February 23rd 2003 - Pray for Peace On-line!
From Sunday February 23rd to March 3rd thousands of people around the world will pray together for Peace in the World at Sacred Space. Each day's prayer will be inspired by the words of John 23rd, first published in Pacem in Terris forty years ago this year. Prayer does make a difference!
Lord, make this world last as long as possible
(Prayer of an 11 year old Indian boy
on hearing of Sino-Indian border fighting.)
This prayer will be echoed around cyberspace as Sacred Space, the Irish Jesuit On-Line prayer site, launches 9 days of prayer for world peace on the 23rd of February.
This initiative is inspired by the 40th anniversary of Pope John 23rd's famous encyclical Pacem in Terris, written at the height of the Cold War.
Sacred Space has had almost 6 million visits since 1999 and is now translated into 15 languages, including Japanese, Catalan and Latvian.
Site organiser, Fr. Alan McGuckian, SJ, says; "Many thousands of people pray at Sacred Space each day and the feedback from all over the world says that they want to be part of a world-wide prayer for peace."
On each of the nine days the site will highlight a reflection on a theme from Pacem in Terris, and will include a prayer from one of the major world religions. "Pope John's words struck a chord with all people of good will back in 1963," Fr. McGuckian said; "It's worth our while to listen to them again today."
I Can Make A Difference
When will there be peace?
Will I know it when I see?
Does peace depend only on others?
Or does peace begin with me?
The world is in such a state,
there is much to be done.
And who am I to make a
difference? I am only one.
But there is power in numbers,
when we pray for each other.
And if one person prays, today,
soon there will be another.
One by one, perhaps millions,
praying for the common good.
So with that, in mind, I can
make a difference, yes I could.
Written by Frances Berumen 05/02/03
