I wrote a post-command-hook that displays a small calendar whenever the point is on a date.

I generate the calendar by invoking calendar-generate-month in a temp buffer, and I'd like to show that in the echo area.

The code I'm using is:

(with-temp-buffer (calendar-generate-month (car date) (nth 2 date) 6) (message "%s" (buffer-string)))) 

It works fine except for colors.

I see a nicely tabulated calendar in the echo/minibuffer area (while the point is on top of a date in the format I like...) but without colors. And colors are what make today stand out in the calendar, so the visual immediacy is lost.

If I insert into a buffer the string I extract from the temporary buffer, I see that string displayed nicely with colors, so I know that the properties are preserved.

If I print that string, I see all its properties represented textually, which offers additional confirmation I didn't lose them.

I read on stackoverflow that function message supports faces but not font-lock-faces, but I haven't found out how to convert the second into the first.

Help?