Annunciation, consecration, and a new article

It is the Feast of the Annunciation! If you have never seen it, the movie Jesus of Nazareth has an excellent interpretation of this scene, which you can watch here. My favorite painting of the annunciation is that by Henry Ossawa Tanner.

You may have also seen that today was the day Pope Francis, and many other clergy around the world (re)consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You can read about it here. Here is the prayer itself (very long).

I attended Mass this afternoon, and the whole congregation read the prayer at the end, along with the priest. It feels a little surreal, because didn’t Pope St. John Paul II take care of all of this back in the 80s? I don’t mean just the consecration, but the end of Communism and the threat of nuclear war. Evidently, not.

Side note on the bright side: this may be a Friday in Lent, but it’s a feast, which means you can eat meat! And whatever you gave up for Lent. I had a Klondike bar earlier.

Last thing: with all of the world’s tragedies swirling around us, I wrote an article about how critical it is now to make the effort to find peace right here where we are. You can read that here: Creating Peace in Your Corner of the World.

I mean it - it’s time we start with our own lives, and what needs peace-making and peace-keeping. More importantly, just evaluate your life. How much time do you spend on social media vs. cooking for yourself? Or social media vs. your favorite hobby? Or gossiping vs. gardening? You know. Reject what the world tells you is peace, or the claim that only politicians with fancy degrees can do anything about peace. Really, it starts with you. It starts with each of us. God grant us the courage and vision to look for, and create, peace in our corner of the world.

May your (now halfway over!) Lent be a blessing!