How comfortable are you in the world today? We are facing an onslaught of disturbances from severe weather to nuclear arms. Violence, hunger, and injustice can be identified in every corner. If you had the power to bring peace and justice absolutely everywhere, would you do it?

In fact, you do have such power. Mary gave it to all of us 100 years ago. We have a peace plan that is promised to work.

When Mary appeared to three shepherd children, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta in Fatima, Portugal 100 years ago, she gave us clear instructions. Over the course of six months from May 13, 1917 to October 13, 1917, she told us exactly what we need to do to attain peace throughout the world.

The plan is simple but does take some effort on our part. Mary said we must:

• Pray continuously. We should talk with God all day.
• Ask for forgiveness for our sins. We tend to identify the faults of others but rarely assume responsibility for our own shortcomings. We must honestly recognize and acknowledge where we fail, take responsibility for our actions, and then ask God to forgive us.
• Stop offending the Lord. Mary said that God is already much offended. We can’t just ask for forgiveness. We have to stop hurting one another, creation, and ourselves.
• Pray the rosary every day. Every day we are to pray the prayers of the rosary and meditate on Christ’s Incarnation, Ministry, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension with the Mysteries.
• Accept all the suffering God sends us in reparation for the sins of the world and all of our conversions. We all have suffered to some degree. Mary tells us to accept it as a means to amend the sins of the world.
• Devote ourselves to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, which means to follow Mary’s model of an open, loving, and pure heart.

At the time of the apparitions, Lucia was 10 years old, Francisco was 9, and Jacinta was 7. The Fatima children were quite young yet followed Mary’s instructions to the very best of their abilities. If they could do it, so can we.

We’re fully aware of all the wrongs in this world including our own. We worry about the future for our children. But how well have we followed Mary’s guidance? If she appeared to us today, what would we tell her? Can we honestly say we are following her peace plan?

Sure, it takes some time and effort, but isn’t world peace worth a little input from each one of us?

(Read more on Mary and her peace plan:

Fatima at 100. Fatima Today is available from ACTA Publications.

The Rosary Prayer by Prayer is available from ACTA Publications and Amazon.

Grieving with Mary is available from ACTA Publications and Amazon.)