Dear children! May this time be a time of prayer for peace.

When Jesus was born as a human being just like us in order to save us, the first message given was a message of peace. That is why, when the angel announced the birth of the Savior to the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem, suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host appeared with the angel and praised God, saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk 2:14). Through this hymn of praise, we can understand that Jesus came into this world to give glory to God the Father and to bring peace to those who are pleasing to Him.

Through His words and deeds, Jesus taught people the way that leads to peace. He wanted to show them that the way to peace is to place God at the center of their lives and to live according to His commandments. However, the people of Jesus’ time—especially the priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and other leaders of the people—did not accept the invitation to peace that God the Father extended to them through Jesus. The Gospel of Luke tells us how Jesus responded and what He said:

“As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation’” (Lk 19:41–44).

What first draws our attention in this passage is that Jesus wept when He looked upon the city of Jerusalem, which did not know the way of peace and was heading toward destruction. Jesus did not condemn Jerusalem. Rather, seeing its wrong decisions, its pitiful condition, and what awaited it in the future, He was filled with sorrow and shed tears. Jesus desired that no one should perish, but that all should be saved and find the way of peace. For this reason, He shed tears of mercy. These were the tears of God the Creator, who loved His creatures to the end and became human in order to save them.

After shedding those tears, Jesus spoke of the destruction that Jerusalem would suffer and explained why these things would happen: “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” If Jerusalem had only recognized the time when God came to visit His people and had welcomed Him, it would have followed the way of salvation and peace. These words are filled with sorrow over the mistaken judgment of Jerusalem—that is, of the people of Israel—who failed to recognize that time and instead walked the path toward destruction.

The tears of mercy and sorrow that Jesus shed over Jerusalem continue even today. Just as Jerusalem long ago failed to recognize what would bring peace and the time when God visited His people, so today many nations, peoples, and individuals, far from placing God at the center of their lives, deny His very existence and live contrary to His commandments.

Looking upon this world with sorrow and tears, Jesus, just as God the Father did in the past, now sends us His Mother Mary, Our Lady, so that through her many messages she may teach us the way that leads to peace and remind us that God exists. Our Lady, who has introduced herself as the Queen of Peace, teaches us concretely the way to peace: to place Jesus, true God and true man, at the center of our lives and to live with Him there, seeking peace through prayer, faith, conversion, and penance.

In this month’s message, Our Lady says, “May this time be a time of prayer for peace.” Why must this be a time of prayer for peace? Because this is a time when peace is threatened more than ever, and for that very reason people long for peace more than anything else. What we truly need is not material possessions or anything worldly, but peace.

The path by which we find peace begins with prayer to Jesus, who is Peace itself, true God and true man. As we pray for peace within ourselves, peace in our families, peace among our neighbors and communities, peace in our Church, and peace throughout the whole world, Jesus, who is Peace itself, first enters our hearts. From there, peace flows into every place where it is needed. If all the children of the world whom Our Lady loves begin to pray for peace, peace will begin to overflow into the hearts of people everywhere and throughout the whole world.

Peace is not something that human beings can obtain or win by their own strength. It is a gift that God alone can give. Therefore, the first thing that we human beings can and must do is pray, asking God to grant us peace. This is why Our Lady says, “May this time be a time of prayer for peace.”

I am calling you to renew in your families the prayer of the Rosary for my intentions.

We call the members of a family who live together sikgu (식구). Literally, the Korean word sikgu (食口) refers to people who eat together. Sharing a meal means more than simply sharing food; it means sharing life, love, and friendship. Therefore, gathering together as a family around one table to share a meal is one of the most basic and yet most important aspects of family life.

But a family must become a community that shares not only material and physical things but also spiritual nourishment. What is needed for this is prayer—family prayer. A home should be more than a place where family members eat, sleep, love, and live together. Through praying together, it should become a place where God dwells.

Our Lady says, “I am calling you to renew in your families the prayer of the Rosary for my intentions.” She tells us clearly what should have priority in our families: renewing the prayer of the Rosary for her intentions. We have many intentions of our own, but she asks us first to pray the Rosary for her intentions. In fact, praying the Rosary for Our Lady’s intentions is no different from praying for our own intentions, because her intentions concern us—our holiness, conversion, salvation, peace, and all that leads us to God.

In previous messages, Our Lady has already asked families many times to gather together, especially in the evening, and pray the Rosary as a family prayer. Nevertheless, because many families have neglected or stopped this practice, she is asking us once again to renew the prayer of the Rosary in our families.

So that I may be able to multiply your prayers and intercede for you before the Most High, [for Him] to heed your prayers and to give you peace. I am with you and like never before I pray for you and with you, my little children. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Of course, we can pray the Rosary alone. But when we pray it with others, especially with our families, that prayer becomes even more powerful, and it also becomes a great source of encouragement to the family members who pray together. What we must not forget is that Our Lady is with us when we pray the Rosary—not only when we pray alone, but especially when we pray together with the other members of our family. We continually call upon her name, so how could she not be present there? She repeatedly tells us that she is with us. Therefore, when we pray the Rosary, a prayer so dear to her, she is surely there with us.

When we pray the Rosary in our families, Our Lady is with us. She multiplies our prayers and intercedes for us before God, so that He may hear our prayers and grant us peace. God enters the home in which the family prays the Rosary with Our Lady; He hears our prayers and gives us His peace. What a tremendous grace and privilege this is!

Our Lady is with us, and more than ever before she is praying for us and with us. Through this month’s message, let us respond sincerely to Our Lady’s call to pray for peace and, in a special way, to renew the prayer of the Rosary in our families for her intentions.