With Mary, We Begin Our Diocesan Pilgrimage

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 6/7/07)

The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde May 31 during the Welcoming Ceremony for the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More.

My brother priests, deacons, seminarians, women and men religious and devoted laity; disciples all in Christ Jesus and sons and daughters of Mary. During the Mass earlier today on the feast of the Visitation of Our Blessed Lady, we heard in the Gospel that Mary traveled in haste to the hill country of Judah to visit Elizabeth.
Mary journeying in haste to visit Elizabeth and thereby bringing Jesus Christ the Savior present in her womb to Zachery, Elizabeth and the unborn John the Baptist: this is the image projected before us by today’s feast of the Visitation. That visitation of Mary took place over 2000 years ago. Tonight in our midst, a similar Visitation of Mary is taking place.
Did we not witness just a short time ago the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima journeying into our midst in this cathedral? Seeing this image of Our Lady of Fatima, can we not say that she is present more tangibly among us? Indeed, she is and we welcome her with much love and joy, along with the Holy One she brings to us, Jesus Christ the Lord, Eucharistically present in front of us!
This evening, our diocese is marking the beginning of our diocesan pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. As you know, every two years, we go on pilgrimage to “Mary’s House.” Tonight, we welcome to our diocese for the first time in recent years the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, carved in Portugal. This statue will remain in our diocese until Oct. 13, when we shall go as a diocesan family on pilgrimage to the National Shrine. On that day, we shall be observing the 90th anniversary of Our Lady’s final apparition at Fatima in 1917.
From now until then, this statue will visit parishes, schools and organizations within our diocese, providing thereby the opportunity for our people to pray and to reflect on the miraculous six apparitions at Fatima to three children: Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia. Already, over 30 parishes, retreat centers, and WorkCamp, to name several, have requested the statue to visit their locations.
As we pray before this statue of Our Lady of Fatima and recall her apparitions at Fatima, we seek to understand more fully the message that she gave to the three children and, thus, to us. Her message, so similar to her message at Lourdes in 1858, was an insistent call to conversion, to prayer and penance, to live the Gospel as we consecrate our lives to her Immaculate Heart. Mary told the children then and now us: “At the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
Tonight, let us entrust ourselves and this diocese to her Immaculate Heart. Each day, let us let the Lord convert us, turn us toward Him, through prayer and penance. Let us begin and end the day with prayer, for example, the Morning Offering and three Hail Marys with the Memorare in the morning, and three Hail Marys with the Memorare and the Act of Contrition in the evening. We can make greater efforts to be more recollected and attentive when we participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Surely, we can pray the Rosary each day, seeking to relive in our lives the various mysteries in the lives of Jesus and Mary. We can visit the Lord Jesus really present in the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis, even daily, savoring the Word He speaks to our hearts as did Mary, His Mother. Yes, in these ways and others, we can become more converted, more re-fashioned in the image of Jesus, more holy.
Our diocesan pilgrimage has begun. Mary has visited us tonight and will continue to visit our diocesan family, so that, like John the Baptist, we may leap with spiritual joy in the presence of Her Son and seek to be drawn into closer union with Him. So then, let us walk together, united by faith, hope and charity. Let us walk together, united as well by our love for the Mother of God, given to us by Her Dying Son on the Cross — yes, by our love for the “Lady in White,” who appeared at Fatima 90 years ago. Her only desire is to lead us to Jesus, the only source of true life and abiding holiness.
Yes, Mary’s Immaculate Heart is wide open to draw us into deeper union with Her Divine Son through prayer and penance, a true conversion in mind and heart. We ask her maternal help so that our hearts will be opened wide in response to her message. That is why tonight, tomorrow and every day, indeed, often each day, we pray: “Our Lady of Fatima, open our hearts to Christ!”

(c) Copyright 2007 by Arlington Catholic Herald