Pastor's Corner

Pray for Peace

02-13-2022Pastor's CornerRev. Robert J. Deehan, V.F.

The recent headlines describing difficult negotiations over the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine, prompt me to encourage you to pray now in a special way for peace. At the conclusion of his weekly General Audience at the end of January, Pope Francis asked the faithful "to pray for peace in Ukraine, now and throughout this day." It was January 26, when he called for an international day of prayer for peace as Russia had amassed troops along its border with Ukraine.

The Pope invited the faithful to ask the Lord to "grant that the country may grow in the spirit of brotherhood and that all hurts, fears and divisions will be overcome." He urged that prayers and supplications rise up to heaven asking God to "touch the minds and hearts of world leaders, so that dialogue may prevail and the common good be placed ahead of partisan interests." In particular, Pope Francis asked that our prayer for peace be made with the words of the Our Father, explaining that "it is the prayer of sons and daughters to the one Father, the prayer that makes us brothers and sisters, the prayer of children who plead for reconciliation and concord." Here below is a prayer composed by Pope Francis on another occasion, which you can use as well.

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.

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