Once again, this year, on the 8th June, we have stopped our daily commitments and spent a minute praying for peace.
All over the world, throughout the day, many were those who spent minutes praying and reflecting. Together, they committed themselves to work for peace,
The fact that, in every country and in every town, “wherever we were at 1 p.m.”, we responded to the proposal is in itself a testimony that “we want peace”. We are convinced that peace is an urgency, a right and a necessity for each and every one of us and for all humanity. Through peace, we can experience fraternity, dialogue, justice and solidarity. Peace turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh full of compassion and mercy.
With our prayers, we testify that we are willing to accompany those who are living in situations of violence and war and we send them the message: “You are not alone, you are our brothers and sisters!” No one can be discarded. We all deserve to live with dignity!
This minute of prayer commits us and predisposes us to consolidate peace. It unites us for this common cause, urges us not to give in to violence and to work for justice and fraternity in this fragmented and divided world. It shows that we stand in solidarity with the victims who are in dire need of real and lasting peace.
CA associations all over the world should strive to be a sign of peace and each and every one of us should be a witness of the fact that peace is possible. Together with Pope Francis, we have been doing this for the last 10 years and we want to go on proposing this prayer on the 8th of every month, imploring the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to help us choose the way of fraternity and to commit ourselves to work for peace.
by Emilio Inzaurraga
