CHURCH IN FOCUS:
World Peace Day Message
New Year 2012

Dear Friends, a New Year has been ushered in, a year of grace and blessing. On this day we extend you all our warm wishes and greetings for a good and prosperous New Year. We pray the Lord to bring you peace, prosperity, good health and blessings and fill your life with joy and happiness: “Happy New Year to each and every one of you.” For the Catholic Church, January first is a combination of three celebrations. First, it is New Year’s Day, a day of Hope and Peace. On New Year’s Day the Church observes the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It is the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, for the Scripture says that on the eighth day Jesus was given his name as per the Jewish Tradition. Besides, on this day the Church observes the World Day of Peace. Today we bring you the message of Pope Benedict for the 45^th World Day of Peace.
January 1st is recognized annually as the World Day of Peace by the Catholic Church. It was introduced in 1967 and was inspired by the encyclicals Peace on Earth of Pope John XXIII and Progress of Peoples of Pope Paul VI. Since 1981, the United Nations’ International Day of Peace is celebrated every year on September 21 to recognize the efforts of those who have worked hard to end conflict and promote peace. The day has also come to be known as Global Family Day, a day for peace and sharing. If we can live one day in peace, then we can work together to make peace last one day at a time.
“I am devoting this message for the 45^th World Day of Peace to the theme of education: "Educating Young People in Justice and Peace", in the conviction that the young, with their enthusiasm and idealism, can offer new hope to the world,” says Pope Benedict XVI. He is stressing on the necessity to educate the young in promoting peace and the common good in today’s world. The theme engages an urgent need in the world today: to listen to and enhance the important role of new generations in the realization of the common good, and in the affirmation of a just and peaceful social order where fundamental human rights can be fully expressed and realized. In fact, there is a duty incumbent upon the present generation to prepare future ones, and creating for them the conditions that will allow these future generations to express freely and responsibly the urgency for a “new world.” The Church welcomes young people and sees them as the sign of an ever promising springtime, and holds out Jesus to them as the model of love that “makes all things new.” The message suggests that those responsible for public policy are called to work for the creation of institutions, laws and environments of life that are permeated by a transcendent humanism and to build a civilization of fraternal love directed toward a more profound awareness of truth, freedom, of love and of justice for all persons.
The Pontiff in his message insists that young persons must labour for justice and peace in a complex and globalized world. It is therefore necessary to establish a new “pedagogical alliance” among all those responsible for the education and formation of young people. The theme indicates an important area of concern in the teaching of Pope Benedict in his Messages for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, beginning with the need for the truth in 2006, followed with the reflections on human dignity in 2007, on the human family as a Community of Peace in 2008, on Fighting Poverty to Build Peace in 2009, on the care for creation and environment in 2010, on “Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace” in 2011, and now in 2012 concentrating on “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace”.
Pope Benedict XVI says that his Message is not restricted to young people alone but is also addressed to parents, families and all those involved in the area of education and formation, as well as to leaders in the various spheres of religious, social, political, economic and cultural life and in the media. Attentiveness to young people and their concerns, the ability to listen to them and appreciate them, is not merely something expedient; it represents a primary duty for society as a whole, for the sake of building a future of justice and peace. It is a matter of communicating to young people an appreciation for the positive value of life and of awakening in them a desire to spend their lives in the service of the Good. This is a task which engages each of us personally, says the Pontiff.
Further, the Pope says that the concerns expressed in recent times by many young people around the world demonstrate that they desire to look to the future with solid hope. At the present time, they are experiencing apprehension about many things: they want to receive an education which prepares them more fully to deal with the real world, they see how difficult it is to form a family and to find stable employment; they wonder if they can really contribute to political, cultural and economic life in order to build a society with a more human and fraternal face. It is important that this unease and its underlying idealism receive due attention at every level of society. The Church looks to young people with hope and confidence; she encourages them to seek truth, to defend the common good, to be open to the world around them and willing to see "new things".
Speaking on Education the Pontiff says that Education is the most interesting and difficult adventure in life. The word Educating comes from the Latin “educere”, meaning leading young people to move beyond themselves and introducing them to reality, towards a fullness that leads to growth. This process is fostered by the encounter of two freedoms, that of adults and that of the young. It calls for responsibility on the part of the learners, who must be open to being led to the knowledge of reality, and on the part of educators, who must be ready to give of themselves. For this reason, today more than ever we need authentic witnesses, and not simply people who parcel out rules and facts; we need witnesses capable of seeing farther than others because their life is so much broader. They must realise that a witness is someone who first lives the life that he proposes to others.
The true education begins with peace and justice and it take place first in the family, since parents are the first educators. The family is the primary cell of society and it is in the family that children learn the human and Christian values which enable them to have a constructive and peaceful coexistence. It is in the family that they learn solidarity between the generations, respect for rules, forgiveness and how to welcome others. In this context the Pope calls on parents to encourage their children by the example of their lives to put their hope before all else in God, the one source of authentic justice and peace.
Addressing those in charge of educational institutions the Pontiff says that with a great sense of responsibility they must ensure that the dignity of each person is respected and appreciated. Let them be concerned that every young person is able to discover his or her own vocation and help them to develop his or her God-given gifts to the full. They must reassure families that their children can receive an education that does not conflict with their consciences and their religious principles. At the same time Pope Benedict calls on the political leaders to offer concrete assistance to families and educational institutions in the exercise of their right and duty to educate. They must ensure that no one is ever denied access to education and that families are able freely to choose the educational structures they consider most suitable for their children. The world of the media says the Holy Father does offer its own contribution to education. Education takes place through communication, which influences, for better or worse, the formation of the person.
Reflecting on the training of the person by Educating in truth and freedom, the Pope says that the aim of education is the integral formation of the individual, including the moral and spiritual dimension, focused upon man’s final end and the good of the society to which he belongs. Therefore, in order to educate in truth, it is necessary first and foremost to know who the human person is and to know the human nature. Hence the important step in education is learning to recognize the Creator’s image in man, and consequently learning to have a profound respect for every human being and helping others to live a life consonant with this supreme dignity. We must never forget that authentic human development concerns the whole of the person in every single dimension including the transcendent dimension, and that the person cannot be sacrificed for the sake of attaining a particular good, whether this be economic or social, individual or collective good. While searching the inner meaning of freedom, it is only in relation to God does man come to understand the meaning of it. Thus education has the task to form people in authentic freedom.
In order to exercise his freedom, man must move beyond the relativistic horizon and come to know the truth about himself and the truth about good and evil says the Pope. The right use of freedom is central to the promotion of justice and peace, which require respect for oneself and others, including those whose way of being and living differs greatly from one’s own. This attitude engenders the elements without which peace and justice remain merely words without content: mutual trust, the capacity to hold constructive dialogue, the possibility of forgiveness, as well as readiness to make sacrifices.
Speaking on the need to educating in justice the Pope says that in this world of ours, the value of the person, his human dignity and human rights, is seriously threatened by the widespread tendency to have recourse exclusively to the criteria of utility, profit and material possessions. In this context it is important not to detach the concept of justice from its transcendent roots. Justice is not simply a human convention, since what is just is ultimately determined not by positive law, but by the profound identity of the human being. It is the integral vision of man that saves us from falling into a contractual conception of justice and enables us to locate justice within the horizon of solidarity and love. The Sermon on the Mount tells us: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." They shall be satisfied because they hunger and thirst for right relations with God, with themselves, with their brothers and sisters, and with creation.
In his peace day message the Pontiff sees the necessity of Educating in peace. He says that peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of fraternity. We Christians believe that Christ is our true peace and in him, by his Cross, God has reconciled the world to himself and has broken down the walls of division that separate us from one another. In union with Jesus Christ there is but one family, reconciled in love.
In his Message Pope Benedict insists that peace is not merely a gift to be received: it is also a task to be undertaken. In order to be true peacemakers, we must educate ourselves in compassion, solidarity, working together, fraternity, in being active within the community and concerned to raise awareness about national and international issues and the importance of seeking adequate mechanisms for the redistribution of wealth, the promotion of growth, cooperation for development and conflict resolution. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God", are the words of Jesus given in the Sermon on the Mount. Inviting the young people who have such a strong attachment to ideals, the Pope says that he extends a particular invitation to be patient and persevere in seeking justice and peace, go forward in cultivating the taste for what is just and true, even when it involves sacrifice and swimming against the tide. However, they must remember that it is not ideologies that save the world, but only through a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true. An unconditional return to God who is the measure of what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love. He adds that love takes delight in truth; it is the force that enables us to make a commitment to truth, to justice, to peace, because it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Finally encouraging the young people of today Pope Benedict says: “Dear young people, you are a precious gift for society. Do not yield to discouragement in the face of difficulties and do not abandon yourselves to false solutions which often seem the easiest way to overcome problems. Do not be afraid to make a commitment, to face hard work and sacrifice, to choose the paths that demand fidelity and constancy, humility and dedication. Be confident in your youth and its profound desires for happiness, truth, beauty and genuine love! Live fully this time in your life so rich and so full of enthusiasm. Realize that you yourselves are an example and an inspiration to adults, even more so to the extent that you seek to overcome injustice and corruption and strive to build a better future. Be aware of your potential; never become self-centred but work for a brighter future for all. You are never alone. The Church has confidence in you, follows you, and encourages you and wishes to offer you the most precious gift she has: the opportunity to raise your eyes to God, to encounter Jesus Christ, who is himself justice and peace.”
At this juncture the Pope invites all the faithful to remember that peace is not a blessing already attained, but a goal to which each of us must aspire. We all have to look with greater hope to the future and encourage one another on our journey. We ought to work together to give our world a more humane and fraternal face and feel a common responsibility towards present and future generations, especially in the task of training them to be people of peace and builders of peace.
Fr. Eugene Lobo S.J.