By EmmaLee Italia | Contributing Editor and Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor
Eighth grader Liam Kinney knows that Christians try “to resolve conflict through prayer.”
Liam, who attends St. Paul School, Princeton, observed that self-reflection is an important part of prayer, and during the Holy Hour for Peace he recently attended in the school’s parish, he tried to look inward.
PHOTO GALLERY: Holy Hour for Peace in St. Paul, Princeton
PHOTO GALLERY: Holy Hour for Peace in Mary, Mother of the Church, Bordentown
“You can review what you’ve done wrong and how to improve on that … you’re reflecting with God to make yourself better – and when everybody does that, everybody is better,” said Liam.
St. Paul Parish was among those faith communities across the Diocese of Trenton to respond to an appeal made by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to hold Holy Hours for Peace amid tensions and violence erupting in U.S. cities and around the globe.
Peace through Christ
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., led the Princeton gathering of students and parishioners in prayer Feb. 12, recalling Pope Leo XIV’s first words to the world after his election: “Peace be with you.”
“A week after his election, he told a group of officials who were visiting with him, ‘peace is built in the heart,’ and that’s a good message for us here,” the Bishop said. “Christ is the heart of our faith. … Peace comes from him, and because of that, peace is built in our hearts as a gift to us. But he doesn’t just give us this gift of peace – he asks us to share it.”
“We pray for peace in our world, especially in those troubled places that we read about or see on television news,” Bishop O’Connell continued. “But it’s not just where there are wars. We need peace in our country, many of our cities are troubled … we pray that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace, present in the Eucharist, will give the world the peace that it needs.”
Kim Clauss, St. Paul School principal, reflected on the impact of Bishop O’Connell’s words. “I’d like to think we’re not in troubled times, but we are – and the only way I could see it getting better is through prayer,” Clauss said. “And I think God listens especially to children.”
Prayer at all hours In Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Moorestown, a six-hour “Night Watch: Holy Darkness for Peace” was held Feb. 13. The event began with a Mass, followed by recitation of the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration and a closing Mass.
Father Jim Grogan, pastor, said while it might seem strange to have a Mass for peace, “the reason is actually quite simple – our world is broken,” he said. “The world is not broken as if it’s falling off of its axis, but our actions in the world are broken.”
“If we don’t love the people, the places, the things that God created, if we don’t love them authentically and constantly, we will never have peace,” he said. “That’s what we’re gathered here to pray for tonight.”
Father Jack Bogacz, parochial vicar, observed in a homily, “Religion helps us focus on God’s meaning in our lives; then we can be people truly living a life in peace. The peace of Christ helps us to get through the trials and tribulations of the world. That’s the divine gift that Jesus gives to us.”
He added, “We can’t ignore the one who died on a Cross to reconcile us with the Father, the one who did bring peace to this world, peace in our hearts with God.”
Finding Hope
In Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, Bordentown, an Evening Prayer for Peace was held Feb. 11 with the theme, “In Our Hearts, In Our Family, In Our World.”
“This is a gathering that gives us hope,” said Father Martin O’Reilly, pastor.
In remarks shared with those gathered, Father O’Reilly noted that the Old Testament’s “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” is not the way that Christians pursue peace.
“Christ gave us a new teaching – love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” he said. “There’s no mention of an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth there.”
Father O’Reilly said that Jesus wants his followers “to reflect on our views of other people – our feelings and words toward them.”
“We need to be conscious of that: Do we see people as different because they don’t speak the way I speak, or they don’t look the way I look, or they don’t come from the part of the world I came from? We have to be conscious of that” and avoid becoming judgmental, self-righteous or dismissive.
“Let us see all people who they truly are and that’s as children of God. Let us believe in the power of God to change all things,” he said.
Jennifer Hanley, Mary Mother of the Church parishioner, wanted to attend the Holy Hour based on “everything happening in our world right now.”
“The opportunity to come together in prayer for peace felt both timely and necessary. It was important to me to join others in intentional prayer and to place our trust in God during challenging times,” she said.
