Lord, grant us your peace!

By Fr. Bernard Holzer, aa

 Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Myanmar, which is also suffering so much because of the earthquake…

 The list of bloody conflicts and their victims is too long. How can we not despair? How can we be witnesses of hope in this Holy Year? Allow me to recommend to you two invitations from Pope Francis: to become a peacemaker in our daily lives and to pray for peace (from his Message for the 58^th World Day of Peace - 1^st January 2025)

 Become a peacemaker in your daily life

“Disarming hearts is a job for everyone, great and small, rich and poor alike. At times, something quite simple will do, such as “a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed”. With such gestures, we progress towards the goal of peace. We will arrive all the more quickly if, in the course of journeying alongside our brothers and sisters, we discover that we have changed from the time we first set out. Peace does not only come with the end of wars but with the dawn of a new world, a world in which we realize that we are different, closer and more fraternal than we ever thought possible.”

Pray Pope’s Francis prayer for peace

“Lord, grant us your peace!

Forgive us our trespasses, Lord,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

In this cycle of forgiveness, grant us your peace,

the peace that you alone can give

to those who let themselves be disarmed in heart,

to those who choose in hope to forgive the debts of their brothers and sisters,

to those who are unafraid to confess their debt to you,

and to those who do not close their ears to the cry of the poor.”