The following is taken from a recent issue of First Things, which is a journal edited by Fr. Richard Neuhaus:

"After September 11 many American pundits and editorialists asked, Why do they [i.e., certain Muslims] hate us so? One after another, they answered that they hate us because ‘America is free, rich, powerful, and good.’ There is something in that, but for the most part it is smug self-delusion. They hate us because they believe that the West, now indisputably led by America, has marginalized, exploited, and oppressed them for centuries. They hate us for the cultural decadence that we export and that many of them hate themselves for enjoying. They hate us because we have troops on their sacred soil, and they hate us because we support what they view as the alien State of Israel on their land. Intertwined with all the reasons they hate us, they hate us because we are the infidel who has for years beyond numbering in ways beyond numbering humiliated the chosen people of God."

This is the perception many Muslims have of those of us who live in the western, industrialized, technological world. To what extent is this perception rooted in reality? That’s a question which is open to debate, although I will say this: I think they have every right to be upset at the "cultural decadence" that our nation exports to the world! Many Muslims are devout people who don’t want our pornography, and abortion, and marital infidelity, and fragmented families. Can we really blame them for that? I can’t—which is not in any way to justify the atrocities of September 11.

But the question I ask today is: Can anything be done to change this situation and establish peace with the Muslim world? Is there any hope for peace at all? Or is September 11 a terrible omen of what will be for decades to come?

Personally, I believe that peace is possible, and not only peace between Muslims and Christians, but also peace between Christians and Jews, Muslims and Jews, and even Catholics and Protestants.

Fr. Ray, how? And who could possibly be the instrument of this type of radical, miraculous reconciliation?

Mary.

"But, Fr. Ray, every Protestant I know says Mary is the problem, not the solution! They say that Mary divides us and takes us away from Jesus."

I realize that, but in most cases that’s because they don’t understand what the Church actually teaches about her.

For many years we’ve bought into the false idea that Mary is to be ignored in our dealings with people of other faiths because Mary somehow drives a wedge between us; but I’ve come to realize that the exact opposite is true! Mary is actually the key to greater unity—even with Jews and Muslims.

Did you know, for example, that Muslims have a deep regard for the Blessed Mother? She’s mentioned over 30 times in the Koran. No other woman is mentioned even once! There she’s described as "Virgin, ever Virgin." Imagine, the very doctrine certain liberal Christians reject—the perpetual virginity of Mary—is accepted by Muslims!

Concerning his daughter Fatima, Mohammad—the founder of Islam—said this: "She has the highest place in heaven after the Virgin Mary."

Is it a coincidence that in 1917 Mary appeared to 3 children in a place which was named after a Muslim convert to the Catholic faith: a woman who at birth had been named after Mohammad’s daughter? I don’t think that was a coincidence, I think it was a God-incidence! In fact, many Muslims today actually make pilgrimages to the Catholic shrine of Mary located there in Fatima, Portugal.

This means that as we speak, Mary is already bringing Christians and Muslims together.

And don’t you think that Mary can also be a bridge between Christians and Jews? What better way to share the Good News with someone of the Jewish faith than to speak to them about the greatest human person who ever lived: a Jewish mother!—one of their own who was faithful to the Mosaic Law, as St. Luke clearly indicates in his infancy narrative.

And what about our Protestant brothers and sisters? It’s been my experience that once devout Protestants understand what the Church really teaches about Mary, many of them fall in love with the Blessed Mother, and they realize that she’s a great Biblical role model for them. Why? Because committed Protestants are devoted to God’s written Word (which is great!), and they want to obey Jesus. Well guess what? Mary was also devoted to God’s Word and wanted people to obey Jesus! This is illustrated in her two famous lines from Scripture: "Be it done unto me, O Lord, according to your Word," and, "Do whatever he [i.e. Jesus] tells you."

So you see, Mary is not a barrier as many have mistakenly believed all these years, she’s actually a bridge—the bridge I believe God wants to use to bring greater peace to our world in the third millennium.

But this will not happen magically. I’m convinced that it will only happen if we do our part as Catholics, by learning our faith, and sharing our faith, and—most of all—by living our faith!

I said earlier that true Muslims love Mary, but they hate the moral decadence of many Christians. If Mary’s going to bring us all together as she wants to, then we Catholics have got to make every effort to live morally righteous lives. That’s a prerequisite for greater unity and peace. Practically speaking, that means we’ve got to stop supporting the pornography, for example, that gets exported to these Islamic nations. No "Spice channel," no Playboy magazine, no Foxy Lady—nothing of the sort! If we support that stuff we must know that we are contributing in an indirect way to the division between the west and the Muslim world! The same is true if we support politicians who keep abortion legal in this nation.

This, by the way, is ultimately what real devotion to the Blessed Mother is all about. True devotion to Mary doesn’t just involve saying a lot of Rosaries; it means making every effort to live a morally righteous life in imitation of the Blessed Mother! If every Christian did that, I’m convinced that much of the Muslim world’s hatred for us would disappear almost immediately.

And as far as Protestants and Jews are concerned, it’s not only a matter of living our faith, it’s also a matter of knowing our Catholic faith, so that we can clear up their lingering misconceptions about Mary and other Catholic teachings, and lovingly show them the fullness of God’s revealed truth.

God, through Mary, can bring us together. God, through Mary, wants to bring us together.

Will it happen? Will the Lord be able to achieve world peace through the instrumentality of our Blessed Mother?

That—to a great extent—is our decision.