Joel 1:13-15, 2:1-2 / Luke 11:15-26
Today is the 100th anniversary of the last apparition of our Lady to the three young children at Fatima. 100 years ago this day, our Lady promised them a sign from heaven to prove that her messages are to be heeded for the conversion of sinners.
At this last apparition of our Lady, there was this miracle of the sun. The clouds parted, revealing the sun as an immense silver disk shining with an intensity never before seen, though not blinding. Then the immense disk began to "dance." The sun spun rapidly like a gigantic circle of fire. Then it stopped momentarily, only to begin spinning again. Its rim became scarlet; whirling, it scattered red flames across the sky. All this lasted about 10 minutes, and witnessed by the 70,000 crowd gathered there, as well as by numerous witnesses up to twenty-five miles away from the place of the apparition.
We would think that with such a sign, there would be mass conversions and that people would believe in God and be God-fearing and lead religious lives from then on.
But it doesn't seem to be the case. From 1917 to this day, the world has seen two world wars, and many other hostilities that seem to snub those signs from heaven and the call to repentance.
And that was what happened to Jesus after He had cast out a devil. Instead of being awed by the power and authority of Jesus over evil spirits, some people can even say that He cast out devils through the power of Beelzebul, the prince of devils.
At times, we may wonder how much longer will God tolerate the stubbornness of man before He turns His hand and punishes all those who do evil and refuse to repent.
But let us also not be complacent and think that we are better than those evil and bad people and hence we will escape the punishment from God.
If we have turned away from sin and evil, then we must keep walking towards God and be united with Jesus.
Because Jesus gave this warning: When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one, it says, "I will go back to the home I came from." But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.
That is certainly a grave warning for us not to be complacent. The devil will never cease in his attempts to make us stray from the Lord, and that is why Jesus says, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."
Let us heed those signs from God calling us to a deeper repentance and to grow in holiness of life so as to prepare ourselves for the day of the Lord.
Let us fast and do penance and cry out to the Lord, not just for ourselves, but also for the salvation of the world. That is what Jesus meant when He asks us to gather with Him. That is also the message of our Lady at Fatima.