Patrick Delaney

Israel sent spies to bomb Jewish centers in Baghdad in the early 1950s to compel Iraqi Jews to emigrate Its army bombed the main synagogue in Beirut after it invaded Lebanon in 1982 Now it’s attacking the last major Jewish community in the region outside Zionism’s control

THE PEACE OF CHRIST AND FATIMA After rising from the dead and appearing “first to Mary Magdalen” (Mark 16:9), as well as to the other women who visited His tomb early in the morning (cf. Matt. 28:1-10; Luke 24:1-10), Our Lord then appeared to His Apostles — and the first thing He told them was, “Peace be to you” (John 20:19). During the Last Supper, Our Lord had told the Apostles: “Peace I leave with you: My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: nor let it be afraid” (John 14:27). What distinguishes the peace of Christ from worldly peace? St. Augustine famously defined peace as “the tranquility of order” and observed more specifically, “Peace between man and God is the well-ordered obedience of faith to eternal law” (City of God, Book XIX, Ch. 13). Thus, we see that true peace involves acceptance of divinely revealed truth — “the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26) — and a firm resolution to live according to that truth. In a word, it requires conversion. In the Message of Fatima, we see clearly that conversion and peace are integrally linked. Our Lady told the three children, “If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace,” and further, “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace” (July 13, 1917). In addition to the daily Rosary and making sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, Our Lady also requested “the consecration of Russia to [her] Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.” May we all strive to offer Our Lady what she asks of each of us: daily prayer of the Holy Rosary, generosity in offering sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, and devotion to her Immaculate Heart, including “the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.” This is what will help establish and maintain “the peace of Christ” (Col. 3:15) in our own hearts, families, and communities, and ultimately the world. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!