Peace in the world

…has to start with peace in your own heart. I said that every day at the end of my radio show, because all those news stories and their meaning and consequences come down to that.

So I was really warmed by the report in today’s Vatican Information Service on Pope Benedict’s message to the 20th Interreligious Meeting of Prayer for Peace taking place in Assisi today and tomorrow. The headline was:

PEACE MUST FIRST BE BUILT IN THE HUMAN HEART

In that message, Benedict recalled the efforts of John Paul II in building world peace, noting the fall of communism and the end of the Cold War as the most important event in this two-decade work of religious leaders.

That was a moment of general hope for peace. … Unfortunately this dream has not come true. Quite the contrary, the third millennium began with episodes of terrorism and violence that show no signs of abating.

The Pope said no one is allowed to use religious difference as a reason or pretext for a belligerent attitude towards other human beings. After all, people of religion should be people of prayer. That’s pretty clear. VIS reports:

The Holy Father goes on to point out how the 1986 meeting promoted by John Paul II highlighted “the value of prayer in the construction of peace. …

Firstly, however, peace must be built in the human heart,” which “is the place of God’s interventions.

So that song that became so familiar that it’s easy not to think of the words, is actually the point. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

Sometimes the answer is too simple, some think simplistic. I don’t.

I wish you peace, each and every one of you.