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A new year offers all of us the opportunity to consider where we have been, where we are going, and what we long to be as people of peace in the world. This is a time, for instance, when many Pax Christi local groups and individual members renew or take for the first time the Vow of Nonviolence (see the "Quick Links" section to the left). We hope that the resources in this Pray-Study-Act e-bulletin will help you as you orient yourself for a new year, for new opportunities for peacemaking, for a deeper and more transformative commitment to seek justice. We also invite you to take a few moments today or in the early days of the new year to view the 40 or so photos we have put together into a slideshow which capture some of what transpired in 2014 and how Pax Christi USA--as a national organization, our regions, local groups, and individual members--stood for peace with justice. Most of all, we thank you for your witness to the peace of Christ over the past year, and we are excited to walk with you into the new.
In peace,
Johnny Zokovitch
Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA
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| PRAY: Reflection for New Year's Day | |
by Arturo Chavez
Numbers 6:22-27 | Galatians 4:4-7 | Luke 2:16-21
 Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart. (Lk 2:19)
As we begin a new year, we turn to our Blessed Mother for a blessing. As our Lady of Peace, I'm sure she would use Moses' familiar words, "May God look upon you kindly and give you peace." Peace is always her message. As a mother, she calls each of us to truly claim our identity as a child of God.
What does it mean to live as a child of God? It means, first of all, that we are free! The same Spirit that led Jesus to his "Abba" fills our heart and sets us searching for this God-with-us, Emmanuel in our midst. This Spirit gives us sight to see God in every human being, and gives us the courage to relate to all as brothers and sisters....
To read the rest of this reflection, click here.
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STUDY: World Day of Peace Message
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by Pope Francis
At the beginning of this New Year, which we welcome as God's gracious gift to all humanity, I offer heartfelt wishes of peace to every man and woman, to all the world's peoples and nations, to heads of state and government, and to religious leaders. In doing so, I pray for an end to wars, conflicts and the great suffering caused by human agency, by epidemics past and present, and by the devastation wrought by natural disasters. I pray especially that, on the basis of our common calling to cooperate with God and all people of good will for the advancement of harmony and peace in the world, we may resist the temptation to act in a manner unworthy of our humanity.
In my Message for Peace last year, I spoke of "the desire for a full life... which includes a longing for fraternity which draws us to fellowship with others and enables us to see them not as enemies or rivals, but as brothers and sisters to be accepted and embraced"....
To read the entire message, click here.
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ACT: 24 hours for world peace
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Participate in the 24 Hours for World Peace on-line vigil on January 1, 2015, the World Day of Peace! Imagine... If on the first day of the new year, people from all over the world celebrate together by exchanging their wish for peace... and each person makes a resolution to create peace in their life, their home or their community... We could help make a peaceful world!
Pax Christi International is a partner of the 24 Hours for World Peace campaign.
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