International Day of Peace to be Celebrated at Assumption College for Sisters

A press release from Assumption College for Sisters:

On the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Peace (Wednesday, Sept. 21), a group at Assumption College for Sisters (ACS), consisting of sister-students, aspiring religious, lay students, and members of the school’s staff, will mark the occasion with a liturgical service in the college’s chapel of Mary Immaculate.

The public is invited to attend and take an active role in parts of the liturgy. Anyone wishing to do so, however, should first contact the college at 973 543-6528, Extension 230.

Sister of Christian Charity Joseph Spring, president of ACS, explained that the International Day of Peace was created by the United Nations in 1981 –“and is celebrated annually to foster world peace, alleviate tensions and recognize causes of conflict.” Additional goals, she continued, are to inspire ceasefires for at least one day wherever wars are being waged as well as encourage nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

According to Sister Spring, participants in the college’s religious service, which begins at 11:15 a.m. and concludes at noontime, will process up the chapel’s main aisle, two at a time, and enter the sanctuary. There six sister-students will follow one another in reciting a prayer aloud that offers reflections on peace inspired by world renowned figures, past and present: Blessed Pope John Paul 11, Blessed Pope John XX111, Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Saint Francis of Assisi, Maya Angelou, the American writer, poet and civil rights activist, and Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of the best-seller on the problems of evil, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”

The ceremony’s first prayer leader, Sister Mary Sabina Ndunge, CPS, of Kenya, East Africa, will offer a prayer that is inspired by Blessed Pope John Paul II.

“O God, Creator of the universe, who extends your paternal concern over every creature and guides the events of history to the goal of salvation, we acknowledge your fatherly love when you break the resistance of mankind and, in a world torn by strife and discord, you make us ready for reconciliation. Renew for us the wonders of your mercy; send forth your spirit that he may work in the in the intimacy of hearts, that enemies may begin to dialogue, that adversaries may begin to shake hands and people may encounter one another in harmony…”

While Sister Ndunge prays, Ms. Tam Le from Viet Nam, a discerner for the Sisters of Christian Charity, will hold a globe aloft to symbolize God’s universe; at the conclusion of Sister Sabina’s prayer (and the prayers of each of the five remaining teams) the college’s chapel bell will toll in unison with the United Nation’s Peace Bell in New York. The entire group, along with worshippers in the pew, will then join in the supplication, “Long live absolute world peace.”
The remaining teams will be Sister Mary Do, FMSR, of Viet Nam and Carla Murphy, an American lay student at ACS; Sister M. Joyce Mwanisenga, OSB, of Tanzania and Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA, from the Philippines ; Sister Mary Grace Harazim,SCC, from the U.S. and Sister Mary Joseph Thuoc Le, LHC of Viet Nam; Sister Alaina Zachman, FMA, of the U.S. and Sister Anna Duong, LHC, from Viet Nam; Ms. Katie De Lucy, an American postulant for the SCC’s and Sister M. Donatha Gunda, OSB, from Tanzania.

The ceremony closes with all of the congregants singing the recessional whose opening lyric is “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”