The Blessed Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to two children near the small village of La Salette, France, on September 19, 1846. She had strong words for the people and called them to repentance.
Her words were those of a mother warning her children of the consequences of their actions.
She said, "If people are converted, the rocks will become piles of wheat, and it will be found that the potatoes have sown themselves."
Light in the darkness
St. John Paul II found in her message a hopeful light in the darkness. He spoke about this when addressing the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.
As I wrote on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady: "La Salette is a message of hope, for our hope is nourished by the intercession of her who is the Mother of mankind." May the proclamation of this hope always be at the heart of your encounter with the men and women of today! Through it our contemporaries can be assured that divisions are not irreparable and that it is always possible to repent of one's infidelities, in order to build a reconciled humanity and to follow the Lord, for nothing is beyond God's reach.
While much of Our Lady's message at La Salette may seem harsh to modern ears, she still spoke about the possibility of averting future disasters by repenting and choosing to live a life united to Jesus Christ.
This is always the message of hope for us. We can pave a path to harmony on earth, if we repent of our evil ways and embrace the Gospel.
Along with this message, it is important to internalize the message on a personal level. Sometimes we can think that if only "other" people repented, there would be peace on earth. However, peace always begins with each one of us, even if we think we don't have an impact on world events.
It may not be easy to achieve this peace, but it is possible with God's help.
