A doggie and Our Lady of Fatima

On Friday morning, my sister-in-law's parents' doggie ran away and was missing.  Here is a picture and description of the pup that had been posted in the hopes of locating Jake:



Posted 5/11/13
Lost - Myerstown, PA (Jackson Township) - English Cocker Spaniel

Jake is a black and white English Cocker, lost near Rosebud Rd/Houtztown Rd intersection. He is a bit of a scardy cat but doesn't usually run off.
 

 

For three long days, Jake's family worried about his whereabouts.  As of 7:30pm on Monday night, the above post had been shared on Facebook 322 times.  Moments ago, tonight, on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima, Jake came home.  His family reports he is tired, hungry, and sore but overall is doing well!  Thank God!

I can't even imagine going through the worry and feelings of helplessness for three whole days.  Last summer, Dusty Shamrock ran away when we were in Dover, DE.  Those 45 minutes once I realized he was missing were the longest moments of my life.  I had never felt so much relief yet anger upon finding him in a local resident's garage after the people had kindly caught him and kept him there until they saw me canvassing their neighborhood.  I'm so happy Jake has come home!!

For those who may not be familiar with the story of Our Lady of Fatima, here is one version of it (taken from AmericanCatholic.org):

Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia. The third visionary, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97.

Mary gave the children three secrets. Since Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta the following year, Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927, concerning devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell.

Pope John Paul II directed the Holy See's Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000; it spoke of a "bishop in white" who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this to the assassination attempt against Blessed John Paul II in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981.

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930; it was added to the Church's worldwide calendar in 2002.


The website further states:  The message of Fatima is simple: Pray. Unfortunately, some people—not Sister Lucia—have distorted these revelations, making them into an apocalyptic event for which they are now the only reliable interpreters. They have, for example, claimed that Mary's request that the world be consecrated to her has been ignored. Sister Lucia agreed that Pope John Paul II's public consecration in St. Peter's Square on March 25, 1984, fulfilled Mary's request. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prepared a June 26, 2000 document explaining the “third secret” (available at www.vatican.va).  Mary is perfectly honored when people generously imitate her response “Let it be done to me as you say” (Luke 1:38). Mary can never be seen as a rival to Jesus or to the Church's teaching authority, as exercised by the college of bishops united with the bishop of Rome.

I know a lot of people were praying for the safety of Jake and for him to make his way home the last few days, myself included.  May Jake and his family have a good night's rest tonight!