Digital Marian Helper Winter_2016-2017

14 C 7H?7D > ;BF;H Ǚš M ?DJ;H (&',#'- ǙšǙcWh_Wd$eh] Peace is in God’s gift, yes — but we have a part to play, as well. As we approach the 100 th anniversary of Our Lady’s appearances to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, the Marian Fathers ask all Marian Helpers to answer Our Lady’s appeal to pray the Rosary daily for peace in the world. “This will be a powerful way of being renewed in the faith and entering into the realm of the divine in this world,” says Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, director of the Association of Marian Helpers. “Praying the Rosary daily, as Our Lady requested, allows us to enter into union with the divine plan of our salvation — a plan that promises peace in our hearts, peace in our families, and peace in the world.” Peace comes from right order, from a culture of life lead- ing to a civilization of love, to a world in which relationships are rightly ordered according to natural and divine law, where God’s will is our will, and God’s will is done. And all this comes through our cooperation with grace, or not at all. Continue to say the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, to obtain the peace of the world and the end of the war, because only she can obtain it — Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal, July 13, 1917. Another presidential election has come and gone, and many people are speaking as though the choice of a president will make all the differ- ence in the world. At each presidential election, both parties essentially say to the electorate, “Vote for my preferred candidate or else apocalypse looms!” In reality, the world is shaped less by power, wealth, and strength, and far more by the children, the elderly, and those who are weak in the eyes of the world. Look at the life and impact of St. Faustina Kowalska, for instance. A religious sister in pre-war Poland, a largely unedu- cated gardener, cook, and gatekeeper in a religious order dedicated to taking care of women and girls who had fallen into prostitution and other forms of sin — this does not sound like the resume of one of the most influential women of the 20 th century. And yet the Divine Mercy message and devotion that she passed on to the Church and the world from Jesus through her spiritual director, Blessed Michael Sopocko, has sparked what has often been called the greatest grassroots movement in the his- tory of the Church. In the Kingdom of God, both on earth and in Heaven, the last shall be first and the first shall be last (see Mt 19:30; 20:16). So in our tumultuous age, the solution to the prob- lems of the present day will not ultimately be found in presidents and prime ministers, in politics and power, in military might or diplomatic cleverness. No. Our answer will be found in God and His Church. Our answer will be found right where Heaven has been saying it is for these past 100 years. Continue the Rosary, my children. Say it every day that the war may end — Our Lady at Fatima, Sept. 13, 1917. Our Lady of the Rosary came to us at Fatima and told us what we needed to do to obtain peace in the world. Have we done it? Have we individually, as fami- lies, as parishes, as a Church, responded to her instructions? Or have we been like Naaman the leper? Naaman was a Syrian, a man of great wealth and power, who suffered from leprosy. He came to Israel to seek healing and was told by the prophet Elisha, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” The Scriptures tell us: But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. It was only after his servants reasoned with him, pointing out that if the prophet had told Naaman to do J^[ j^h[[ <Wj_cW l_i_edWh_[i$ <hec b[ø0 BkY_W :ei IWdjei" 8b[ii[Z <hWdY_iYe CWhje" WdZ 8b[ii[Z @WY_djW CWhje$