Fatima Fraud

This morning, a Christian friend of mine at work brought in some mail he received. It was not sent to him by name, but to his address. It was from the Fatima Center in Constable, New York. There was a copy of the Fatima Crusader magazine, a two-page letter and a donation card. The donation card is reproduced below. Please take a moment to read it.

The first thing I noticed on the card is the headline, “Life has only one purpose: SALVATION.” Assuming this is true, I expected to find out how I can get this salvation. I read the entire card, and the name of Jesus does not appear anywhere. Hmm… Maybe on the back.

Nope. Jesus isn’t on the back either. But there is an image (graven?) of a woman in a robe with the inscription, “Only I Can Help You.” I honestly can’t bring myself to open the magazine and read it. As I write this, it sits folded on my desk.

It is so hard to know where to begin with this mailing. I hesitate to call it satanic, but it certainly isn’t from God and it certainly isn’t Biblical, so my descriptive options are quite limited. (Isn’t everything either Godly or satanic?) I decided to start with prayer for my Roman Catholic friends and family who are misled by things like this.

Holy Father in heaven, I pray in the name of your Son, my savior, Jesus that you would bring the people who receive this mailing out of their blindness and into the light of your truth. Please send your Holy Spirit to my friends and family who follow the pope, to those who receive this mailing and to me also. Turn us from all unfaithfulness and selfishness. Put in us a new heart that seeks to glorify you, O Lord, and you alone. Take away all our love for idols, our love for false prophets and our love of diversions that focus our attention on something other than you. And thank you for making your grace free to all who repent and believe. Amen.

There is so much wrong with this card that I’m only going to address the two lines I mentioned previously for the sake of time and space.

The headline on the front reads, “Life has only one purpose: SALVATION” When I first read it, I thought that it was the only truth in the packet, but even that part isn’t true. Our only purpose in life is to glorify God and to begin our eternal enjoyment of Him. (See the Westminster Shorter Catechism for more) The desire for personal salvation in and of itself can be selfish unless, by doing it, we desire to bring glory to God. Remember, God created us for His pleasure and He saves us for His glory. (Ephesians 1:4-5 NKJV ).

As far as the “Only I Can Help You” inscription and the image of Mary; that is simply blasphemous. It is beyond my understanding how someone who calls himself a Christian can attribute those words to Jesus’ earthly mother.  Mary herself expressed her own need for a savior in the Magnificat. “My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46-47 KJV). How, then, can it be that she would say that she alone (not the Father, Son or Holy Spirit) can  save?

I mostly feel pity for the misled people who believe this un-biblical fairy-tale, but I also get angry at the deceivers who send this out. They are charlatans and false teachers. Wolves in sheep’s clothing.

If you love somebody who is a follower of the Roman church, please join me in praying for them.