The nuggets of lessons we learned from Fatima and Lourdes

LOURDES, France — As we reflect now here in the hallowed ground of Lourdes, we feel that we did not only grow spiritually in our Catholic and Christian life. We also learned important lessons in life. It would be a waste of time and money, efforts and opportunity if we did not pick up useful nuggets of wisdom from this life-changing experience.

The first lesson I learned from both Lourdes and Fatima, is the poor peoples' strong will to fight poverty and rise from it. I went to the house where Francisco and Jacinta were born. They were the poorest of the poor in the outskirts of the Parish of Fatima, in a farming rural village of Alzatrin, arid, hot and quite rocky and rugged terrain. The house was a testament to poverty, with a well at the side and a cooking place using firewood, without electricity nor amenities. A number of children were all made to sleep in a small unventilated room. The house of their cousin, Lucia nearby was a little better but still poor by any standard. They were shepherds who had to bring their flock many kilometers away and they have to help in the farm and in household chores.

Bernadette was a peasant girl whose family became destitute when her father's milling business floundered and the family had to transfer from house to house. Her parents died and she had to fend for herself and for her siblings. But the three shepherd children of Fatima, Portugal, and the peasant girl in Lourdes as well as the peasant girl in Lourdes, France did not surrender to the hardships and pains of destitution, poverty and hard life. They worked hard and made the village their home until they died. I remember that I myself had to work as a school janitor, a houseboy, a store assistant and as a court interpreter to fight my own battle against poverty. That is why I could easily feel some kinship with the poor kids. I understand poverty. I was there, wounded and scarred fighting against all odds.

The second lesson is that one does not have to leave one's homeland to make a name for one's self. The three shepherds in Fatima and the peasant girl in Lourdes remained in their respective villages. Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia never thought of leaving Fatima. They never entertained the option of working in Lisbon where their pure lives could have been corrupted by the world's lure and lust for money, power and hedonistic excitements. . Neither did Bernadette allow herself to be lured to work in Paris, where the city could have tarnished the purity of her soul. The four kids remained where they were born. And they bore fruits where the Lord planted them.

The third lesson is that despite their poverty, despite their ''smallness'' they never gave up their faith amidst government's persecution. The three shepherds in Fatima were incarcerated by the authorities because of their testimonies about the Marian apparitions and the police thought that they were concocting weird stories to invite attention. They were jailed until the parish priest intervened and testified in their favor, thus leading to their release. And not long thereafter, the whole town believed the miracles when they saw the dancing sun. Berdadette was also jailed because her story created a furor and disturbed the serenity of Lourdes. But the Virgin kept on appearing, no less than eighteen times, and soon everybody believed.

Today, the whole Catholic world accepts and embraces the truth of both Fatima and Lourdes. Millions of faithful Catholics, and even non-Catholics, and non-Christians do come to see the place that brought the messages of Fatima and Lourdes.