We commemorate this week as the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the “War to end all wars,” “The Great Conflict” which was World War I. We find ourselves more or less in a similar place to the status of the planet in 1914 – a world divided by hatred and conflict.
The situation in the Middle East was brought even more home when the Federal Aviation Administration and European airlines decided that no air traffic would be permitted to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, for the safety of airline passengers. Despite brief ceasefires on both sides, the situation in Israel and Palestine is dire, and thousands of lives senselessly have been lost.
Likewise, the conflict in Ukraine and Russia seems perpetual. Fueled by rattling sabres on many sides, it can seem that peace is only a fantasy in this region. In Mosul (and in more countries than we realize), Christians are under direct attack by ISIS – Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – and other extremists and to profess faith in the Lord Jesus is to risk being a martyr. Pope Francis has said that there are more martyrs for the faith now than in the early Church. The blood of Christians is even shed through the horrible act of crucifixion by extremists throughout Syria.
In our own city, murder and gun violence is rampant, and we can feel the tensions in the streets of some neighborhoods of our cities as thick as the humidity of the summer.
We need the gift of peace. Pope Francis, in his Angelus address on July 27, pleaded to the makers of violence: “Please stop!, I ask you with all my heart, it’s time to stop. Stop, please!”
The pope went on to declare: “Brothers and sisters, never war, never war! I am thinking above all of children, who are deprived of the hope of a worthwhile life, of a future,” he said. “Dead children, injured children, mutilated children, orphaned children, children whose toys are things left over from war, children who can’t smile any more.”
As the old song says: “Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.” Peace can only come from a heart that is open, attentive, reasonable and responsible, from a heart that knows that it is loved by God and by others, by a heart filled with a realization of the mercy that is Christ Himself. Peace can only come when we ourselves are open to transformation, open to change, open to the realization that what happens to our brothers and sisters, whom we do not know and whom most likely we will never encounter, matters.
Become a peaceful person, then help create a peaceful world. It can be a first step. It can be as simple as that.
