This evening, from 7:00pm to 11:00pm, in Saint Peter’s Square, the Holy Father, Pope Francis presided at a Vigil of prayer for Peace, thus observing a Day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East and throughout the entire world.
In the course of the Vigil, after the recitation of the
rosary, the Holy Father spoke the following homily:
Homily
of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
For the Vigil of Prayer for Peace
And God saw that it
was good (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25). The biblical account of the
beginning of the history of the world and of humanity speaks to us of a God who
looks at creation, in a sense contemplating it, and declares: It is good. This, dear brothers and
sisters, allows us to enter into God’s heart and, precisely from within him, to
receive his message.
We can ask ourselves: what does this message mean? What
does it say to me, to you, to all of us?
It says to us simply that this, our world, in the heart
and mind of God, is the house of harmony
and peace, and that it is the space in which everyone is able to find their
proper place and feel at home,
because it is good. All of creation
forms a harmonious and good unity, but above all humanity, made in the image
and likeness of God, is one family, in which relationships are marked by a true
fraternity not only in words: the other person is a brother or sister to love,
and our relationship with God, who is love, fidelity and goodness, mirrors
every human relationship and brings harmony to the whole of creation. God’s
world is a world where everyone feels responsible for the other, for the good
of the other. This evening, in reflection, fasting and prayer, each of us deep
down should ask ourselves: Is this really the world that I desire? Is this
really the world that we all carry in our hearts? Is the world that we want
really a world of harmony and peace, in ourselves, in our relations with
others, in families, in cities, in and between nations? And does
not true freedom mean choosing ways in this world that lead to the good of all
and are guided by love?
But then we wonder: Is this the world in which we are
living? Creation retains its beauty which fills us with awe and it remains a
good work. But there is also violence,
division, disagreement, war. This occurs when man, the summit of creation,
stops contemplating beauty and goodness, and withdraws into his own
selfishness.
When man thinks only of himself, of his own interests and
places himself in the centre, when he permits himself to be captivated by the
idols of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then all
relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door opens to
violence, indifference, and conflict. This is precisely what the passage in the
Book of Genesis seeks to teach us in the story of the Fall: man enters into
conflict with himself, he realizes that he is naked and he hides himself
because he is afraid (cf. Gen 3: 10), he is afraid of God’s glance; he
accuses the woman, she who is flesh of his flesh (cf. v. 12); he breaks harmony
with creation, he begins to raise his hand against his brother to kill him. Can
we say that from harmony he passes to disharmony?
No, there is no such thing as disharmony;
there is either harmony or we fall into chaos, where there is violence,
argument, conflict, fear. It is exactly in this chaos that God asks man’s
conscience: Where is Abel your brother?
and Cain responds: I do not know; am I my
brother’s keeper? (Gen 4:9). We too are asked this question, it
would be good for us to ask ourselves as well: Am I really my brother’s keeper?
Yes, you are your brother’s keeper! To be human means to care for one another!
But when harmony is broken, a metamorphosis occurs: the brother who is to be
cared for and loved becomes an adversary to fight, to kill. What violence
occurs at that moment, how many conflicts, how many wars have marked our
history! We need only look at the suffering of so many brothers and sisters.
This is not a question of coincidence, but the truth: we bring about the
rebirth of Cain in every act of violence and in every war. All of us! And even
today we continue this history of conflict between brothers, even today we
raise our hands against our brother. Even today, we let ourselves be guided by
idols, by selfishness, by our own interests, and this attitude persists. We
have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have
sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves. As if it were normal, we continue to
sow destruction, pain and death! Violence and war lead only to death, they
speak of death! Violence and war are the language of death!
After the chaos of the flood, when it stopped raining, a
rainbow appeared and the dove returned with an olive branch. Today, I think
also of that olive tree which representatives of various religions planted in
the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires in
2000, asking that there be no more chaos, asking that there be no more war,
asking for peace.
And at this point I ask myself: Is it possible to walk
the path of peace? Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we
learn once again to walk and live in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of
God, under the maternal gaze of the Salus Populi Romani, Queen of Peace,
I say: Yes, it is possible for everyone! From every corner of the world
tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is possible for everyone! Or
even better, I would like for each one of us, from the least to the greatest,
including those called to govern nations, to respond: Yes, we want it! My
Christian faith urges me to look to the Cross. How I wish that all men and
women of good will would look to the Cross if only for a moment! There, we can
see God’s reply: violence is not answered with violence, death is not answered
with the language of death. In the silence of the Cross, the uproar of weapons
ceases and the language of reconciliation, forgiveness, dialogue, and peace is
spoken. This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and
sisters of other religions, and every man and woman of good will, cry out
forcefully: violence and war are never the way to peace! Let everyone be moved
to look into the depths of his or her conscience and listen to that word which
says: Leave behind the self-interest that hardens your heart, overcome the
indifference that makes your heart insensitive towards others, conquer your
deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation. Look upon
your brother’s sorrow – I think of the children: look upon these … look at the
sorrow of your brother, stay your hand and do not add to it, rebuild the
harmony that has been shattered; and all this achieved not by conflict but by
encounter! May the noise of weapons cease! War always marks the failure of
peace, it is always a defeat for humanity. Let the words of Pope Paul VI
resound again: No more one against the
other, no more, never! ... war never again, never again war! (Address to
the United Nations, 1965). Peace
expresses itself only in peace, a peace which is not separate from the demands
of justice but which is fostered by personal sacrifice, clemency, mercy and
love (World Day of Peace Message, 1975). Brothers and Sisters,
forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of peace, in
beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us pray this evening
for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace, and let
us all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace! Amen.
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