International Day of Peace Vigil
THE PEACE OF GOD DWELLS IN OUR HEARTS
The United Nations has dedicated 21st September as an International Day for Peace. In response to this invitation, we are urged to pray together for peace, and an end to to violence in the world.
When we see the conflicts and violence that is tearing our world apart, and leaving so many of our brothers and sisters, victims of horrific injustices, submerged in suffering, we often ask: What can we do to bring about peace in the world? How can we influence those in government so they promote harmony among people? What should be my personal commitment? What can we do as a community, as a group, to build peace?
These and other questions motivate our prayer. We need to ask God to grant us the gift of peace, knowing that to pray for peace implies living peace in our everyday surroundings by allowing the Gospel to inspire all that we say and do.
A Prayer for Peace – (for use in communities)
Song: (Begin with an appropriate song)
The motives of John Paul II in inviting the representatives of the religions of the world to pray together for peace, illuminate the significance of gathering together and encourage us to open our hearts to God.
L 1. Prayer for peace is not an element that "comes after" the commitment to peace. On the contrary, it is at the heart of the effort to create peace, peace with order, justice and liberty.
L 2.To pray for peace means to open the human heart to the outburst of God's renewing power. With the life-giving strength of grace, God can open up paths to peace in places where only obstacles and impediments seem to exist. God can strengthen and broaden the solidarity of the human family, in spite of long histories of division and struggle.
L 3.To pray for peace means to pray for justice, for right relationships among nations. It also means to pray for freedom, especially for religious freedom, which is a fundamental human and civil right of every human being.
L 4.To pray for peace means to pray that we may receive God's forgiveness and at the same time, grow in courage so that we are able to forgive others.
Leader: "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God". Jesus was referring to those who truly work for peace, those who make peace happen. How did Jesus make peace?
In proclaiming the Beatitudes, Jesus included every dimension of our life. They are the only valid alternative in a globalized world that excludes the majority.
Proclamation of the Word of God:The Beatitudes (Mt. 5,1-12)
Silent Reflection
(If appropriate, the group can share a thought from their reflections)
Leader: We ask pardon for our complicity in the violence and injustice that disrupts our world.
(To each invocation, we respond: Forgive us, O Lord)
For hardness of heart….
For wasting our gifts…
For wanting too much…
For wounding the earth…
For ignoring the poor…
For trusting in weapons…
For refusing to listen…
For desiring dominance…
For wanting to win…
For failing to risk…
For failing to trust…
For failing to act…
For failing to love…
For our cowardice…
For our lack of commitment…
For our pride…
For our impatience…
For our silence….
(Suggestion: Using a bowl of water, each one can touch the water and make a sign of the cross on her/his heart as a sign of the conversion and the purification that we seek.)
Leader: Touch our hearts with sincere repentance and bring us back to You, Lord, so that violence does not deepen its roots in our lives nor the seeds of discord grow within us.
Silent pause
Leader: True peace is the fruit of justice. True peace is the fruit of respecting the dignity of all peoples and nations. True and lasting peace is born when justice and mercy meet.
Our response to the following invocations is: Change our hearts, O God
That we learn compassion…
That we embrace non-violence…
That our hearts are forgiving…
That we are filled with mercy…
That we act with justice…
That we live solidarity…
That we live with hope…
That we trust and dare…
That we be builders of peace….
(If appropriate, each person lights a candle as a sign of the light that comes with conversion.)
Leader: O God of life and history, before You all storms are calmed. May we always find true joy in hearing Your Word. With mercy and compassion may we build your reign of peace. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer (or song) of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Marian hymn
Credits: Litany for Peace, Pax Christi USA
 FI
Statements on Peace at the United Nations:
Franciscans International, as an NGO with General Consultative
Status with the Economic and Social Council, delivers
official written and oral interventions before United
Nations forums in New York and Geneva, Switzerland. Listed
below are Franciscans International statements on Peace:
2005
"Summary Report." A written statement presented at the
Commission on Human Rights (61st Session) 2005. (2005-04-22)
2004
"Human Rights in Occupied Iraq (oral statement)." An oral statement presented at the
United Nations,
Commission on Human Rights,
60th Session, UN Geneva,
15 March – 23 April 2004, . (2004-03-26)
"The Israeli Security Wall (written statement)." An oral statement presented at the
same meeting. (2004-03-26)
"Impact of the Israeli Security Wall in the Holy Land (oral statement)." An oral statement presented at the
same meeting. (2004-03-24)
2002
"Special Debate - Current Situation in the Holy Land." A written statement presented at the
UN Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-eighth Session. (2002-04-05)
"Item 4: Special Sitting on the Situation in the occupied Palestinian territory ." A written statement presented at the
same meeting. (2002-03-01)
2000
"Item 13: Rights of the Child, The Human Rights of Children in Iraq ." An oral statement presented at the
UN Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-sixth session. (2000-03-20)
" Item 13: Rights of the Child: The Human Rights of Children in Iraq." A written statement presented at the
same meeting. (2000-03-20)
"Summary of Our Interventions Concerning Iraq." A summary of our interventions at the
UN Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-sixth session. (2000-03-20)
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