Wednesday 1 January 2025
Mary, the Holy Mother of God | World Day of Peace
Numbers 6:22-27. May God bless us in his mercy – Psalm 66(67):2-3, 5, 6, 8. Galatians 4:4-7. Luke 2:16-21.
Grant us your peace
As I write this reflection in early October, I think of the Gandhi quote, ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’. At this time the Middle East is a powder keg of ‘proportional responses’ to incursions on sovereign territories. And as each nation keeps saying it doesn’t want to escalate conflict, no one is taking the radical step of saying ‘enough’.
Today’s World Day of Peace asks us to say ‘enough’. The theme for the day is ‘Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace’. According to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the theme is inspired by the encyclical letters Laudato si’ and Fratelli Tutti, and by the concepts of hope and forgiveness, which are at the heart of this Jubilee Year. As Pilgrims of Hope, we are being called not to condemn but instead bring about reconciliation and peace.
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