Week of

         Pope Francis on Nuclear Disarmament

 

Pope Francis will visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima from Nov. 22-25 with an appeal for nuclear disarmament. He  has not only condemned the use of nuclear arms as his predecessors have done, but he went further in a landmark statement. At a Vatican symposium on disarmament  he firmly condemned “the very possession” of such weapons challenging the long-held moral acceptability of nuclear deterrence as a defensive strategy.   He said that “weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, create nothing but a false sense of security. They cannot constitute the basis for peaceful coexistence between members of the human family, which must rather be inspired by an ethics of solidarity.” Francis is the first pope ever to condemn the possession of nuclear weapons since they were used  by the US at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, causing the deaths of 210,000 people. Pope Francis will speak at a ceremony at Hiroshima on Sunday, Nov. 24th at 6:40 EST which will be livestreamed on the Vatican news website.

Prayer:  Pray the Peace Prayer of St. Francis for nuclear disarmament 

Action:  Reflect on the poem “Gathered at the River” by Denise Levertov (see below)

World Day of the Poor - Nov. 17

The World Day of the Poor was celebrated on Sunday, November 17th.  The theme this year is “The hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.” Pope Francis celebrated the day in Lourdes reminding us that the poor are the Church’s treasure. Read the Pope’s entire message at vaticannews.va/en/pope/news. 

Prayer: Loving God, may we grow in our conviction that sharing with the poor allows us to understand the deepest truth of the Gospel. Amen 

Action: Read and reflect on Pope Francis’  message for the World Day of the Poor. 

 

Gathered at the River by Denise Levertov (from Peace: A Dream Unfolding)

As if the trees were indifferent…                                                                                                          
A breeze flutters the candles, but the trees
give off a sense of listening, of hush.
The dust of August on their leaves
but it grows dark, green is something known about, not seen.

But summer twilight takes away only color, not form.                                                                             The tree-forms, massive trunks
and the great domed heads, leaning in towards us,
are visible, a half-circle of attention.

They listen because the war we speak of,                                                                                               the human war with ourselves,
the war against earth, against nature, is a war against them.

The words are spoken of those who survived awhile,                                                                          living shadowgraphs, eyes fixed forever on witnessed horror,

Who survived to give testimony,                                                                                                              that no one may plead ignorance. “Contra naturam”
he trees,  the trees are not indifferent.

We intone together, NEVER AGAIN,                                                                                                      we stand in a circle, singing, speaking,
making vows, NEVER AGAIN,
remembering the dead of Hiroshima, Nagasaki…

 

    Lord, make me 

          an instrument of

               your PEACE!