This is the time of year when we look back on the past 12 months and turn our attention to the new year and what may lie ahead. According to the sages and pundits, even the experts, there is not much to hope for, especially on the economic front. Hard times, we are repeatedly informed, will continue into 2012.
So where is the good news to be found? Where is the chink of light to be seen in the darkness and gloom predicted to hang over us for a considerable time to come?
It is interesting to recall that less than a year ago Our Lady was telling us that she was not losing hope that the world will change for good and that peace will reign in the hearts of men. That was in January. This month, December, in her final message of the year she speaks again of God’s peace prevailing in the hearts of men, not the peace that the world brings but the peace that comes from God. Big difference.
So amid all the turmoil of the current year we learn from Our Lady that there are people living in peace amid the chaos and hardship of everyday existence in this world, who take steps to live in the promised joy of Jesus and desire to share this grace with others.
Throughout the year Our Lady has encouraged us to become a witness of God’s peace in this world, so that joy will begin to reign, but she makes it very clear that to achieve the peace her Son offers to everyone, we must first start with our own daily conversion; we become a witness to others by our own example. It’s hard to give a good example to anyone if we lack joy and peace in our own heart so, as Our Lady reminds us in her February message, we must work on our own conversion if we are to be a sign and incentive to others.
This was the constant theme of Our Lady’s monthly messages throughout the year – to give witness to the peace and joy of God through our own conversion and to be a light for others.
In March Our Lady made another call to conversion, to say ‘yes’ and begin a new life. In April she said she was praying unceasingly for our lives on earth to be a reflection of Heaven. In May she was praying for all of us to seek the grace of conversion, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In her anniversary message of June 25 Our Lady confirmed that many have responded to her call for conversion but she is still waiting for hearts to awaken from the sleep of unbelief. There is some consolation in July when Our Lady says there is much good in our hearts, but she also asks we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit so this goodness can blossom and bear much fruit.
And then in August she asks the hearts who have said “yes” to be strong and resolute in difficult times, especially as there is an enormous number of souls who have still not listened to or accepted her call to peace through conversion. In September Our Lady called for everyone to give witness to the love of God and his gifts, and testify to this joy with our words and deeds. October was no exception; another call to conversion and to experience the joy of the Risen One. In November, Our Lady expressed her desire to give us hope and joy, not through the attraction of worldly things, but through God’s grace. Finally, we reach December and the last message of the current year, another reminder that the peace our soul desires is not the peace of the world but the peace that God gives, and we are invited to be witness to this peace, to be Our Lady’s extended hands to the world which yearns for God and peace.
• In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him. All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower. A man came, sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, only a witness to the light.
John 1 : 1-8
Dear children! Also today, in my arms I am carrying my Son Jesus to you, for him to give you his peace. Pray, little children, and witness so that in every heart, not human but God’s peace may prevail, which no one can destroy. It is that peace in the heart which God gives to those whom he loves. By your baptism you are all, in a special way called and loved, therefore witness and pray that you may be my extended hands to this world which yearns for God and peace. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje message, December 25, 2011
