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Prayer for Int'l Nonviolence Day
by John Dear SJ on Aug. 11, 2009
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PDF version"God of peace, have mercy on us."
"God of peace, have mercy on us."
"God of peace, have mercy on us."
"God puts an end to wars."
"God puts an end to wars."
"God puts an end to wars."
"God puts an end to wars."
"God puts an end to wars."
"God of Peace, hear our prayer."
"God of Peace, hear our prayer."
"God of Peace, hear our prayer."
"God of Peace, hear our prayer."
"God of Peace, hear our prayer."
"God of Peace, hear our prayer."
Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionThe United Nations has designated Oct. 2, Gandhi’s birthday, as International Nonviolence Day. To help people of faith promote and mark the day, the Commission on Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation for the Union of Superiors General in Rome commissioned the following prayer service. It is being translated and distributed to religious orders around the world. I want to offer it to everyone who would like to host a prayer service for nonviolence. Anyone who wishes can copy it and distribute it -- and pray with it.
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Welcome/Introduction
(Leader) In the name of the God of peace, the nonviolent Jesus, and the Holy Spirit of love.
Welcome to this prayer service for International Nonviolence Day. Let's begin by taking a moment and turning to those around us and introducing ourselves…..
I invite you to take a deep breath and relax, to notice how you are feeling today, and to enter into the presence of the God of peace who loves you infinitely, unconditionally. I invite you to welcome the risen, nonviolent Jesus into our community of peace and into our hearts, and to breathe in his Holy Spirit of peace and nonviolence.
Let's take a minute in silence to give thanks for all the blessings of love and peace that we have received throughout our lives by the God of love and peace, and let's ask God to forgive us for all the ways we have rejected those blessings of love and peace, all the ways we have chosen violence instead of nonviolence, all the ways we have hurt others and supported the culture of violence and war. Let's repent of our violence and ask for the grace to become people of Gospel nonviolence. (Silence)
Please respond, "God of Peace, have mercy on us."
Jesus, you renounced violence, loved everyone, practiced nonviolence, embodied peace, resisted injustice, and gave your life in perfect nonviolent love for humanity. God of peace, have mercy on us.
Jesus, you call us to renounce violence, love everyone, practice nonviolence, oppose war, dismantle nuclear weapons, resist injustice, embody peace and love our enemies, God of peace, have mercy on us.
Jesus, you are our Lord and Savior, our Brother and friend, our life, our hope, our peace, God of peace, have mercy on us.
Opening Prayer (All Recite)
God of peace, be with us now as we repent of our violence and hear your word of peace. Help us to become your holy people of Gospel nonviolence, that we might follow the nonviolent Jesus, love one another, love our enemies, reconcile with everyone, resist injustice and pursue a new world without war, poverty, nuclear weapons, global warming or violence, your reign of nonviolence in our midst. We ask this in the name of the nonviolent Jesus, our brother and our peace.
First Reading: Isaiah 2:2-5.
Psalm Response
(Leader) Our Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 46. Please respond: "God puts an end to wars."
God is our refuge and our strength,
An ever present help when we are in trouble;
So we shall not be afraid though the earth be in turmoil,
Though mountains tumble into the depths of the sea,
and its waters roar and seethe, and the mountains quake.
The God of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
There is a river whose streams bring joy to God's city.
It sanctifies the dwelling of the Most High.
God is in the city, it cannot fall.
At break of day, God comes to the rescue.
Nations are in an uproar, kingdoms are tumbling,
And when God raises God's voice, the earth crumbles.
The God of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come, consider the wonders of the God of peace,
The astounding deeds God has done on the earth.
God puts an end to wars over the whole wide world.
God breaks the bow, God snaps the spear,
God burns the shields in the fire.
"Be still and know that I am God, supreme over the nations,
Supreme over the world."
The God of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Second Reading: from the words of Mahatma Gandhi.
"Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of humanity. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of humanity. Nonviolence is not passivity in any shape or form. It is the most active force in the world. Nonviolence is the supreme law. Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the training for nonviolence. One person who can express nonviolence in life exercises a force superior to all the forces of brutality. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence, but I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence. My optimism rests on my belief in the infinite possibilities of the individual to develop nonviolence. The more you develop it in your own being, the more infectious it becomes till it overwhelms your surroundings and by and by might oversweep the world. We have to make truth and nonviolence not matters for mere individual practice, but for practice by groups and communities and nations. That, at any rate, is my dream. When the practice of nonviolence becomes universal, God will reign on earth as God reigns in heaven."
- [From Mohandas Gandhi: Essential Writings," edited by John Dear, Orbis Books, New York, 2002.]
Third Reading: Luke 6:27-36
Silent Reflection After the Readings
Intercessory Prayers for Nonviolence
(Leader) Please respond, "God of Peace, hear our prayer."
* That we might become people of Gospel nonviolence, who allow God to disarm our hearts of the violence within us, that we might be nonviolent to ourselves and to every person we meet for the rest of our lives, we pray:
* That we might practice nonviolence as Jesus did, come to understand his creative nonviolence, and obey his commandments of nonviolence: "put down our sword," "be as compassionate as God," and "love your enemies," we pray:
* That we might come to know and worship God as a God of peace and nonviolence, who "makes the sun rise on the good and the bad, and causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust," that we might become peacemakers who help end war and create a culture of nonviolence, and so, fulfill our vocations to be the beloved sons and daughters of the God of peace, we pray:
* For the church, that it might be a global community of Gospel nonviolence, that it might never bless violence or justify war again, that it might support and bless nonviolent campaigns for justice and peace, and that it might always teach, practice and model the nonviolence of Jesus, we pray:
* For an end to war, poverty, starvation, racism, sexism, executions, torture, abortion, nuclear weapons, global warming and violence of every kind, we pray:
* For the coming of a new generation of peacemakers, for new teachers, prophets, apostles, champions and saints of Gospel nonviolence, who will help the world turn from violence to nonviolence, who will lead us to reject war and nuclear weapons, reconcile with one another and create new culture of peace and nonviolence, we pray:
* Please add your own petitions [either in silence, or out loud, depending on the group].
(Leader) God of peace, thank you for hearing our prayers, all the prayers in our hearts and all the prayers of the whole human race, and we offer them in the name of the nonviolent Jesus. AMEN.
The Lord's Prayer
(Leader) Before we recite the Lord's Prayer together, and ask for the coming of God's reign of nonviolence on earth and for God's forgiveness, let's take a moment of silence to recall everyone whoever hurt us, and let's forgive them all, so that we will be ready to ask God to forgive us "as we forgive those who trespass against us."(Silence)
All recite the Lord's prayer together out loud.
A Pledge of nonviolence
(Leader) I invite all those who are ready to recite together this pledge of nonviolence, that we will try to practice and live the nonviolence of Jesus for the rest of our lives:
In the name of the God of peace and nonviolent Jesus,
I pledge today to live, practice and teach the nonviolence of Jesus,
- to renounce violence and to non-cooperate with the world's violence;
- to love every one as my sister and brother;
- to respond with love and not to retaliate with violence;
- to forgive those who have hurt me and reconcile with everyone;
- to accept suffering as I work for justice, rather than inflict further suffering;
- to live more simply, at one with all creation;
- to work with others for the abolition of war, poverty, nuclear weapons, global warming and all violence;
- to follow the nonviolent Jesus on the way of the cross into the new life of resurrection, knowing that my life is in God's hands, that life, love and peace are stronger than death, hatred and war;
- to seek God's reign of nonviolence for the rest of my life;
- and to promote and teach the Gospel message of nonviolence.
May the God of peace give me the grace and strength to fulfill this pledge and make me an instrument of God's peace. Amen.
Closing prayer
(Leader) Let us pray….God of peace, thank you for calling us to follow the nonviolent Jesus on the road to peace. Help us to become your holy people of Gospel nonviolence. Disarm our hearts that we might be instruments of your disarming love. Make our church a community of Gospel nonviolence, that rejects war and radiates your love and peace. Bless us to love one another and our enemies, to reconcile with everyone, to resist injustice and spread the practice of nonviolence. Give us a new world without war, poverty, nuclear weapons, global warming or violence. Give us your reign of nonviolence, here and now. We ask this in the name of the nonviolent Jesus, our brother and our peace.
Closing blessing
(Leader) May the God of peace who loves you infinitely bless you abundantly, the Creator of peace, the Christ of peace, and the Holy Spirit of peace.
AMEN.
After a closing song of peace, all are invited to offer each other a sign of peace.
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[Editor’s note: Fr. John Dear will be taking an end of summer break after today. His weekly column will return on Tuesday, Sept. 8. For information on his books and speaking schedule, or to invite him to speak at your church or school, see: www.johndear.org.]
If Gandhi was not a
If Gandhi was not a Christian, he did not have to believe that Jesus was the second person of the "triune" God, nor that his death absolved all sins, past, present and future.
Gandhi seemed to have had more respect for Jesus as a man because he was willing to die without resorting to "just" violent defense. Since Christians, follow the Jesus of Constantine, they do not have to believe that Jesus expects them/us to take his teachings serious.
Gandhi's devotion to the Sermon on the Mount, not because Jesus was the second person of God in the flesh, but because Jesus would have no more knowledge than any human could have.
Gandhi said that the only people on Earth who do not see Christ and his teachings as nonviolent are Christian. That may be because they have separated the humanity from Jesus. Because Christians can make Jesus' life and death appear as a myth, they have made it easy to accept the fallacy of a Just War theory or Just War principles.
Why don't Christians want to believe that they could follow Jesus' teachings? To often nonviolent people are called wimps or cowards. We don't call Jesus a wimp or a coward because we find it easier to believe that his death absolves us from ignoring his teachings when they are unpleasant or awkward.
October 2nd is a one day a year event. It will probably not have a great impact unless peace or nonviolence breaks out, and I don't believe that Jesus or God could pull that one off.
Peace!
"I am trying here to prevent
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse...You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." CS Lewis
Veritas is as strong a
Veritas is as strong a follower of CS LEwis as she is of GK Chesterton
I pray she convert to our nonviolent God of Peace, called Rabbi in the New Testament in recognition of His fundamental teaching, his principal intention.
"love thy enemy!"
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco)
what part of the quote
what part of the quote provided in the above post do you disagree with, charles?
I find myself in perfect
I find myself in perfect agreement with the quote provided in the above post: "Love thy enemy!"
Help me in my disagreement, Oh Lord! Help me in those ways I fail to love my enemy, my great and gracious and merciful and compassionate God, who commands us:
"Love thy enemy!"
"To often nonviolent people
"To often nonviolent people are called wimps or cowards."
- as in the situation posed in the previous article, if a man would stand aside wistfully and allow another man to beat a woman to death because to attempt to stop him would be 'violent', then yes, that man is by very definition, a coward.
jesus did not stand by wistfully and allow his father's temple to be profaned by money changers either. and no matter how much spin you try to put on the story, using an improvised scourge to drive people out of a building like cattle is not an 'act of non-violent, non-cooperation'.
What if the woman being
What if the woman being beaten in your Chestertonian illustration was the man, and the beater a woman? As asked in Speed: What do you do?
The nonviolent response is always the most courageous, the least wimpy, which is why you avoid it so violently.
Did (capital J) Jesus cast the first stone?
I certainly prefer capitalist procedures and processes supported by Clint not take place within the sacred place of this world, their abomination in this holy cosmos, their robbery of the poor and destruction of all Creation, leading to their wars for resources as in Iraq, courageously and early witnessed by the Reverend Father John Dear SJ, but violently?
Only by the violence of our converting love, our compassion, our mercy, our strong peace, our justice, our courageous nonviolence, our generosity and selfless giving of self . . .
"What if the woman being
"What if the woman being beaten in your Chestertonian illustration was the man, and the beater a woman? As asked in Speed: What do you do?"
a man beating a woman to death / a woman beating a man to death. in both cases i would intervene if i at all could, with what is morally necessary to stop the murder in progress.
and then a question to you: you would also stand by and do nothing if a man was beating a child to death, because to try to stop him would be violent?
that's not courage. that's being a coward. plain and simple.
"Did (capital J) Jesus cast the first stone?"
- he swung the first lash, whipping the money changers like marauding cattle when they were defiling his father's house. i'm sure he could have NOT done that. that would ahve been the more non-violent thing to do.
Dear John-- thanks. But a
Dear John-- thanks. But a slight correction: I believe you meant to write Luke 6 27-36(not 26) for the third reading. Wonderful prayer service. Will hopefully arrange one here. THX again, Eartha Newsong
Thank you for continuing to
Thank you for continuing to share your thoughts and prayers with all of us... Your blogs are always so encouraging and are such a blessing to me. Love & peace in Christ
CCC 2264 Love toward oneself
CCC 2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:
If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.
CCC 2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.
Well done, Veritas.
Well done, Veritas. Sometimes I think that these folks believe that if they say "peace" and "nonviolence" enough we will all buy into the idea that Christians must always in every circumstance be nonviolent. But, as you point out, in the protection of my life, and in the protection of those who depend on me for their safety, violence can not only be good, but sometimes a moral necessity. Obviously for the everyday person, those instances would be few and far between, but it is good to remind ourselves of the fact.
To this I would only add one of my favorite quotes from the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. I use it often when commenting on Father Dear's articles because it is very relevant, perhaps more today than when he first said it back in the forties:
"The pacifist thinks that the alternative to war is peace; it is not. Sometimes the alternative is oppression. Sometimes certain God-given rights and liberties can be preserved only by resistance to that which would destroy them. And to defend certain basic God-given rights and liberties is not immoral but righteous."
you're wasting your time,
you're wasting your time, clint.
don't you know that, according to our brother charles in the previous post, the church totally collapsed into heresy during the reign of constantine and that fr john and those like him are the only real catholics left? don't you know that all the martyrs of the ancient world all were killed because they wouldn't join the roman army (because, counter to all historical evidence, they were all committed pacifists you see) and not because of things like refusal to worship idols? don't you know that the catechism, since it is a product of this post-constantine descent into heresy, is in error and is wrong? don't you know that the real reason that the son of god became man was to teach the novel idea of pacifism, even though in the ancient times pacifism wasn't really novel at all? don't you know that to truly be a peaceful catholic you must be a committed vegetarian? (yes, i know jesus himself ate meat, but you see, since that point contradicts their claims, it doesn't matter!)
Pete writes: "i know jesus
Pete writes: "i know jesus himself ate meat"
How did you obtain this knowledge?
Where do you see it written?
Or is it first hand?
I can overlook your exagerrated slanders against me and even the Communion of Saints, but when it comes to (capital J) Jesus, I really must draw the line.
Did Satan in the desert tempt with changing those stones into pork chops?
just wondering
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco)
"How did you obtain this
"How did you obtain this knowledge?"
its quite easy, actually.
it is factually stated he cooked and ate fish for one, which i do not think is vegetarian. he also stayed in and ate in some of the houses of very rich people in the areas he stayed at. historically, one of the marks of the rich through history is that they do eat meat, and indeed offer it to their guests. that much is historical.
the burden of proof is actually on you and your claim that he was a vegetarian. no where is it mentioned that christ never ate meat, as you have said the 'gospel of non-violence' requires. and, were vegetarianism of such capital importance to doctrine as you imply in the previous topic, our lord goes to great lengths not to mention it.
turn the other cheek when one
turn the other cheek
when one wants your coat give your shirt as well
the measure you give others will be measured out to you
when forced to walk one mile walk two
Come with Me to Calvary
Veritas and Clint
Veritas and Clint Green:
CC2264 and 2265 are based on Aquinas...who was NOT Jesus....show me a similar quote, based on the clearly rational(i.e., pagan-Graeco-roman) ethics these sections of the CCC are based on, emanating from the mouth of Jesus in the Gospels, and I will concede that you are right....show me Jesus' quote. Constantinian Christianity is NOT "the Way" which Jesus commanded all those who would call themselves His disciples follow....to teach and do ALL that He had commanded by thought, word and deed. Constantinian Christianity is simply just a 1700 year old swindle.....and betrayal of what Jesus taught...and teaches.
Pace e bene,
Jan
jan, show me a quote where
jan, show me a quote where jesus proclaims the doctrine of the trinity, or number of other catholic beliefs that are not in the bible verbatim.
if you are going to go sola scriptura, which is basically what you are demanding above, you have to go all the way. picking and choosing is not a viable option. a lot of what catholics believe does not come directly from a 'jesus quote'. if you are a catholic and were taught that, then i think you should have a word with whoever was responsible for teaching you your faith, as they have GROSSLY failed you.
" Constantinian Christianity is simply just a 1700 year old swindle.....and betrayal of what Jesus taught...and teaches."
- 'upon this rock i will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.' you basically have said above that jesus failed the church. he allowed it to be corrupted from what you claim is the fundamental teaching almost right AFTER the church was founded.
you followers of fr john have more in common with the mormons than i think you realize.
"CC2264 and 2265 are based on Aquinas"
they come from the teachings of the catholic church. you are saying that the teachings of the church are in error. pray tell us, by what infallible charism do you preach this so that we know we should abandon the church of god and follow you? by what authority do you claim that the church of god, which he swore to protect from just such things as this, has been teaching official heresy for the last 1700 years?
what makes you so much more wise and holy than St. Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, St. Basil et al? You must have a TRULY impressive resume.
Pete, are you saying Saint
Pete, are you saying Saint Basil, praised and recommended so highly by Our Holy Father Saint Benedict, was a constantinian militarist like yourself?
Dude.
Do some reading, dude.
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco)
and read the Reverend Father John Dear SJ before you call him (small m) mormon!
If you despise the Reverend Father John Dear so greatly as does Clint, why do you boys come here? Seek your bliss, Pete! Where's the Love?
"Pete, are you saying Saint
"Pete, are you saying Saint Basil, praised and recommended so highly by Our Holy Father Saint Benedict, was a constantinian militarist like yourself?"
first of all, are you refering to st. benedict, the founder of western monasticism? or are you talking about pope benedict?
the term 'constantinian' you are using seems to only have meaning if you subscribe to the heretical idea that the church was perverted and christ failed to watch over her like he promised after a few short hundred years. i don't subscribe to this sort of error.
i have read basil. he nowhere teaches what you seem to think he teaches: that it is sinful to fight if necessary. he wrote a good bit about how it is not fitting for a christian to engage in war. big difference there.
btw, you seem to accept st. basil. why? is it because you see him as somehow supportive of your ideology? why not thomas aquinas, who is a doctor of the church and also a saint? do you call him wrong because he does not preach your ideology? is you acceptance or condemnation of individual church fathers based on their perceived acceptance of your ideas, or is it based on the teaching authority of the church of god?
i never called fr. dear a mormon. read the post again.
"There is still time for
"There is still time for endurance, time for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners, but leap aside" Saint Basil
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