Forgiveness One is the condition for the other. One cannot decide only partially for peace, just as one cannot decide only partially for God. To make a lasting decision, all conditions for it must also be accepted. All of us have had the experience that sometimes those who are most distant from us seem also to be those whom we forgive and whom we love more easily. This is a deception.
Love first brings peace into the family and community, and only then can it spread out yet further.
May it in this coming month begin again and spread out yet further with this message. Already before the next message Lent will have begun, and so this message also ought to serve as introduction and guide for us to enter into it. God, our Father, we thank You that You love us and that in Your love You offer us peace. We beseech You, as Mary calls upon us to do, give us true peace that only You can give. Forgive us that we often expected peace from others and therefore remained without peace.