Kindling Peace

Christ is counting on you!

22 May 2007

Dear friends -

During a Mass of Thanksgiving for all the volunteers who serve at the Dominican Retreat Center in McLean, VA, Fr. Pat McMann, Carmelite, related a story told to him by a nun right after 9/11 last year. He remarked how the story had been with him ever since.

An Old Testament scripture scholar, Sister was doing some work in Jerusalem. She had dinner one evening with some Jewish friends. During the course of the evening, a Palestinian militant blew himself up a block from the family's home. Shaken, Sister asked her hostess how she managed to live in such an environment.

The Jewish mother related how she arose early each morning before the rest of her family in order to spend some quiet time attempting to search out and find the last ember of peace deep within her own heart. In quiet prayer, she would attempt to rekindle the flame of peace within. By the time her family came down, she could usually succeed in raising the flame high enough to help rekindle the flame in each member of her family. Thus each would leave home with the flame of peace alive and they would carry it with them as they went through the day at work or school.

As the mother went about her day, she found it necessary to stop once in awhile to once again rekindle the flame of peace within her own heart. She would do this by finding a quiet spot for a few minutes. Sometimes this might have to be a stall in the rest room. After returning home, she would again spend a few minutes in the quiet to yet again rekindle the flame and have it available for each member of her family when they returned home. During dinner, the conversation would revolve around sharing how each one had been able to kindle the flame of peace somewhere during their day. In this manner, the family had learned to live in their environment and keep the flame of peace alive within the family and someplace else most days.
The mother related how she knew that she and her family could never bring peace to the world, to their country or even to their own city. But she thought, if each of us could bring a little bit of the flame of peace first here and then there, perhaps someday, together, there would be enough flame to bring peace to the larger world.

Another Formula

At Mt. Tabor, our Fr. Paul Wynants has introduced a small ritual that he experienced recently. Prior to the final blessing at Mass, Fr. Paul extends his arms over the congregation and sings:

May the blessing of God be upon you.
The blessing of the Father and the Son.
And may the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love,
Be with you all your days.

The congregation in turn extends its arms over Fr. Paul and sings the song back. If someone in the congregation is celebrating a birthday or anniversary or has a special need, the congregation turns to that person or couple and sings the blessing again. Fr. Paul then gives the final blessing.
Perhaps this simple blessing is something we could adopt within our families at the beginning and end of each day as a means of keeping the flame of peace alive right here in the good old U.S.A. Why not lay your hands on the shoulders of each family member and recite or sing this little prayer. What a way to send off spouse and children each morning!! Why not a dinner conversation about the ways in which we brought peace to our environment today?

The "Little Blessing" - another formula

During our early days of doing family retreats, we were introduced to the "Little Blessing" by Fr. Maurice DeCastione, a Missionhurst priest from Belgium who was our resident chaplain. Each weekend he would tell the story of the "Little Blessing." Whenever he or his siblings left the house, their parents would make the Sign of the Cross on their forehead and say "May God Bless you and Keep you." The gesture would be repeated when they came home and when they went to bed. Maurice would tell of coming home after serving for ten years as a missionary in China and giving the Little Blessing to his father as he lay dying. Here is yet another way of rekindling the fire of peace within the heart of those we love.

God knows the need for peace is as great here as in Israel.

Pace e Bene (Peace and Goodness - a greeting of St. Francis), Jim Bayne