“Then Mary turned to the servants and said to them,
‘Do whatever He tells you’.” (John 2:5)
Ladies, we live in a time of talk. We talk about doing good, loving God, and being Saints. But what are we doing, what actions are we taking, what differences in our own lives are we making to accomplish these goals? In Mary’s last words we have the perfect formula, a call to obedience, so that we may end up with Jesus Christ for all of eternity. Christ tells us to go and sell everything that we own, to follow him, and then we will enter the kingdom of heaven. As young women living in the twenty-first century we are always striving, but FIAT 90 is here to present a challenge greater than most.
This simply began from a group of women from Benedictine College, desiring a way to prepare for the 100 year anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima. Inspired by Nineveh 90 and
Exodus 90, FIAT 90 is a 90 day retreat written by and for Catholic college women who are seeking to live in the world and not be of it. So often we do small things to love Jesus, to become more like Mary, to strive for Sainthood. But this 90 day retreat looks at putting small things together to make one big thing. Mary has appeared over 100 times, and each time she brings the same message: do penance and fast, for it is in these actions that Mary’s most loving and gentle heart will restore hope and healing to our world. While the challenges of sanctifying your body, mind, and soul seem larger than the Rocky Mountains, at the end of these 90 days it is not possible to have not gained something from it all. As you look at the lists on the next page it is normal to feel overwhelmed and to quickly but up a mental block. Stop. Stop right now, and promise that you will not say, “I can’t do this.” Because you can. It’s one thing to say that you don’t want to; its one thing to decide this is not what God is calling you to right now. But this is possible. It will be hard, exhausting, and frustrating, but as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You have been made for greatness.” These next 90 days will feel anything but great, but when you get to day 91 you will see that you can indeed climb any mountain.
For those of you on the fence remember the famous quote told to Queen Esther. “Perhaps, this is the moment for which you have been created for.” We live in times when the lies of Satan are rampant, when lukewarmness is a natural state of life for most, and where God is put into a check box on my to-do list. Now is the time. Ask yourself, what do you have to lose? Mary wants us to put her Son back at the center of everything we do. She wants us to be obedient to him. She wants us to someday join her in Heaven.
Before you begin say this prayer: “Mary, Queen of Heaven and of Earth, pray for me. I invoke your help as I discern this task. Grant me the humility, the wisdom, and obedient spirit that does not hesitate to surrender and trust in God my Father.” Ladies, this is big. This is crazy. But the cross was bigger, and His crucifixion crazier. And the craziest part of it all was that He rose again.
LADIES, WILL YOU JOIN OUR MOTHER AS SHE EXTENDS HER HAND OUT TO YOU WELCOMING YOU TO JOIN FIAT90 ???