Every year, on January 1, we celebrate the World Day of Peace, and Pope Francis has invited us that\u00a0\u0093at the start of this Year of Grace we wish to hear the \u0093desperate plea for help\u0094 that, like the cry of the blood of Abel (cf.\u00a0Gen\u00a04:10), rises up from so many parts of our world \u0096 a plea that God never fails to hear.\u00a0Each of us must feel in some way responsible for the devastation to which the earth, our common home, has been subjected, beginning with those actions that, albeit only indirectly, fuel the conflicts that presently plague our human family. Systemic challenges, distinct yet interconnected, are thus created and together cause havoc in our world.\u00a0I think in particular of all manner of disparities, the inhuman treatment meted out to migrants, environmental decay, the confusion willfully created by disinformation, the refusal to engage in any form of dialogue and the immense resources spent on the industry of war. (Pope Francis, Message of January 1, 2025).<\/p>\n
Peace was God’s gift to humanity at the birth of Jesus. The same was Jesus’ parting gift to the apostles. St. Francis, our Seraphic Father, made peace the opening word of his daily conversations and greetings. Now, at the very beginning of the new year 2025, let us commit ourselves to building peace, transforming every painful event of the past year and carrying forward the memory of peace into the future.<\/p>\n
Tragically, we are passing through an age that deeply desires peace. Humanity has not yet learned any lessons from the horrific tragedies of two major world wars and countless small wars that have taken millions of innocent lives. Every day we indifferently witness the deaths of millions of women, children and soldiers on our cell phones. At first we may feel unable to do anything to stop this inhuman horror.<\/p>\n
But if we realize our inner strength, then we can become more powerful and can inspire millions with our creative words and actions for peace rather than bombs destroying hundreds of people. We may not be able to stop war with our single action, but we can promote a culture of peace through the diplomacy of people, by sharing messages of peace.<\/p>\n
A genuinely religious person of any religion or faith cannot stand by indifferently to human atrocities. All religions have prayers for peace. For example, at the birth of Jesus the angels sang \u0093Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will.\u0094 There is a Hindu prayer that says, \u0093O Lord, bring us from falsehood to truth, from darkness to light, and from death to eternal life.\u0094\u00a0\u00a0The Prophet Muhamad prayed, \u0093Revive us with a greeting of peace and lead us to your abode of peace.\u0094 Buddhist monks prayed, \u0093May all beings be filled with loving kindness; may all beings be secure; may all beings be free and at peace.\u0094 The Hebrew prophets prayed, \u0093Nations will no longer raise sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore. And no one will be afraid.\u0094<\/p>\n
In short, all these religions pray for peace. They all desire peace not only for their followers, but for every human being. Praying for peace could be called divine diplomacy. When we make a simple prayer for peace, we are begging God to obtain the gift of peace for another person and for humanity. Therefore, all who pray for peace are divine diplomats whom Jesus called Children of God when he categorically proclaimed, \u0093Blessed are the peacemakers; they shall be called children of God\u0094 (Mt. 5:9). Let us pray that the new year 2025 will bring forth millions of Children of God who will build peace for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every year, on January 1, we celebrate the World Day of Peace, and Pope Francis has invited us that\u00a0\u0093at the start of this Year of Grace we wish to hear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[917],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n