……from the Pastor’s Desk
Hello Friends,
I was looking through the ‘Archives’ for an idea as to what to write in this ‘Pastor’s Desk’. I found this from three years ago. Strikingly poignant, it is. With the health issues of our beloved Pope Francis, the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the Yemeni Civil War, the Israeli-Gaza-Border Conflict, the Afghan Conflict, the Ethiopian Civil War, the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon, the Myanmar Civil War, the Israeli-Syrian Border Conflict, The Somali Civil War, the Israeli-Iran Proxy Conflict. And, many, many more.
It was suggested to me that instead of this week’s usual ‘Pastor’s Desk’ it would be timely to put in this prayer. I agreed. Now more than ever.
Fr. Ron
Pope Francis’ Prayer for Peace
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain.
Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.
Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness.
Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen.
*Prophets in this context are truth tellers, regardless of the dangers and adversity they faced.