Service for Unity,
Thursday, November, 14th, 2021
Meditation
A CONTRIBUTION TO UNITY AND WORLD PEACE
Is world peace possible? At what price? More than institutions, human responsibility is decisive.
For the idealist, peace must triumph someday, because that is good.
The realist will object: we cannot abolish war, it is in the nature of things and in human nature.
From a responsible perspective, neither the stars, nor statistics nor genes decree war and peace, but our free will.
Moreover, war and peace are not decided by them, but by me, by my daily spirit of discord or concord.
The question is not, “When and how will the world live in peace?” “But rather:” What will I do today for peace? “
The 2000 Manifesto for a Culture of Peace advocates this attitude:
“Aware of my share of responsibility (…), I make a commitment in my daily life, my family, my work, my community, my country, my region to: respect all life, reject violence, release my generosity, listen to understand, preserve the planet, reinvent solidarity”.
These points are not new, their list remains open. The novelty is to evoke responsibility.
Often, a fundamental internal human contradiction feeds the explosion of external violence, against others. Political power tends to systematize, rationalize and justify outbursts of violence, giving them the form of war. The enemy is seen as the character whose submission or elimination will appease the collective fury. A return to peace and a “normal life” will become possible again. For Jacques Le Goff, the Crusades served as an outlet for bellicose passions and social tensions arising from the demographic boom in the West. War, a perverted religious rite, would provide a collective catharsis. True peace, on the contrary, offers conversion and metanoia.
MANIFEST 2000 – UNESCO
Intercessions
Prepared by our brothers and sisters Mont Carmel Village in Avranches, France
To be used as appropriate
1. Lord, we entrust to you all those concerned by the consequences of intercourse on sexual abuse in the Church. We pray for the victims, that they will find a listening ear with those who are commissioned for this. We also pray for the perpetrators of these acts, that they find help, accompaniment, and care on their journey.
Let us implore the presence of the Holy Spirit in all this search for truth, reparation, healing, and mercy.
2. In France, the religious congregation “Notre Dame du Mont Carmel” chose in 2015 to live in an alliance with the Chemin Neuf community. As throughout its long history, it has adapted to new calls by opening its Mother House in Avranches, which has become a nursing home for the elder sisters, to other female congregations. The Chemin Neuf Community shares the daily fraternal life as well as the liturgy and ensures the management of this place, (and very recently welcomed, as a resident, a first elder brother of the Chemin Neuf Community.)
Lord, we bless you for all the graces and for all the care dispensed in this house since its creation, fruit of your Holy Spirit. We entrust to you all the seniors currently welcomed, and the development of this house to serve you better.
3. In the forest of Compiègne in France, on November 11, 1918, the signing of the Armistice marked the end of the “Great War”. We bless you for the rulers who have had the wisdom and the courage to bring peace between peoples. May your Holy Spirit inspire governments to seek peace, justice and repentance.
We pray especially for countries currently at war. And more, we pray that each of your children will be a peacemaker.