- In this time of grace, I am calling you to be people of hope, peace, and joy, so that every person may become a peacemaker and a lover of life.
Our Lady reminds us that this is a time of grace in which we live with her. Why does she say that? As if we don’t already know? She reminds us so we don’t forget it— because we might regret it once it has passed, when we realize what we missed. That’s why it’s important to be aware of it and make the best use of it. “I am calling you.” Let us be aware of that, because we get used to Our Lady calling us. It is a grace that Our Lady calls us to do something, because that means she is counting on us, that we are important to her, and that we too can contribute and help our Mother so that her plans are fulfilled. Let’s not think it’s too hard or demanding! It is a grace to be called! It is a privilege to be part of Our Lady’s plan! Her call consists of her desire that we be people of hope, peace, and joy. The meaning of that call is so that we may give. It’s good for us if we become people of hope, peace, and joy, because we feel good when we are. How beautiful it is to have hope, peace, and joy!
But the purpose of our life and our efforts doesn’t end there; that is only the beginning. Jesus’ fundamental
approach is: What the Father has done for me, I do for you. What I have done for you, do for one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another. Our Lady is completely aligned with her Son: we are to become
people of hope, peace, and joy not just for ourselves, so that we may feel good, but for others too—so that they
too may feel good, so that they too may become peacemakers and lovers of life. Following the example of
Jesus and the example Our Lady gives us. Lately, we can see how Our Lady is more and more frequently calling us to give, to help others. We’ve already seen one reason: because of Jesus’ way of thinking and acting. But perhaps there’s another reason as well: to resist the spirit of the times, especially individualism and selfishness, which are increasingly dominating the world and threatening to take over. The logic of this spirit is: As long as I’m doing well, I don’t care about others. I recently heard a man say, “Kids? No way, I don’t want them ruining my happiness and enjoyment.” We can only imagine how many lonely, inconsolable, discouraged, hopeless, desperate, unhappy, and poor people there would be if we followed that selfish mindset. What would happen to the world, to all of us, if there were no people who sacrificed for others, who spread warmth, goodness, peace, and love through their love and kindness? What would happen if there were no people who forgive us, who accept us? We’d be living in an ice age. We would die of sorrow. Of course, it’s not easy to sacrifice and give of ourselves,
our time, and our love to others. Of course, it’s not easy to forgive, to accept others and the cross, to be patient with others when they don’t meet our expectations. But let’s be honest: we expect all of that from others toward us—and all of that makes us happy. So if it makes us happy, it will make others happy too if we do the same for them. Even though sacrifice and giving our time, forgiving, carrying the cross, and being patient in the face of others’ weaknesses can seem hard and unpopular because they rob us of comfort—they’re not hard. It depends on love. Let’s remember Our Lady’s words: “When you don’t have love, nothing is possible for you, but when you have love, everything is possible.” Someone once said: It’s nice to be a happy person, but even nicer to help others become happy. I feel good when I am a person of hope, peace, and joy. It really is beautiful. But could I really be happy if I were the only one? Isn’t it even better, even more beautiful—and don’t I become even happier—when I help others to become that too? That’s where true happiness lies.
Pray, little children, to the Holy Spirit so that He may fill you with the strength of His Holy Spirit, of courage
and surrender. But the question remains: How do we live what we’ve just spoken about? Our Lady reveals the secret: Pray! With Our Lady, nothing happens without prayer. Why? Because we would grow tired if we relied only on our human strength, which is often weak. That is the purpose of prayer: To ask God for strength. So that whatever we do, we do it with God. This is the exact opposite of Satan’s direction—he has wanted, from the beginning, for Adam and Eve to live without God, on their own, autonomous. His promise was: You will become like gods. And we know all too well the consequences for those who believed him and took that path: from the once-mighty Roman Empire to Napoleon and Hitler, Stalin and communism, and other ideologies of our day. All these so-called “gods” fell and failed. And the same will happen to the ideology of modernism, which today seems so powerful. We need not only knowledge but strength. That’s why Our Lady wants us to pray to the Holy Spirit—because the Holy Spirit gives strength, and strength is found in courage and surrender. Courage is the inner strength that helps us walk through life without fear, not intimidated by obstacles that seem difficult or impossible. Surrender is the strength by which we entrust ourselves and all that we are and have into God’s hands. In short: to have courage means to surrender to God so He can lead us. Since she experienced the Holy Spirit, it’s no surprise that Mary urges us to pray to Him. What might be less obvious is why she asks us to pray for courage and surrender. That may seem strange at first—but again, she speaks from experience.
Who was braver than Mary in entering into an adventure with God and accepting His invitation—even though she was betrothed to Joseph—to conceive a child, and that child being the Son of God?! Who was braver than Mary, who became pregnant without a husband and lived in a society that would stone her for it?! Is there any greater example of surrender than Mary, who completely gave herself to God when she said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word”? By today’s standards, Mary might be considered “weak,” but she conquered all the powers of the world, because she was courageous and surrendered everything into God’s hands. That’s why she teaches us her secret—so that we too may become capable of overcoming evil.
- This time, too, will be a gift and a journey in holiness
toward eternal life.
Our Lady reveals the depth and meaning of this time of grace: It is a gift—a wondrous, undeserved gift from God and from Our Lady. And it was not given to us as a reward for anything we’ve accomplished. Its purpose is to be an opportunity and encouragement to set out on a path of holiness toward eternal life. This raises some important questions: Aren’t we privileged to have received such a gift? How many others
have been given this same grace as we have? How do we make use of this gift? How much is this time of grace truly a walk in holiness—and how much is it just an empty walk?
3 I am with you and I love you.
How simple are these words of Our Lady! So simple that we might easily pass them over. But that would be a big
mistake. In their simplicity lies a profound message. “I am with you.” That means: Do not be afraid. You are
not alone! Is there any greater encouragement than that? “I love you.” Is there any greater joy than this: to know
and feel that our Mother loves us, that we are not orphans or accidents in this world? Even if we sometimes feel that the world around us—this selfish society that rejects and belittles us—would prefer that we Christians didn’t exist, there is no greater joy than this: Someone loves us. Someone counts on us. Someone needs us—and that
someone is Mother Mary! What a loss and a wasted life it would be if we walked “small beneath the stars” and never shared that joy with others…
Fra Marinko
