Pope Leo XIV often speaks of seeming hopelessness and the need to trust in God’s providence. In a memorable speech, he put it into the context of Holy Saturday: “… the mystery of Holy Saturday. It is the day of the Paschal mystery in which everything seems immobile and silent, while in reality an invisible action of salvation is being fulfilled” (General Audience, Sept. 24, 2025).
It was 100 years ago on Dec. 10, 1925, that Our Lady expressed her request to the venerable Sister Lucia of Fatima: “… all those who for five months, on the first Saturdays, go to confession, receive Communion, say five decades of the rosary and keep me company for 15 minutes meditating on the mysteries of the rosary, with the purpose of reparation to me, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls.”
Where are we in sharing and experiencing the Paschal mystery?
As Pope Leo XIV goes on to say, “Christ descends into the realm of the dead to bring the news of the Resurrection to all those who were in darkness and in the shadow of death. This event, which the liturgy and tradition have handed down to us, represents the most profound and radical gesture of God’s love for humanity.”
Have we answered affirmatively to Our Lady’s request for reparation for five months on First Saturdays?
Jon Gauthier is an author and member of St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte.
A few months ago, I was leaving Blessed Sacrament Church in Providence, Rhode Island, after singing at two English Masses. As I drove to take my daughter Gaby to a meeting with her friends, we experienced something that still makes me reflect deeply today.
Halfway there, at a street corner, we saw a man on the ground who was trembling uncontrollably. He appeared to be suffering from a drug overdose.
My daughter and I looked at each other, moved and a bit paralyzed. We wondered whether someone else had already called 911. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking: What if we were the first to see him? We called emergency services, reporting the situation and giving the exact location. I continued driving another 10 blocks to drop off my daughter where she was meeting her friends.
Passing the same corner on my way back, I was relieved to see firefighters and an ambulance already there. The man who had been convulsing was now sitting up, alert and receiving help.
In my heart, I felt that perhaps we helped save a life that day.
This experience reminded me how easy it is for our society to become indifferent to the suffering of others. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 25: He identifies himself with those who are hungry, sick, homeless or abandoned. Our Christian faith is not proven only inside the church building but in our willingness to stop, to see and to act.
Christmas does not end on Christmas Day. The Church invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation for several weeks. It is a prolonged season meant to transform us through the love God showed by becoming a small, fragile child.
Your help can begin by supporting your parish and donating to a food pantry, soup kitchen or any cause close to your heart. And let us not forget the poorest of the poor around the world whom we can help through Catholic Relief Services.
Remember: Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.
Christmas continues every time we reach out to someone suffering – every time we welcome the stranger, accompany the sick, or feed the hungry. It continues when we break through indifference and become instruments of hope. May the Lord grant us the grace to be modern Good Samaritans.
Silvio Cuéllar is a writer, liturgical music composer and journalist. He was coordinator of the Hispanic ministry office and editor of the newspaper El Católico de Rhode Island, the newspaper of the Diocese of Providence.