Ten Days in May: Day 6

Pace e bene Nonviolence Service fosters a just and peaceful world through nonviolent education, community-building, and action. Traveling with the Turtle: A Small Group Process in Women's Spirituality and Peacemaking is one of the resources available on this site.

Ten Days in May: Day 5

Click here to read the latest issue of the Catholic Peace Voice.

Ten Days in May: Day 4

The Way of Peace: Exploring Nonviolence for the 21st Century is a resource for classroom or small group use. It is available from Pax Christi USA.

Ten Days in May: Day 3

The Muslim, Jewish, Christian Prayer for Peace
O God, you are the source
of life and peace.
Praised be your name forever.
We know it is you who turn
our minds to thoughts of peace.
Hear our prayer in this time of war.

Your power changes hearts.
Muslims, Christians, and Jews remember,
and profoundly affirm,
that they are followers of the one God,
children of Abraham, brothers and sisters;
enemies begin to speak to one another;
those who were estranged join hands in friendship;
nations seek the way of peace together.

Strengthen our resolve to give witness to these truths by the way we live.

Give to us:
Understanding that puts an end to strife;
Mercy that quenches hatred; and
Forgiveness that overcomes vengeance.

Empower all people to live in your law of love.
Amen.

Death Penalty

Three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ended a moratorium on lethal injections, at least 14 execution dates have been set for the coming months. Click here to read the May 3 NY Times article, "After Hiatus, States Set Wave of Executions."

Ten Days in May: Day 2

On this 25th Anniversary of the US Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter, "The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response," perhaps a re-reading is in order. You can find the letter here.

Ten Days in May: Day 1

A Prayer for World Peace
by Joan D. Chittister, OSB

Great God, who has told us

“Vengeance is mine,”

save us from ourselves,

save us from the vengeance in our hearts

and the acid in our souls.

Save us from our desire

to hurt as we have been hurt,

to punish as we have been punished,

to terrorize as we have been terrorized.

Give us the strength it takes

to listen rather than to judge,

to trust rather than to fear,

to try again and again to make peace

even when peace eludes us.

We ask, O God, for the grace to be our best selves.

We ask for the vision to be builders of the

human community rather than its destroyers.

We ask for the humility as a people

to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.

We ask for the love it takes

to bequeath to the children of the world

to come more than the failures of our own making.

We ask for the heart it takes to care for all the peoples

of Afghanistan and Iraq, of Palestine and Israel,

as well as for ourselves.

Give us the depth of soul, O God, to constrain our might,

to resist the temptations of power,

to refuse to attack the attackable,

to understand that vengeance begets violence,

and to bring peace - not war - wherever we go.

For You, O God, have been merciful to us.

For You, O God, have been patient with us.

For You, O God, have been gracious to us.

And so may we be merciful and patient

and gracious and trusting

with these others who you also love.

This we ask through, Jesus,

the one without vengeance in his heart.

This we ask forever and ever.

Amen.