Mary's joy in the Ascension of Jesus

2017: Fatima Centenary Year
May 27-28:  Ascension of the Lord.

Oh, if she had joy while her Son was still living with her in the flesh, if she had joy when her Son rose from the dead after trampling death underfoot, did she the rejoice with lesser joy when her Son entered heaven in the flesh that, as she knew well, had been taken from her? Whoever said, why, whoever even believed that Mary’s joy did not surpass all the joys that came before it? 

In this world, good mothers are wont to be very happy when they see their children raised up by earthly honours. Even so, will not this Mother, who was undoubtedly good, not be glad with inexpressible joy, when she sees her only Son enter heaven with commanding power and reach the throne of God the Father Almighty? Was a joy like this ever heard of? Was a joy like this ever seen in public, so that the     human mind might at least direct its attention toward it in some way?   

St Eadmer of Canterbury c 1060 -  c 1124

Fatima, May 13 2017

2017: Fatima Centenary Year
May 20-21:  6th Sunday of Easter

In his homily at the canonization Mass, the pope reflected on the brief lives of the young sibling saints, who are often remembered more for the apparitions rather than for their holy lives.

But it is Mary’s message and example, rather than an   apparition, is important, he told the crowd, which  Portuguese authorities estimated at about 500,000 people.

“The Virgin Mother did not come here so that we could see her. We will have all eternity for that, provided, of course, that we go to heaven,” the pope said.
   
Instead, he continued, Mary’s messages to the young children were a warning to all people about leading “a way of life that is godless and indeed profanes God in his  creatures.”
  
“Such a life — frequently proposed and imposed — risks leading to hell. Mary came to remind us that God’s light dwells within us and protects us,” the pope said.
   
The hopeful message of Fatima, he said, is that men and women have a mother and like children clinging to her, “we live in the hope that rests on Jesus.”
Pope Francis called on the pilgrims to follow the example of heroic virtue lived by St. Francisco and St. Jacinta, particularly their insistent prayer for sinners and their  adoration of “the hidden Jesus” in the tabernacle.
  
This continual presence of God taught to them by Mary, he said, “was the source of their strength in overcoming  opposition and suffering.”

Pilgrimage Begins on Six Continents during Fatima Centenary and Jubilee Year

2017: Fatima Centenary Year
May 13-14:  5th  Sunday of Easter
Centenary of Fatima Mothers’ Day

On January 11, Pope Francis blessed six statues of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and conferred upon them the title of “International Centennial Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Fatima.” Each of these pilgrim images have since been sent from the Eternal City to a con-tinent, where their pilgrimage will be focused.

The Alliance of the Holy Family Interna-tional and Human Life International Austria together con-ceived and coordinated the project on the occasion of the cen-tenary of the apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, where the Blessed Mother of Jesus famously appeared to three
The campaign to each continent featuring the pilgrim im-ages is based on the appeal communicated via Sister Lucia, the primary visionary of Fatima, which was focused on penance and prayer. Missionaries will accompany the statues to par-ishes and other venues where families will be invited to par-ticipate in the Fatima devotions of prayer and reparation.
  
At the same inaugural event, Pope Francis renewed his dec-laration of the centenary of Fatima to be a Jubilee year, with plenary indulgences available under the normal conditions for those who participate in memorials of the centenary, including pilgrimage events. The year began with the new liturgical year on November 27, 2016 and will continue until November 26, 2017

(https://www.hli.org/2017/02/pilgrimage-begins-six-continents-fatima-centenary-jubilee-year/)

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

May 6-7:  4th  Sunday of Easter
Good Shepherd Sunday

Ben Stein, lawyer, political speech writer and actor:  “For me, the number one issue is right to life.”

Christopher Hitchens, anti-theist, author, journalist, friend of famous atheist Richard Dawkins:   “I do, as a humanist, believe that the concept ‘unborn child’ is a real one and I think the  concept is underlined by all the recent findings of embryology about the early viability of a well conceived human baby… I feel the responsibility to consider the occupant of the womb as a can-didate member of society in the future, and thus to say that it can-not be only the responsibility of the woman to decide upon it, that it’s a social question and an ethical and a moral one. And I say this as someone who has no supernatural belief.”

Patricia Heaton, Emmy Award winning actress: “I find it impos-sible to subscribe to a philosophy that believes that the destruc-tion of human life is a legitimate solution to a problem that is mostly social, economic and psychological. In reality, most women ‘choose’ abortion because they believe they have no other choice.”

Jack Nicholson, Academy Award winning actor: “I’m very  contra my constituency in terms of abortion because I’m  positively against it. I don’t have the right to any other view.”

Nat Hentoff, jazz critic, atheist and author: “I’m considered a liberal except for that unaccountable heresy of recent years that has to do with pro-life matters.”

Kathy Ireland, author, entrepreneur, actress, former Sports Illus-trated swimsuit model: “I was once pro-choice. And the thing that changed my mind was, I read my husband’s biology books, medi-cal books and what I learned is simply what it states – this isn’t even morally — this is pure biology. At the moment of conception, a life starts. And this life has its own unique set of DNA, which contains a blueprint for the whole genetic being. The sex is deter-mined. Now people ask the question, well, is it a human being? We know there’s a life because it’s growing and changing.”

Dr. Bernard Nathanson, co-founder of National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), former abortionist who performed 75,000 abortions:  “As a scientist I know, not believe, know that human life begins at conception. Although I am not a formal   religionist, I believe with all my heart that there is a divinity of existence which commands us to declare a final and irreversible halt to this infinitely sad and shameful crime against humanity.”