A Call to Peace — Fr. Ryan |
During a service in the Cathedral on Friday, January 17, 2003, Father Michael Ryan briefly addressed some 2,500 people who came to participate in an ecumenical Prayer and Procession for Peace. His text follows.
PRAYER AND PROCESSION FOR PEACE
January 17, 2003
My friends,
It is our common quest for peace that brings us together this night. It is our belief that a “preventive war” is not a just war that brings us together this night. It is our conviction that war is not inevitable and that war is not the answer that brings us together this night.
All of us are children of the God of life, the God who gives life and wants life for every person on this planet. Many of us are followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who called peacemakers blessed. Each of us accepts a responsibility to work for peace.
We are not naïve about our world. We know the horrors of terrorism; we know, too, the depths of injustice in our world: social, economic and political. We also know the destructive futility of war. As far back as 1960, Pope Paul VI stood before the United Nations in New York and proclaimed memorable words: “War no more! War never again!” But still we plan for war and still we go to war. When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn that the solution to our world’s problems will never be achieved by adding violence to violence? When will we ever awaken to the fact that the innocent victims of war and violence are not “collateral damage” but human persons like ourselves — our sisters and brothers in the human family?
My friends, we have come here to pray for peace, so let us pray for peace. And let us work for peace — work to create a world free of weapons of mass destruction, a world free of violence, terrorism, and war. Let us work together to build a world where all people have a voice and all people have a share in the bounty of the earth that God intends for everyone. And as we do so, may the words of the psalmist echo in our hearts and minds:
Mercy and faithfulness will meet,
Justice and peace will embrace…
Justice shall march before us and
Peace shall follow in our steps.
Father Michael G. Ryan
Cathedral Pastor