This evening at mass I took the body of Christ in my hands and I realized how blessed I am to be able to receive him without fear of harm to myself or my family.  I was remarking to a friend that it is sad that I can go to mass any day of the week, and often it is a question of whether I have “time”.  Our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, and other parts of the world do not have that luxury.  To say Amen and place the host on their tongue is an act of love, for it could be the last thing they do.  There are young people our age that risk practicing their faith, whether it be underground, or with the constant tension that they are risking their lives for Christ.

Ironically one of the parishes in Iraq outside Mosul is Mother of Sorrows, yet these people have not let the war embitter them, or cause them to turn against a God, even when all seemed hopeless.  Rather we see them now coming forward in alarming numbers, having been steadfast in their devotion.  And it reminds me that if they, even in the face of death, claim the faith as true, can not I who in no danger not seek to follow the call of Christ?

The Seminary in Baghdad St Peter’s Chaldean is in need of funds, if any of you have extra money from sacrificing that cup of Starbucks consider putting it towards a people who having lost so much, held onto the truth:

Project Number: M1004-S
Project Title: Keep a Seminary Running.
Country: Iraq
Description: St. Peter’s is the only seminary in Iraq. Don’t let it close.
Amount requested: $24,224.00  
http://www.cnewa.org/donate-projectlist-us.aspx?locationID=6

The funny thing about peace is that like all the other single words, such as love, faith, trust etc. you cannot buy it.  You cannot fight for it, though often times fighting is what people end up doing, but fighting cannot bring true peace.

I believe that peace between others can only be achieved when one is at peace with one self, and ones own affairs.  How then can we exspect nations, peoples, cultures, to come to a peace with one another if there is inner turmoil and conflict.  I am speaking of the growing aggressive conflict between Georgia and Russia.  It is painful to look at the photographs of displaced refugees, burning homes, and tanks lining the street, the bombings the air warfare.  All of it is sickening because deep down humans are not made for violence.  We are made to be children of God, and God is not a being of violence, but a being of peace.

However I hope for peace, I believe in peace because I believe in people, but furthermore because I believe in God.  Peace has to begin in the heart. And God is the ruler of hearts.  As a comparative literature major I find it hard to sit back and read my books and pack my suitcases to go back to Purdue, when part of me wants to be on the ground in Georgia, I want to sit down with the refugees and talk to them, offer a shoulder they can cry on.  I want to distract the children from the chaos that has entered their worlds, shattering their security because a grownup nation is acting like a bully.  I want to bring a peace to a people displaced and traumatized.

However in less than two weeks I will be in high ceilinged lecture hall reading and discussing different literary works of the world, and then I will go to bed in my safe dorm room, and sleep under skies absent of fiery explosions.  I wonder why I am here, where my worries are relatively small, and why there are children there who have left behind their childhood haunts in exchange for grownup reality that violence exists.

All I can do as I watch the newscast, and see the pictures tugging t my heartstrings is pray.  I pray that they find peace in their hearts.  I pray that they find an inner peace that surpasses all understanding.  And I shall have the children of Georgia on the tip of tongue in constant supplication that the international envoys are given the wisdom to find a way to end this aggressive military action.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7552958.stm