Be an 'artisan of peace' in 2023 advises Offaly influencer

Most of us who live in our world today want peace. Many people build it day by day through small gestures and acts; many of them are suffering, yet patiently persevere in their efforts to be peacemakers. In 2023, may we all dedicate ourselves prayerfully and actively to banishing violence from our hearts, words and deeds, and to becoming non-violent people and to building nonviolent communities that care for our common home.

Nothing is impossible if we turn to God in prayer. Everyone can be an "Artisan of Peace". Peace is above all that of respect for human life in all its many aspects. True peacemakers, then, are those who love, defend and promote human life in all its dimensions.

Anyone who loves peace cannot tolerate attacks and crimes against life. Peace is an order enlivened and integrated by love, in such a way that we feel the needs of others as our own, share our goods with others and work throughout the world for greater communion in spiritual and common values. God's peace is a reminder to all of us that the peace that we desire for our own hearts, for our own communities and indeed for our world will only come when a logic of personal interest and positioning and the logic of power in relationships is replaced by a logic of giving, loving, sharing, cooperating, fraternity and caring.

Our world now

Our world now as we go into the first few weeks of 2023 is full of hurting families and nations torn apart by war, conflict, poverty and violence. Nearly 2 billion people, about one-third of the world’s population live in countries with conflict, violence, or fragile internal systems, according to the UN. These are places with the greatest humanitarian needs, where children, families, and communities struggle to acquire the basic necessities of life.

One of my most abiding wishes and prayers that I say daily is, "may we all live in peace together." I light one of my daily candles for that prayer to come true constantly. We have seen what peace can do for people in Northern Ireland. But you only have to watch the news or read the papers to find conflict and suffering in every corner of our world and especially in Ukraine, Yemen, Tigray, Myanmar and Syria at this present time.

Look also at what has happened recently in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, South Sudan, America, Mali, Ethiopia and Libya to name a few of the obvious ones that have been shown by the various media.  It is alarming to see at present in our world so many hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset. Also the predominant economic model of recent decades calls for seeking maximum profit and consumption based on an individualistic and self-centred mentality while considering human beings as mere tools in economic competitiveness.

Unbridled capitalism cannot be trusted to work for the common good of humanity. It must legislatively be forced to do so. But instead, the political and economic system has been rigged to outrageously favor the wealthy over the middle-class and poor. And for those struggling to survive in extreme poverty throughout the world, now close to 2 billion human beings, the inequality between them and the rich is tragically unjust. In the face of unregulated financial capitalism, we need to build a new economic model for the sake of the common good: providing full dignified employment, food, water and shelter security for every person, and peaceful coexistence with all creation.

In order to have a better, more peaceful world we must learn to think of the globe as a whole. Our world leaders need to be more selfless and sacrificing. Only by having a universal, peaceful and spiritual vision can we bring positive change into the political and world field. A person who is really interested in making positive changes will never resort to violence to effect political reform. The approach has to be nonviolent and peaceful. Anything achieved through violence will not last long; it will leave an enemy sitting somewhere plotting against you. If instead, you make a friend, you need not be afraid of the other person; and he or she need not be afraid of you. Permanent peace can never be achieved by violent means. Remember, there is no power higher than love. Hatred breeds hatred; violence breeds violence. If we sincerely want world peace, we have to depend on our soul force, not on anything else.

When our efforts fail, when we have nothing else, then we think of a Higher Power and turn to that force. And that is what soul force is; that is what prayer is all about. Mahatma Gandhi was a great example of this principle. He demonstrated that, by being a peaceful activist and trusting in soul power, one could liberate an entire country. That is how India gained her independence. Mahatma Gandhi, U Thant, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, and others were great humanitarians in public life. We need more people like these to lead and inspire and we all need to work for peace in our world and in our lives. God's peace is much more than the absence of war. It is the universal experience of justice and love. We are not permitted to sit on the comfortable sidelines of life, safely viewing from afar humanity's problems. Rather, we must put ourselves into the muck and mire of this world to help achieve a peaceful, caring and loving world.

A peaceful world  

It seems to me that the only way we will ever achieve a peaceful world is if we resist the urge to impose our beliefs on someone who does not want to share them. We must accept everyone’s right to follow their own path but also keeping in mind with rights and freedoms comes responsibilities. We must accept that all life matters and that all life is sacred. We must accept that there will always be those who hold different beliefs and follow different paths to our own. Learn to respect people 'as they are' and put differences aside. 'Agree to disagree'.

This does not mean we cannot state our views or that people must be held responsible for their actions. With rights comes responsibilities for those rights and freedoms. But it does mean I will not impose anything on anyone who is not interested and it means that I can accept, respect and share with those who hold different beliefs from me without feeling the need to impose my ideas upon them. This world can be a dark place as we have seen over the past year or so. News reports of shootings, innocent lives being lost too soon, terrorist attacks, so many children's lives lost needlessly, unrest, racism and struggle are constant reminders that we live in uncertain and evil times. Many times we wonder, is finding peace in the midst of all this even possible? One quote reminds us, “Peace. It doesn't mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” Another says, "No God, no peace. Know God, know peace." And both are true.

Without knowing the perfect peace and calm assurance of God Himself in this crazy, mixed up and sometimes very evil world, we will live forever struggling to gain control, always finding ourselves in the inner battle with stress, anxiety and evil. Yet focusing on God’s words can bring life to our souls, no matter what swirls around us on any given day. He is able to bring security, so we're not overcome with fear, or find ourselves sinking down into a pit of worry and despair. He's the answer to our place of refuge. We can never fully escape all the mess this world may bring to our lives or our way at times. We sometimes live in a fallen, broken and evil place.

But in the midst of what life deals us, we can remain steadfast and strong by living a peace-filled life which comes down to a choice. Choosing to come to God in prayer and to believe that He's always with us and in control, choosing to set our thoughts on those things that are good, kind, just, caring, loving, forgiving, merciful, true and right. God reminds us in His word that peace will not naturally just come our way, He tells us to, “seek peace and pursue it,” Ps. 34:14. You see, the peace God offers is vastly different from getting away from it all on holidays and escaping our environment and place of work. It's lasting. Confident. Real. Breathing deep reassurance in the midst of all that we face whether it is past, present, or future. Rising up against the fear that would seek to choke our lives. Bringing comfort and freedom. God's words give strength, purpose and grace.

A fraternity of humanity for 2023

Recently we have also seen a surge in various forms of nationalism, racism, hate, xenophobia, wars and conflicts that bring only death and destruction in their wake. These and other events that marked humanity’s path these past few years have taught us how important it is to care for one another and for creation in our efforts to build a more fraternal society. A fraternal society of care as a way to combat the culture of indifference, waste and confrontation so prevalent in our time. We can no longer think exclusively of carving out space for our personal or national interests; instead, we must think in terms of the common good, recognizing that we belong to a greater community, and opening our minds and hearts to universal human fraternity.

We cannot continue to focus simply on preserving ourselves; rather, the time has come for all of us to endeavour to heal our communities, to lay the foundations for a more just and peaceful world, and to commit ourselves seriously to pursuing a good that is truly common. In order to do this, and to live better lives we cannot ignore one fundamental fact, namely that the many moral, social, political and economic crises we are experiencing are all interconnected, and what we see as isolated problems are actually causes and effects of one another. Consequently, we are called to confront the challenges of our world in a spirit of responsibility, fraternity, community and compassion. We must promote actions that enhance peace and put an end to the conflicts and wars that continue to cause poverty, abandonment and death.

We urgently need to join in caring for our common home and in implementing clear and effective measures to combat climate change. We need to battle the virus of inequality and to ensure food, water, shelter and dignified labour for all, supporting those who lack even a minimum wage and find themselves in great difficulty. The scandal of entire peoples starving remains an open wound in all our world. We also need to develop suitable policies for welcoming and integrating migrants and those whom our societies discard. Only by responding generously to these situations, with an altruism inspired by God’s infinite and merciful love, will we be able to build a new world which is a world of love, justice and peace. Each of us, men and women of this time, is called to make peace happen, each one of us, we are not indifferent to this. We are called to make peace happen each day and in every place we live.

This peace must begin with us; we must be at peace inside, in our hearts and with ourselves, and with those who are near us. Peace, is a gift from God, which must be implored from God with incessant prayer, sustained with patient and respectful dialogue, constructed with an open collaboration with truth and justice and always attentive to the legitimate aspirations of individuals and peoples. They alone are what can bring inner calm and peace at times to a whirlwind crazy mindless and evil world. As usual a story from my Nana Scully's prayer book might help to explain.

Peace picture

"There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. When the entries were in, the King looked at all the pictures. There were only two he really liked. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, with four peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare.

Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. It did not look peaceful at all. However, when the King looked, he saw a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock behind the waterfall. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest, perfectly at peace. The King chose the second picture, because, he said, “Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

Thought for the week

As your thought for the week, look at ways you can bring real, lasting and genuine peace into your own life and the lives of those around you and how you can be an "Artisan for Peace". As Mother Teresa said, "The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace." If peace is what you seek, focus your thoughts on this Prayer for Peace today and everyday called "On This Day"...."On this day Mend a quarrel, Search out a forgotten friend, Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust, Write a love letter, Share some treasures, Give a soft answer, Encourage youth, Care for our elderly.

Manifest your loyalty in a word, prayer or deed, Keep a promise, Find the time, Forego a grudge, Forgive an enemy, Listen, Pray, Meditate, Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand, Flout envy, Examine your demands on others, Think first of someone else, Appreciate, be kind, be gentle, Laugh a little more, Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice, Decry complacency, Express your gratitude, Strive and Pray for Peace, Worship your God, Gladden the heart of a child, Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth, Speak your love, Speak your peace, Speak it again, Speak it still again, Speak it still once again. Speak love and peace always. Amen."

As Eleanor Roosevelt said, ‘It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.’ I pray that all of us will put praying and working at peace to the forefront of our lives in 2023 for the betterment of the lives of our children and their children because if we don't God only knows what type of evil world will befall them. May the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to the 'Prince of Peace' (Is 9:6), and who cuddles him thus, with such tenderness in her arms, obtain for us from heaven the precious gift of peace.