Weekly Peace Prayer

for February 4, 2025
prepared by Sister Carmel Little, CSJP

Constitutions:
We strive to make peace a reality by becoming agents of reconciliation.
Among ourselves and with others we work to heal divisions and hostilities
so that integrity and wholeness may be more fully realized. #25

Reading:
Every relationship of domination, of exploitation, of oppression is by definition violent, whether or not the violence is expressed by drastic means. In such a relationship, dominator and dominated alike are reduced to things - the former dehumanized by an excess of power, the latter by a lack of it. And things cannot love.
Paulo Freire

 Reading:
Nonviolence is a very powerful weapon. Most people don’t understand the power of nonviolence and tend to be amazed by the whole idea. Those who have been involved in bringing about change and see the difference between violence and nonviolence are firmly committed to a lifetime of nonviolence, not because it is easy or because it is cowardly, but because it is an effective and very powerful way.
Cesar Chavez

Prayer:
Bless us with the gift of non-violence
so we can choose love instead of hate.

Bless us with the gift of nonviolence
so we can resist violence of the spirit as well as of the body.

Bless us with the gift of nonviolence
so we can give love willingly, knowing that the return might be hostility.

Bless us with nonviolent hearts
so that we can be agents of reconciliation.

Bless us with nonviolent love
that enables us to be active in the work for justice.

Bless us with nonviolent love
that restores community and resists injustice.

We pray this prayer with Jesus, our brother and companion and our model of nonviolence.
Amen.

Quiet Reflection

Reading
Nonviolence is the constant awareness of the dignity and the humanity of oneself and others; it seeks truth and justice; it renounces violence both in method and in attitude; it is a courageous acceptance of active love and goodwill as the instrument with which to overcome evil and transform both oneself and to others. It is the willingness to undergo suffering rather than inflict it. It excludes retaliation and flight.
Wally Nelson, Conscientious objector,
Civil rights activist, and Tax resister

Reading
We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose. We cannot afford to use methods of which we will be ashamed when we look back, when we say, ‘…we shouldn’t have done that.’ We must remember, my friends, that we have been given a wonderful cause. The cause of freedom! And you and I must be those who will walk with heads held high. We will say, ‘We used methods that can stand the harsh scrutiny of history.’
Desmond Tutu

We pray:
That the Church will be an instrument of your justice in the world.
Give peace in our time, O God

That our administration will work for the good of all especially the most vulnerable among us.
Give peace in our time, O God

That the United Nations will work for a world of peace for all.
Give peace in our time, O God. 

Those international federations of labor, industry, and commerce will be motivated by the common good.
Give peace in our time, O God.

Those departments of state, ambassadors, and diplomats will go beyond their national boundaries to work for a world of peace.
Give peace in our time, O God.

That worldwide agencies of compassion, Doctors without Borders, Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Caritas, _______ (mention others) and all agencies will be strengthened to continue their work of alleviating the suffering of people.
Give peace in our time, O God.

That all who in any way works to further the cause of peace and goodwill; Pax Christi, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Amnesty International, _______- (mention others) and all people who work for peace will find support and encouragement in their work.
Give peace in our time, O God.

That ordinary people in every land will work and pray for a world of peace.
Give peace in our time, O God.

Compassionate God: Hurry the day when all people shall live together in your love, in your compassion, in your peace. In Jesus’ name we pray. 
Amen.

Quiet Reflection

Blessing:
May Christ’s peace reign in your hearts,
since as members of the one body
you have been called to that peace.