Our Lady of the Holy Rosary — St. Richard Catholic Church

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary-St. Richard Catholic Church

OCTOBER IS RESPECT LIFE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

OCTOBER 28, 2018 - 30th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SAFE RELEASE OF LEAH SHARIBU AND OTHERS WHO ARE HELD CAPTIVE BECAUSE THEY REFUSE TO RENOUNCE THEIR CHRISTIAN FAITH

"An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind."
Mahatma Gandhi

“We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace. We need love and compassion.”
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"PRACTICING AND LIVING THE WAY OF NONVIOLENCE"

How have you responded to acts of violence?

Pope Francis’ annual World Day of Peace Message for January 1, 2017 calls the Church to make “active nonviolence our way of life” and to “cultivate nonviolence in our most personal thoughts and values,” recognizing that “violence is not the cure for a broken world.”

Jesus taught, lived, and modeled nonviolence, which Pope Francis calls “a radically positive approach.” Pope Francis states:

[Jesus] unfailingly preached God’s unconditional love, which welcomes and forgives. He taught his disciples to love their enemies (cf. Mt 5:44) and to turn the other cheek (cf. Mt 5:39). When he stopped her accusers from stoning the woman caught in adultery (cf. Jn 8:1-11), and when, on the night before he died, he told Peter to put away his sword (cf. Mt 26:52), Jesus marked out the path of nonviolence. He walked that path to the very end, to the cross, whereby he became our peace and put an end to hostility (cf. Eph 2:14-16). Whoever accepts the Good News of Jesus is able to acknowledge the violence within and be healed by God’s mercy, becoming in turn an instrument of reconciliation.

While Jesus was nailed to the cross, rather than lashing out in anger against his persecutors, Jesus prayed for God to forgive those who crucified him “for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).

Pope Francis observes that the consistent practice of nonviolence has produced impressive and positive results, such as the achievements of Mahatma Gandhi and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the liberation of India; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in combating racial discrimination; the women of Liberia whose nonviolent protests helped to end the second civil war in Liberia; and by many others who practice nonviolence in their lives.

Pope Francis emphasizes

An ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence between individuals and among peoples cannot be based on the logic of fear, violence and closed-mindedness, but on responsibility, respect and sincere dialogue…

Pope Francis urges that

If violence has its source in the human heart, then it is fundamental that nonviolence be practiced within families….I plead with equal urgency for an end to domestic violence and to the abuse of women and children…The politics of nonviolence have to begin in the home and then spread to the entire human family.

Let us begin practicing and living the way of nonviolence now.

Reflect on Your Experience

How do you resolve conflicts in your family?

Is there any person who you feel called to reconcile with in your life?

What prevents you from doing it?