In the natural world new life is birthed everywhere we look; blossoming trees, budding tulips, and scampering critters acting as Divine promises of a faithful Motherhood that envelops us all. The earth bursts with fertility, and the femininity of spring reminds us that we are each, right now, being mothered in ways both seen and unseen.

Should we doubt her activity in our lives, Our Lady’s apparition at Fatima assures us that no one is missed by her loving gaze: she visited the young, the poor, the uneducated, the working. The littlest ones. Three mere children whose reports of her would be patronized with pats on the head by pitying adults—until they could be no longer. Until the storm clouds broke and the brilliance of the sun danced unbound in the sky as if to say, “behold your Mother, she who visits the poor and births the life of hope in loveless places!”

When we feel small and vulnerable, she mothers us. When we feel poor and in need, she mothers us. When we feel unequipped and insufficient, she mothers us still.

At Fatima, the Blessed Mother once again ripped the veil of time and space, heaven and earth, to break into our lives and remind us—all, her children—that she is ever near.

Reflection by Shannon K. Evans