How can this message possibly attract today’s distracted youth?
Well-meaning parents who attempt to talk to their children about Fatima are all too familiar with the glassy-eyed look, the sullen slouch or the increased volume on the iPod.
Such reactions can sometimes demoralize and discourage
apostles of the Fatima message. We do not understand how youth can resist that which has so many benefits for their young lives—they respond that the Fatima message is “so, like, yesterday.”
All too often, the Fatima message is drowned in the torrent of undigested information swamping today’s teenagers.
They are bombarded by unprocessed and useless trivia. Tossed about by vivid emotional issues, they frequently suffer from identity and relationship
crises. Consequently, they see no value in Fatima’s story.
It seems to them somewhat childish, mind-numbingly
boring, and totally disconnected from any of their problems. As apostles of the Fatima message, it is up to us to change that perception.
Our first difficulty is communication.
A picture of Our Lady of Fatima or even the Rosary means little to some people. They see no reason to pray at all. We need to somehow make the Fatima message
relevant in their lives.
It is high time to get back to the basics. We will only communicate the importance of the Fatima message if we remember why it is so important to us.
The Veracity of the Message
Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta were ten, nine and seven years old, respectively.
They were normal children with the common faults of their age and the simple aspirations of Portuguese peasants.
The Mother of God suddenly disrupted this normality with difficult problems, serious requests and a message of conversion or chastisement for the world.
The children’s ignorance and extreme youth were the first proofs of the authenticity of their claims. Our Lady
spoke about war, politics and the pope.
Jacinta was so young she did not even know who the pope was. They were oblivious to the European crisis, and had only a vague notion of the war. They knew even less about moral problems.
Yet they spoke with conviction about things they had no means of knowing. Their story did not change under persecution.
They were separated and questioned aggressively.
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