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Peace by Peace
Only a great venture of faith, humility, and love can solve the problem of the fate of Christendom.EDUCATING YOUNG PEOPLE IN JUSTICE AND PEACE
Here is one paragraph from the Pope’s message.
Only in relation to God does man come to understand also the meaning of human freedom. It is the task of education to form people in authentic freedom. This is not the absence of constraint or the supremacy of free will, it is not the absolutism of the self. When man believes himself to be absolute, to depend on nothing and no one, to be able to do anything he wants, he ends up contradicting the truth of his own being and forfeiting his freedom. On the contrary, man is a relational being, who lives in relationship with others and especially with God. Authentic freedom can never be attained independently of God.
Full Message here.
I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all parts. I would like myself to be a rent-payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity.
St Brigid of Ireland, Abbess of Kildare (c. 450 – 525). Feast Day, 1 February.
St Columbanus Window of the crypt of the Abbey of Bobbio
Look after the peace of the church, stand between your sheep and the wolves.
Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes, for the place where we are approaching is holy. Else we may find ourselves treading on their dreams. More serious still we may forget that God was there before our arrival.
~ Author unknown ~
In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart . . . I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right... In the meantime, I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out.
An entry in July 1944 from The Diary of a Young Girl. These are the concluding words of the play based on that, The Diary of Anne Frank.
Path Of Peace
Peace is an easy path to tread
Peace is where our fears are mislaid
Peace is beginning to restore
Peace for each man, woman and child
Peace for the troubled streets gone wild
Peace is for the old and the young
Peace in the end will overcome
Peace builds trust into a lifestyle
Peace is a friendly open hand
Peace is a place to understand
Peace in the end will overcome
Peace is for the old and the young
Peace is a legacy to leave
Peace is when we don't have to grieve
Peace is an end to all the hate
Peace is why we negotiate
Peace for all the victims of war
Paul McCann (Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 10 March 1956; has lived in Australia for many years.) Source of poem.
The family, the school of freedom and peace
The Holy Family with a Bird, 1650, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
‘It is my hope that in a small way I have been able to contribute to peace through compassion and also to the recognition, as George Fox has said . . . “That there is that of God in everyone,” a conception of the sanctity of human life which precludes all wars and violence.’
Fritz Eichenberg, Quaker Illustrator (1901-1990)
If we were humble, nothing would change us-neither praise nor discouragement. If someone were to criticize us, we would not feel discouraged. If someone were to praise us, we also would not feel proud.
-Mother Teresa
When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.
-Pope John Paul II
Steps to Successful Negotiation