Resources for Justice and Peace Sunday (7th January).

• Posted on Dec 14, 2006

It is worth letting people know about Justice and Peace Sunday. Speak to the parish priest about putting a notice in the newsletter or a mention at Mass the Sunday before. Something like the following:

Next Sunday/Today we celebrate Justice and Peace Sunday, which offers us an opportunity to reflect on the letter from the President of the Justice and Peace Commission, Bishop Moran. There will also be a special collection to support the promotion of justice and peace in Scotland.

The Justice and Peace Commission has an excellent website www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk and information on many of the important issues of the day such as the proposed replacement of Trident. You can sign up for email updates and find information on how to subscribe to the magazine of the Justice and Peace Commission. You can also contact the Justice and Peace Commission by phone 0141 333 0238 or by post Justice and Peace, 65 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 2BX.

Homily Reflection (from Pax Christi)

In recent years the Church has come to see ever-more clearly the implications of this faith in God’s Spirit at work in each person and in the whole of creation. Through the action of the Holy Spirit, human life is sacred from its first moments to its last breath. And no one (neither the individual nor the State itself) has a ‘right’ to take life or to diminish life. So pro-life campaigning, development work, protecting human rights, working with the vulnerable and excluded locally (for instance, through the SVP), opposing the production of weapons of mass destruction, the struggle to protect the environment, political activism – for the Christian all of these are ways of honouring and protecting life and recognising the sacredness of the Spirit of God in our brothers and sisters. What am I called to do? Where should I focus my energies so as to make my contribution?

Prayers of the Faithful (may be added to your own parish prayers)

We pray for our Church. May we have the courage to speak and act in honesty and truth so that we can be true instruments of healing and reconciliation in our world.
Lord, in your mercy: Give us your peace.
We pray for those who live with the reality of violence and oppression: the peoples of Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, that they will find the justice and human security they seek, so as to live life to the full.
Lord, in your mercy: Give us your peace.
We pray for the gift of discernment: that we may know where we are called to work for peace and how to receive the gifts of those who are different from ourselves.
Lord, in your mercy: Give us your peace.
We pray for those who work for justice and peace: inspire their efforts, protect them from discouragement and let us know the peace you left as a legacy.
Lord, in your mercy: Give us your peace.

Pope Benedict XVI has produced the traditional World Day of Peace Message.
A key quote from this message

…peace is both gift and task. If it is true that peace between individuals and peoples—the ability to live together and to build relationships of justice and solidarity—calls for unfailing commitment on our part, it is also true, and indeed more so, that peace is a gift from God. Peace is an aspect of God's activity, made manifest both in the creation of an orderly and harmonious universe and also in the redemption of humanity that needs to be rescued from the disorder of sin. Creation and Redemption thus provide a key that helps us begin to understand the meaning of our life on earth.

Peace prayer of Thomas Merton

Grant us prudence in proportion to our power,
Wisdom in proportion to our science,
Humaneness in proportion to our wealth and might,
And bless our earnest will to help all races and peoples
To travel in friendship with us,
Along the road to justice, liberty and lasting peace.

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