by Rachael Tvrdy,
Director of the Office of Family Life and Discipleship
On October 13, 1917, the Blessed Mother made her final apparition to the three shepherd children of Fatima, Portugal. She appeared with the entire Holy Family: St. Joseph was holding the infant Jesus, who was blessing the world.
The Holy Family’s appearance was a proclamation in and of itself. It was a call and a reminder to the world of the holiness of the family. This monumental event has shaped so much of the work that I am engaged in today as the Director of Family Life and Discipleship. It informs all my work and I wish to share it with you all as I begin my mission here working with the families of our diocese.
In October 2016, I began my studies at the Pope John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Studies in Rome, at the flagship campus which Pope John II himself founded. This institute was commissioned under the direction of Cardinal Carlo Caffara, as a center for clergy, religious, and laity to be instructed in the Church’s magisterial teachings on the sanctity of marriage, the family, and God’s plan for human love. It was a prophetic move on Pope John Paul II’s part, now more than ever before. Today, as we can plainly see, the culture has distorted and denied the truth of God’s plan, that He made us male and female, in God’s image and likeness. Moreover, we are not made to be in isolation, being made in His divine image, rather we reveal God most evidently in the image of family life.
Cardinal Caffara, realizing the weight of his mission, wrote Sister Lucia de los Santos, one of the last remaining seers of Fatima, a letter asking for her prayerful support for all the struggles he was facing opening the Institute. To his great surprise, she wrote a very lengthy letter in response, which is now in the Institute’s archives. Sister Lucia replied:
“The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about Marriage and the Family. Don’t be afraid, because whoever works for the sanctity of Marriage and the Family will always be fought against and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. Nevertheless, our Lady has already crushed the serpent’s head.”
This letter was read to my class on the first day of school, and it was not new to my ears. I had heard this story before, and it was actually the clarion call that moved me to pack up my life and move to Rome.
Later on, I learned there was much more to the story. Two months after Sister Lucia sent this letter, Pope John Paul II made an inaugural visit to the Institute, right before he was about to head to his Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square. It was on this day, May 13, 1981, that Pope John Paul II was about to make an announcement to the world of the opening of the Institute of Marriage and Family Studies, as well as the Pontifical Council for the Family. What transpired on that same day confirms what is no coincidence: on that fateful day, he was shot, on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. As Sister Lucia stated, the battle had begun and the Holy Father had taken the first blow.
I was humbled to be studying at this Institute, on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Fatima, and felt I was standing in the middle of a historical moment. I share this story not to highlight my own part, but to invite our families here in the Diocese of Lincoln to reflect on the call of the family to holiness. The family is, without a doubt, under attack. However, it is in times of great adversity and peril that arises the momentous opportunity to be courageous and noble. My hope and desire are for each family to recognize their call to be holy and to embrace the missionary nature of their family life.
As the Holy Father always so affectionately said, “Be not afraid,” for the world needs your joy-filled witness and sacrifice, which is such a necessary light in these times.
