church has helped build a society and culture founded on the laws of God to bring people to their proper end. The foundation of this structure is the Mosaic Law. Objective truth, as found in the Ten Commandments, gives us the direction needed to live as God intended. Today we have accepted a twisted view of what is acceptable and have normalized abnormal behavior. 

The holiday season is coming up and the moment of truth for many of us is at hand. When sons, daughters, siblings and friends who are not following the laws of God sit with us for dinner, do we love them enough to charitably point out the life errors that are leading them to a troubled end? Many times, we pass on the opportunity to help them come back into the grace of God to avoid uncomfortable moments.  

We are watching our nation and the world devolve directionless into the abyss with no end to the decline in sight. We acquiesce to a world view which denies the very existence, or at least relevance, of God and wonder why so many terrible things unfold. We sit, idle, while those who despise us revise our history and redefine our national and religious identity. Edmund Burke, the British statesman who spoke against the persecution of Catholics, once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

I think of the many people who, when it was too late, regretted not standing up in protest of the atrocities from the French and Russian Revolutions, the Nazis in Germany and other countless evils. Cowardice and indifference have no place in a Catholic. The warnings given at Fatima and elsewhere are clear: “If my requests are not heeded,” many bad things will happen.  

We risk losing our nation and the world if we allow the trend of evil to fully envelope it. The time to do nothing and quietly accept evil as normal has long passed. But it was never the time for this. Inaction on the part of those who know better is, in many ways, worse than the evil actions of those who lack the full vision of things.

We are better than this. We are created for a greatness which is beyond imagination. From the time of creation, sin and imperfection has blotted out the brightness of our destiny. Cutting through the fog of imperfection requires a commitment to the end. We owe it to our progeny to elevate the culture once again and bring it even further along to perfection. If we do not, we are not worthy of the glory which awaits us.

Many people hope for the intervention of God to solve the dilemmas of the modern world. Do we want a flood or a major war to bring people to their knees?  Would it not please Him even more if we turn to Him in humility and amend our lives? Like King David, St. Augustine and others who overcame imperfection to become beacons of righteousness, we are called to greatness and to lead others to the same. Will we answer the call and offer what we can?

Burke once said: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

We know what is required of us. Do not hide your beliefs to avoid conflict. By doing so, you allow greater conflict. Participate in the political system. We are only several weeks away from elections. You know who to support. You do not need anyone to endorse or condemn candidates. Who supports the rights of God and will stand for these beliefs in the public square? This is your guidepost. Prayer and action go together. If we all do a little, we may accomplish a lot. Never believe that your contribution is too small to matter.

Who are we? We are the followers of Christ and the Blessed Mother. We work to bring about the Kingdom of God as has been the charge of Christians for 2,000 years. For 105 years, we have been directed by the requests of Our Lady of Fatima to pray for the conversion of sinners and bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. We do not just represent one humble opinion in a sea of diversity, but possess the Truth as given by God and restated by our Blessed Mother. If we do not share it, we are not worthy of having it.

God bless you and Mary keep you in her Immaculate Heart.

David Carollo is the Executive Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA/National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, in Washington, NJ. He wrote this for his Voice of Fatima newsletter.