Peace and Justice by Sr. Fatima Santiago

-

 

“No justice, no peace” we hear from demonstrators in street marches.  They are voicing a fundamental truth.  Without justice, there may appear to be a form of peace, but it is fake, superficial.  Underneath the smiles, there is a simmering anger fed by smashed dreams and barriers to equality. Somewhat like the times when Jesus was born into a Palestine under the heel of Roman oppression.  Some historians have called that a time of peace, but this fake “Pax Romano” was giving birth to freedom fighters such as Barabbas, whose path would cross that of Jesus 33 years later.

In his latest encyclical, Pope Francis sheds light on similar current situations by reminding us that we are all brothers and sisters. He challenges us to ponder how we will behave when we finally emerge from COVID-governed restrictions. Will some countries continue to grab instead of sharing? Will we continue to destroy our natural world? Will some people continue to put “I” before “we?”  What have we learned during these months of semi-isolation?  Have we received the selfless message of the health and other front-line workers who risked their lives to serve others?

 Can true peace flourish in a world where primacy is given to individualism?  Or will we work towards true peace based on justice for all?

                                                                                              -Fatima Santiago, ICM




Comments

  1. All Faiths UnitedOctober 31, 2020 at 10:49 AM

    Transforming and peacebuilding must be our work and our prayers going forward. Thank you for sharing this blog, Sr. Fatima.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ann HaydenNovember 4, 2020 at 5:25 AM

    We need servants of peace not warriors. Thank you, Sr. Fatima, for being a servant of peace in our community in good times and in difficult time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ann HaydenNovember 4, 2020 at 5:26 AM

    We need servants of peace not warriors. Thank you, Sr. Fatima, for being a servant of peace in our community in good times and in difficult time.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's it all about? by Lois Eichman

-
LIVING A MORAL LIFE IN A MULTICULTURAL WORLD  by Lois Eichman, AFU member Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes on his website article, Morality matters more than ever in a world divided by fear and faithlessness , “One of the lasting unintended consequences of multiculturalism is that we no longer think of the nation as a whole. Instead the electorate has been fragmented into a series of subcultures, defined by ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation. These can easily become competitive interest groups, less concerned with the common good than for what is good for those-like-me. Each group can be encouraged by the mood of our time, to see itself as a victim and to identify an oppressor who can be blamed for their current predicament. This gives rise to divisive and rancorous politics that divide society, like the dualisms of old, into the children of light and the children of darkness. It also produces a justification for the use of social media to manipulate public opinion by
Read more

My Faith Identity and Beliefs by Libby Treviño-Montes

-
Image
When I was asked by my All Faiths United group to submit a post for the group’s blog, I was nervous because I have never been a great writer. I felt that others could do a better job. Yet interfaith is something very important to me and it’s something very important in today’s society so here I am. BASIS FOR MY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS I am an adopted child reared in a Catholic household. At 18, I met my biological mother, a devout Pentecostal Christian woman whom I have joined in a few church services. In college, I met and befriended some young Muslim men whom I still call friends. I learned a little about their beliefs.   Having met and interacted over time with many different cultures and religious beliefs, I’ve found my beliefs to be based on faith in a loving God and that everyone is equal in His eyes. HATRED AND PERSECUTION IN HISTORY AND THE PRESENT I always thought of hate associated with faith as a concept that was part of our past world history. Events such as
Read more