By David Carollo –
During major events, words such as pandemic become part of the dialogue of everyday life. A pandemic is defined as a disease prevalent over the whole country, or the world. No doubt we are dealing with a significant health crisis, but we need to look at this from a different perspective. We have been suffering from a worldwide spiritual pandemic for many years now.
Is this pandemic and the related upheaval of society worldwide a punishment for sin? I see articles appearing everywhere dismissing this on one hand, claiming that these theories are nonsense, and on the other hand, those that view the current events as coming from the hand of God and apocalyptic.
All difficulty has a basis in the defiance of the laws of God. One need only to read the Book of Genesis about the consequences of original sin to understand this. All solutions on the other hand come through repentance and God’s mercy. For this reason, I am happy to learn that the United States bishops will re-consecrate our nation to Mary, Mother of the Church on May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. A priest friend commented to me, “When we are in trouble we run to our mother.” Let us pray that this consecration will bring about relief from the physical threats we face, but more importantly, will enlighten us to get on our collective knees to end this spiritual pandemic.
God allows bad things to happen, but always for a greater good. As you know, during the Spanish influenza 100 years ago, Sts. Francisco and Jacinta lost their lives, but they offered their sufferings for the salvation of souls as Our Lady had requested. It is important that we accept the difficulties related to this situation with the same spirit of resignation and a resolve to fulfill our commitment to our Faith. Our 2020 campaign to “Become Prayer” calls for this. Please participate in the World Rosary 2020 initiative as part of this.
Like all organizations, we are experiencing difficulties both financially and operationally as a result of this disruption. These are troublesome, but not so much as our inability to promote the message of Fatima to the many people who visit the Blue Army Shrine every day, and those who participate in our outreach activities, especially our Pilgrim Virgin Statue visitations in dioceses everywhere. People are hungry for Our Lady’s nourishment and peace.
Every year, we welcome thousands of people who come to the Shrine for our Fatima celebrations. We will not be able to hold our inaugural event of 2020, the May 13th anniversary. This is a special day for people who come from everywhere, seeking the strength that only the Faith can provide. In order to continue the tradition and to provide Our Lady’s devotees the blessings of the day, we will be holding a virtual May 13th celebration, which will be broadcast on all of our media platforms and covered, in part, by EWTN television. Join us for A Mary-thon of Prayer in Celebration of Our Lady of Fatima on her feast day as we bring the events of the day to you, so that you can participate with us in asking Our Lady’s help in our lives. The celebration begins at 12 Noon (ET). We will be promoting details of the program soon.
In the meantime, I would ask that you follow our live events, including the daily Mass (12 Noon E.T.) on Facebook and at BlueArmy.com.
Thank you and God bless,
David M. Carollo
Executive Director
