Bishops, faithful pray for peace in communities

In light of racially related shootings in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis and Dallas during the summer months, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops determined that a need existed for the Catholic Church to help these communities. They called for a “Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities” to be observed throughout the United States on Sept. 9.

“I have stressed the need to look toward additional ways of nurturing an open, honest and civil dialogue on issues of race relations, restorative justice, mental health, economic opportunity and addressing the question of pervasive gun violence,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, president of the USCCB. 

To mark the observance in Corpus Christi, Bishop Michael Mulvey celebrated Mass, followed by a prayer service and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, at St. Patrick Parish. More than a 100 faithful attended the service in the early evening. 
 

Faithful in attendance at Mass for the “Peace in Our Communities” exchanged signs of peace with each other.  Alfredo E. Cárdenas,South Texas Catholic

The Day of Prayer for Peace was celebrated on the feast of St. Peter Claver, who was canonized for devoting his life to caring for African slaves, baptizing more than 300,000. He called himself “the slave of the slaves forever.” 

“Let us pay tribute to his memory by dedicating ourselves to being ‘slaves’ of people in need of God’s mercy,” Bishop Mulvey said.

St. Peter Claver watched slave ships pull into docks and he went on board to meet the people there, Bishop Mulvey said. He did not wait for them to disembark. He had a passion for the Gospel, as did St. Teresa of Calcutta, and that was enough recompense for them.

“Jesus says certain evil spirits can only be driven out by prayer,” Bishop Mulvey said. “Evil spirits dominate our society; it is an evil spirit that continues to penetrate our society, our families, our small communities and our cities. Sometimes our silent loving presence of prayer drives evil out. Our prayers are stronger than any kind of evil.” 

Bishop Mulvey said that did not mean, “that we do nothing,” but that “everything must come through prayer.” 

“If our lives are motivated by the need to be recognized than we miss the point,” he said. “Who we are and where we are from is important but it should never be in contention between us.” 

He said the faithful are called to live the Gospel of Jesus; “God created all of us as brothers and sisters.” 

Jesus approached people and asked, “Who are you? Let me know you.” He sat down with people and got to know them as a person, the bishop said.

“That’s the foundation of all human relations. Who are you? Let me tell you who I am. We need to get to know one another,” the bishop said. 

The roots of violence can be traced to a lack of something, the absence of relationship, the lack of love, a lack of reconciliation and the absence of peace. “Violence is a reaction to something that is not there in someone’s life,” Bishop Mulvey said.

He said the answer to the problem of violence is found in the Beatitudes, in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus addressed the crowds by explaining the fundamental relationships man needs to live a peaceful life. 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mt 5:3-12).” 

These lessons “teach us to have a relationship with God and then with one another,” the bishop said. “They call us to have clean hearts and clean intentions. A violent person is missing something from the Beatitudes. To have peace we must live the Beatitudes so we can have a true relationship with God and each other.” 

The bishop said that some people believe that violence is the only way out, but “we must leave our comfort zone and reach out to others.”

“We should work for a more just society. That will happen in heaven not here, but we must start here,” Bishop Mulvey said.

Violence, he said, is a lack of personal responsibility. The Beatitudes, on the other hand, fill our lives with the love of God.

“It’s not simplistic, it’s simple,” Bishop Mulvey said.  

The USCCB has organized a task force to help bishops engage the challenging problems directly, by various means, including gathering and disseminating supportive resources and best practices; actively listening to the concerns of members in troubled communities and law enforcement; and building strong relationships to help prevent and resolve conflicts. The task force will report on its activities and recommendations for future work once it completes its work.