Mary is the “Mother of the Needy”, Pope Francis declared in Fatima last weekend, cautioning pilgrims against thinking of her as “a plaster statue” of our own making from whom favours can be begged at little cost, and who “restrains the arm of a vengeful God”.
Instead, the Pope said, Mary is the mother of the needy, to whom we cling like children, living in the hope that rests on Jesus, he said.
Our Lady did not come to Fatima simply so we could see her, he told a gathered crowd of 500,000 people at the canonisation Mass for Ss Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the three children who saw Mary in Fatima 100 years ago.
Rather, he said, she came to remind us of the dangers of living a godless life that profanes God in his creatures, and to remind us of the hope that lies in Christ.
Urging those gathered to follow the example of the Church’s newest saints, he recall how from Mary’s embrace comes the peace that all humanity requires – especially the sick and disabled, prisoners and unemployed, poor and abandoned.
He ended his visit by reminding the sick that they are of value, with gifts to offer the Church, and should never be ashamed of this.
