Vatican City, 07 September 2013: Millions of people throughout the world responded
to Pope Francis' call for a day of prayer and fasting on Saturday for peace in Syria
and around the world. And an estimated 100,000 people converged in front of St. Peter’s
basilica in Rome in support of Pope’s appeal for peace. Addressing them, Pope
Francis said that 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 God saw it was “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.
Pope's
Homily during the vigil is given below
“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 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? 1. 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? 2. 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, death! Violence and war lead only
to death, they speak of death! Violence and war are the language of death! 3. At
this point I ask myself: Is it possible to change direction? 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 and do not add to it, stay your hand, 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). Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation
– these are the words of peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the
world! Let us pray 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. source: VR Sedoc