REMEMBRANCE DAY

Remembrance Day started out as a means to remember all those who died in World War I. It was to be the war to end all wars. Why did it not work?

There are 32 armed conflicts going on at the moment that I am writing this reflection. Why? A desire to take back or to just take over land. Sometimes the reason is the resources that the land holds. Sometimes it is about a base for power. Always the people on the land in the conflict zone are vulnerable to loss of home, food, water and security. In 2023, more than one hundred years since the end of World War I, one would imagine that human beings could find another, more humane way to settle differences. 

Who benefits from war? The makers of munitions. These are required consumables for war. What a waste of money! 

Do we really have the collective will to stop war? Does the United Nations have the power to settle conflicts? Is it not time to put this ancient means of evildoing away for good?

Let us pray:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine One,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis, pray for us.

St. Martin of Tours, pray for us.

Pat Carter, CSJ is a disciple, a teacher and an advocate for the poor. She has been a Sister of St. Joseph for more than half of her life and loves to use words to inspire faith and laughter. She is a cantor at her parish of St. Jerome’s in Sault Ste. Marie.