by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
“Peace and security are essential foundations for social progress and sustainable development… We must douse the fires of extremism and tackle the root causes of conflict. Peace is a long road that we must travel together…Let us all reflect on peace – and what it means for our human family. Let us hold it in our hearts and minds and tenderly nurture it so it may grow and blossom.”
Ban Ki-moon, UN General Secretary, 2014
Today the world observes International Day of Peace (IDP), a day which the UN declared “as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.” The theme of IDP for 2014 is the Right of Peoples to Peace.
This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the General Assembly Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace. The central message of the Declaration is that “humanity’s sustainable progress and the realisation of fundamental rights and freedoms depend on peace and security”. (Ban Ki-moon).
The Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace “recognises that the promotion of peace is vital for the full enjoyment of all human rights. The United Nations invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities during the Day, and to otherwise commemorate the Day through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.”
For us as Catholics, PEACE is central to our faith. Pope Emeritus Benedict reminded us that “the foundations of authentic peace rest on the truth about God and man” and that peace is both a gift from God as well as a task. We have to work to promote right relationships. This is at the core of our Archdiocese’s Mission Statement – we are building the Civilisation of Love – reconciliation with God, neighbour, creation and self.
Our Church teaches that at the heart of Peace is the recognition of the dignity of the human person and respect for the sanctity of life. The pillars of peace are: justice, truth, freedom, love and forgiveness. We are all made in God’s image and likeness; we are all brothers and sisters in Christ; we are placed on this earth as Stewards of God’s Creation and are expected to live in peace and harmony with each other and with all of Creation. This is God’s plan for us.
Sadly, as Pope Francis said at the Vigil of Prayer for Peace in Saint Peter’s Square, Saturday September 7, 2013, in our world “there is also ‘violence, division, disagreement, war’. This occurs when man, the summit of creation, stops contemplating beauty and goodness, and withdraws into his own selfishness. When man thinks only of himself, of his own interests and places himself in the centre, when he permits himself to be captivated by the idols of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then all relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door opens to violence, indifference, and conflict…you are your brother’s keeper! To be human means to care for one another! But when harmony is broken, a metamorphosis occurs: the brother who is to be cared for and loved becomes an adversary to fight, to kill. What violence occurs at that moment, how many conflicts, how many wars have marked our history! …
“Violence and war are the language of death!… Is it possible to change direction? Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once again to walk and live in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of God, under the maternal gaze of the…Queen of Peace, I say: Yes!…
“Let everyone be moved to look into the depths of his or her conscience and listen to that word which says: Leave behind the self-interest that hardens your heart, overcome the indifference that makes your heart insensitive towards others, conquer your deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation. Look upon your brother’s sorrow and do not add to it, stay your hand, rebuild the harmony that has been shattered; and all this achieved not by conflict but by encounter!… let us all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace! Amen.” (www.news.va)
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS.
