Happy 50th Anniversary Peace Corps!

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, founded by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961.  The Peace Corps is still serving today in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America.

Dorothy Day

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the death of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.

An early radical, Day became a socialist, dropped out of college, married and had an abortion before converting to Catholicism as an adult.   As this article by Andrew Hamilton says, Dorothy's was "a gospel with teeth."  She founded Catholic Worker Houses that helped (and still help) the poor--alcoholics, drug addicts and street people.

Her theology was all about pacifism, hospitality and human dignity. The poor who came to her were treated with dignity and non-violence--the first many had ever known.  Even when involved in political passive resistance (think, Gandhi and Martin Luther King) the innate human dignity of one's opponent was at the forefront.

*This* is Christianity.  This is what Jesus wants us to do.

Pray for Peace in Korea

Let's ask Our Lady for peace in the troubled country of Korea.

Our Lady of Korea, bring them peace!


Hat tip to Vivificat.

New Category--Promoting Peace

I wanted to call attention to a new category in my sidebar (second to the last).  It is called Promoting Peace and highlights organizations that help people of greatest need internationally.

The first is Anti Slavery International. This is the world's oldest human rights organization and works exclusively to stop slavery, which still exists today (even in the United States--there was recently a story about a woman who was held without pay and without freedom as a "housekeeper" in Montgomery County, Maryland.)  Horrible things are happening to people, most especially, children, all over the world and it is up to us to stop it.

Catholic Relief Services are all over the world, often the first responders to disasters as they happen.  They are recognized as one of the most effective organizations in the world.

Central Asia Institute and its related websites, Pennies for Peace and  Three Cups of Tea, was founded by Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber turned philanthropist.   After a failed attempt to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain, Greg lost his way and was rescued by local people in the Pakistani village he wandered into.  Afterwards, he promised them he would build them a school, and, literally, went back to America and started to fund raise from scratch.  He went on to build a bridge and school for that town, and 144 more schools.   Visit his websites, and look in your library for his books.

The other worthy organization is SOS Children's Villages.  They house orphans around the world, not in orphanages, but in homes with family based care.

Please consider giving to one or more of these organizations and promote true peace in the world.

Michele has let me know of a Catholic organization that works internationally to help children and the elderly in need throughout the world.  Chalice is a Canadian Catholic sponsorship program that operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and Haiti.  Chalice is considered one of Canada's best charities.

He Shall Be Peace

Thus says the LORD:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD,
in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
and they shall remain, for now his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth;
He shall be peace.
~Micah, Chapter 5.

He shall be peace.
Nothing else. No one else is peace--not money, not health care, not political deals made in the dark of night under promises of "change" and "openness", not a strong military, not political power, not personal control--nothing brings permanent peace, and certainly, nothing else is peace.

Jesus doesn't bring peace.   Jesus doesn't cause peace.  Jesus doesn't force peace.

Jesus is peace.

Come, Lord Jesus!!

In Honor of the Fallen

Also, in honor of those who died in the 9/11 attacks, I wanted to post a picture of this moving war memorial from the blog, Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family.

Our Lady is shown with the Infant Jesus as Prince of Peace. An angel (perhaps a guardian angel) is lovingly holding the body of a soldier, as Mary and Jesus look on with welcoming expressions.

May all those who perished on 9/11 and the days following, and all our beloved dead, rest in peace.

In Memorium

Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Flight 93 and the Pentagon.

In honor of all those who lost their lives that day in our fallen and troubled world, I offer you this video I discovered on YouTube entitled "Pray for Peace in the World". It is a calm and meditative video of God's beautiful creation set to an instrumental version of Ave Maria.



Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us!

Respect

I am grateful beyond measure on this Easter Day, for people in my life who respect my beliefs and my right to have them. I think the world will never, ever be at peace unless and until we not only respect other's beliefs, but fight for their right to practice them, if need be. It is the only true "American way".

Ave Maria for Peace

I've neglected my Ave Maria for Peace posts and thought I should put one up today in light of the tragic assasination of Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan. This Ave Maria is by Angelica Sepe and features footage of Mother Teresa and of India. Please pray for peace in that region of the world.

Ave Maria for Peace

Today's Ave Maria for peace is by Josquin Desprez (1440-1521). It's one of my favorite Ave Marias to sing and to listen to.



I think the last line is especially well done. The words , O Mater Dei, memento mei. Amen translate to, "Oh Mother of God, remember me. Amen." Listen to the way the music comes out like a prayer.

Indeed, he who sings, prays twice.

Hail Mary for Peace

Today's Ave Maria for Peace is from Celtic Woman.

Peace Initiative

"Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world"
(Our Lady of Fátima).

Marie and Ginny over at View From The Pews are starting a peace initiative. They are calling for bloggers to post a prayer for world peace on their blogs each week. Given Our Lady's call for the Rosary for peace in her appearance at Fatima, Portugal in 1917 (and today's Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary) I am going to make my prayer a version of the Hail Mary and add the intention of peace for all in the world to my daily Rosary.

Here is this week's Hail Mary for Peace sung by Chanticleer and written by Franz Biebl.

Pray for Peace

On this anniversary of the September 11th attacks, let us pray for those who are different from us in any way. Different in beliefs, different in appearance, different in physical or mental health.

Let Nothing Disturb Thee

Let nothing trouble you.
Let nothing scare you.
All is fleeting.
God alone is unchanging.
Patience
Everything obtains.
Who possesses God
Nothing wants.
God alone suffices.
~St. Teresa of Avila

How to obtain inner peace

Many of us hear about the "peace that passes all understanding" and wonder how in the world we can get it. Jesus tells us Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians.

Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

This is Christ's prescription for inner peace: Rejoice always in the Lord. Feel His nearness. Be kind to all people. Go to God with all the anxieties of your life. Always thank Him--before you get an answer--because an answer is always given.

Peace

Today is the Feast of

St. Francis of Assisi.

I think the

Prayer of St. Francis

is especially appropriate

in these troubled times.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not
so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to
understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are
born to eternal life.

Saint Francis had some important firsts. He experienced the first recorded incident of the stigmata--or the wounds of Christ manifested in his own body.

He also made the first nativity scene or creche. He used live people and animals to depict the birth of Christ on Christmas Eve. Today nativity scenes are common around the world.

St. Francis was a reformer in his time who stayed with the Church, however troubling and corrupt parts of it may have been. He can be an inspiration to all of us on so many levels today.