As we began the new year on Jan. 1, the church wants us to pray for peace. It is World Day of Peace.
    The Christmas season is a special time for the growth of peace in our hearts. It is also a time to pray for peace in this world, torn as it is by conflict and widespread dissension.
    Pope Benedict XVI in his message for World Peace Day said: “The theme chosen for this year’s reflection — In truth, peace — expresses the conviction that wherever and whenever men and women are enlightened by the splendor of truth, they naturally set out on the path of peace.” What do those words, “the truth of peace,” really mean? To respond adequately to this question, we must realize that peace cannot be reduced to the simple absence of armed conflict, but needs to be understood as ‘the fruit of an order which has been planted in human society by its divine Founder.’
    Peace begins with us. It’s rooted in the truth of God and the human person, and it calls for the exercise of the virtue of justice, but justice can never take root in our heart without the virtues of humility, understanding, repentance, forgiveness and mercy. Repentance is the mother of both mercy and justice — the road to true peace.

    God blesses in a special way those who pray for peace among nations. He blesses those who offer prayer and sacrifice in order to reconcile men with God: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Mt 5:9)
    Then, this coming Sunday, Jan. 8 we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany, an important feast that recalls the visit of the Wise Men to the Child Jesus in Bethlehem.
    “Epiphany” is the combination of two Greek words that mean “manifestation of the light.”
    The explanation of the word ‘epiphany’ is twofold: on the one hand a light, the Star of the West, guided the Wise Men in their journey to visit Jesus, and on the other hand, Christ himself, who is the light of the world, was manifested to all humanity, including the ones that did not belong to the chosen people and were far away, from where the Wise Men came.
    In this way, the Epiphany shows us that, since his birth, Jesus didn’t come to save just a few, but instead, to save the whole world.

    In contemplating God’s call to the magi, we must see that God is calling us again at the beginning of this new year to start anew our journey of faith. The Vatican Council II taught us that we are all called to holiness. Lay people have no less dignity or responsibility than religious and priests of being saints.
    But priests and religious, in a special way, become witnesses, truly, lights within the church. In fact, the Vatican Council II points out: “the purpose of the Religious life is to help the members follow Christ and be united to God through the profession of the evangelical counsels.”
    So, we all are called to follow Christ, the light of the world and to share our commitment with the people of our time. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI: “By God’s help, our proclamation and witness to the truth of peace will be all the more convincing and illuminating.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Message for World Peace Day)

    Let us ask Mary, Our Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace, to intercede for us that Jesus, Prince of Peace, that in the year ahead he will grant each one of us and our families, real and lasting peace for our country and our world.