Pray for Peace in the Middle East

 

Monday, October 7th marks the 1 year anniversary of thekidnapping of the hostages which escalated the conflict in the Middle East. As we mark this somber anniversary let us pray for peace in our hearts, our homes, and our universe. May peace reign in the hearts of all.

Peace in the Middle East

God of mercy and compassion,
of grace and reconciliation,
pour your power upon all your children in the Middle East:
Jews, Muslims and Christians,
Palestinians and Israelis.
Let hatred be turned into love, fear to trust, despair to hope,
oppression to freedom, occupation to liberation,
that violent encounters may be replaced by loving embraces,
and peace and justice could be experienced by all.

- Reverend Said

World Day of Migrants and Refugees

 

Today, September 29, the church observes the World Day of Migrants and Refugees with the theme: "God walks with his people".

The Church has been celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) since 1914. It is always an occasion to express concern for different vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges; and to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers.

Pope Francis emphasizes that God not only walks with His people but also dwells within them, especially in the poor, marginalized, and those on the peripheries. The encounter with a migrant or refugee is an opportunity to meet Christ and to grow in love, compassion, and faith. Let us pray with migrants and refugees on this 110^th anniversary of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Prayer

God, Almighty Father,

we are your pilgrim Church

journeying towards the Kingdom of heaven.

We live in our homeland,

but as if we were foreigners.

Every foreign place is our home,

yet every native land is foreign to us.

Though we live on earth,

our true citizenship is in heaven.

Do not let us become possessive

of the portion of the world

you have given us as a temporary home.

Help us to keep walking,

together with our migrant brothers and sisters,

toward the eternal dwelling you have prepared for us.

Open our eyes and our hearts

so that every encounter with those in need

becomes an encounter with Jesus, your Son and our Lord. 

Amen.

Serviam

 

In today’s Gospel Mark paints, a vivid picture. Jesus and His disciples arrive in Capernaum and enter a house. Jesus asks them about the argument they had while they were journeying. The disciples are uncharacteristically silent and afraid to answer. They have been caught. Jesus then summons the twelve and teaches that those who would be first in God’s kingdom must be servants of all.

Jesus then calls forward a child and teaches the disciples that to receive a child in Jesus’ name is to receive both Jesus and the One who sent him. In this action, Jesus is teaching his disciples and us that when we serve the least ones among us, we serve Jesus himself. Who are the people without power or status in our society that Jesus is calling us to serve?

The Ursuline motto of “Serviam” – I will serve echoes this Gospel. Serviam is the motto of all the Ursuline Schools worldwide. The Latin word Serviam means “I will serve”. Service to your family, your parish, and your community are signs of Serviam. The word includes in its meaning self-sacrifice and world-embracing charity. The Serviam Shield is the emblem of loyalty known by Ursuline students throughout the world. The seven stars, representing Ursa Minor, are a reminder of St. Ursula, patroness of young women and education. The stars tell us of the heights to which our ideals must soar. The cross stands for Faith, the foundation of all Christian action.

“Take care of all…having each one engraved on your mind and hear, not only their names but also their situation” St. Angela Merici

As I was writing this reflection a song from the Dameans came to mind, We Are Made For Service is what we should do each day. Let us serve each other in joy and compassion.

We are made for service to care for each other; We are made to love each sister and brother With love that will last through sorrow and pain, A love that will never die with strain.

God sent His son to show us the way, One who shared His love every minute of the day, One who gave His life that we might live  And His spirit to help us through the years.

Life can be so lonely when nobody cares; Life can be so empty when nobody shares; But if we give ourselves both time and again The happiness of Christ will live within.

International Day of Peace

On Saturday, September 21^st we celebrate The International Day of Peace which was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

2024 Theme: Cultivating a Culture of Peace

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace.

In that declaration, the United Nations’ most inclusive body recognized that peace “not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.”

In a world with rising geopolitical tensions and protracted conflicts, there has never been a better time to remember how the UN General Assembly came together in 1999 to lay out the values needed for a culture of peace. These include: respect for life, human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation; commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts; and adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations.

In follow-up resolutions, the General Assembly recognized further the importance of choosing negotiations over confrontation and of working together and not against each other.

The Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) starts with the notion that “wars begin in the minds of men so it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed”. It is this notion that framed the theme and logo of this year’s observance of the International Day of Peace. The ideas of peace, the culture of peace, need to be cultivated in the minds of children and communities through formal and informal education, across countries and generations.

The International Day of Peace has always been a time to lay down weapons and observe ceasefires. But it now must also be a time for people to see each other’s humanity. Our survival as a global community depends on that. (un.org)

Remembering 9/11

On Wednesday, September 11th we will commemorate the 23rd anniversry of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentegon, and the plane that crashed into the field in Shanksville Pennsylvania. Let us pray for all who perisehed that day andthose who have died as a result.  May we strive to be people of peace and work for justice.

Let us pray:  O God, our hope and refuge, in distress we come quickly to you. Shock and horror of that tragic day have subsided, replaced now with an emptiness, a longing for innocence lost.

We come remembering those who lost their lives in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. 

We are mindful of the sacrifice of public servants who demonstrated the greatest love all by laying down their lives for friends. We commit their souls to your eternal care and celebrate gifts a fallen humanity. 

We come remembering and we in hope, not ourselves, but you. 

As foundations we once thought secure have been shaken, we are reminded of the illusion security. In commemorating this tragedy, give you thanks for your presence in our time need and we seek to worship you in Spirit truth, our guide and guardian. Amen. 

Season of Creation

 

Today begins the Season of Creation. The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversation, and commitment together. During the Season of Creation, we join our sisters and brothers in hte ecumenical family in prayer and action for our common home. The Season of Creation is held each year from September 1st to October 4th. Let us hold our precious earth in prayer and respect during these weeks.

Season of Creation 2024 Prayer

 Triune God, Creator of all,

We praise you for your goodness, visible in all the diversity that you have created, making us a cosmic family living in a common home. Through the Earth you created, we experience love and nourishment, home and protection.

We confess that we do not relate to the Earth as a Mothering gift from you, our Creator. Our selfishness, greed, neglect, and abuse have caused the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, human suffering as well as the suffering of all our fellow creatures. We confess that we have failed to listen to the groans of the Earth, the groans of all creatures, and the groans of the Spirit of hope and justice that lives within us.

May your Creator Spirit help us in our weakness, so that we may know the redeeming power of Christ and the hope found in him. May the groans of the Spirit birth in us a willingness to serve you faithfully, so that we may hear and heal Creation, to hope and act together with her, so that the first fruits of hope may blossom.

Loving and Creator God, we pray that you will make us sensitive to these groans and enable us to have the same compassion as that of Jesus, the redeeming Lord. Grant us a fresh vision of our relationship with Earth, and with one another, as creatures that are made in your image.

In the name of the one who came to proclaim the good news to all Creation, Jesus Christ. Amen.

HOPE

 

HOPE – Hang on Peace Emerges is an anacronym which a good friend of mine uses when speaking about hope.  Over the years I have read many authors views of hope. 

Two that stand out for me are Emily Dickinson’s poem on Hope –

"Hope" is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops -- at all...

And Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” In this brief passage Paul tells us that God is the God of hope.

We can abound in hope through the Holy Spirit, which is God’s gift to us. It is hope, above all, which gives us the strength to live and to continually try new things. Hope is not something we can conjure up by sheer force of will, it is truly a gift from God.  Hope is born of an encounter with Christ.

Our world is full of pain and suffering, pressures, and despair. Hope is essential for us to flourish.  By having hope, we are not denying the sorrow and pain of life but celebrating the love of Christ.  Prayer preserves and renews hope.  Let us allow the hope that has been born within us to continue to sing, dance, and foster life in ourselves and others.  May we always remember to hang on and let peace emerge.