Prayer for Peace
11/08/2025
From the Letter of Susan Flood osu - Prioress General
We all continue to be appalled by the events in Gaza and so many other parts of the world. At times it seems impossible to take in the scope and intensity of the war, violence and unrest that fill our TV screens, newspapers and other forms of media. We are conscious of the daily situation lived by our sisters in Ukraine. Most recently the skirmishes on the Thai Cambodia border have raised uncertainty for our sisters in those countries. While the immediate threat seems to have eased in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Tildonk sisters there still face great insecurity. These are the people and the places familiar to us. There are millions of children, women and men whose lives are being destroyed by acts of war and aggression, and whose daily lives are filled with suffering, uncertainty and insecurity. And yet we feel powerless to have any influence on these situations.
I am writing this on 6th August, the day on which the world marks the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In Hiroshima there are still shadows of people etched into the concrete of roads and buildings, people who were going about their daily business when the explosion occurred. In the aftermath of Hiroshima and following the end of World War II, most political powers appeared ready to commit themselves to a future in which diplomacy and dialogue would replace aggression in international relations. How easily these commitments seem to have been forgotten in the intervening years.
6th August is also the Feast of the Transfiguration. In Luke’s Gospel for this Feast we hear the words of God to the disciples ‘This is my beloved Son; Listen to Him’ (Luke 9: 35). We understand that the message of Jesus – a message he not only spoke, but gave his life for – was for the dignity of LIFE and for PEACE … ‘Peace I leave you, my own peace I give to you’ (John 14: 27). And again ‘I have come that you might have life, and have it in abundance’ (John 10: 10).
What happens in our hearts as we really try to listen to these words of Jesus? In what ways can we have an impact in our own limited spheres of influence, building a desire for peace and an awareness of what is needed to make peace possible. As we strive to listen ever more carefully to the word of Jesus, can we strengthen our own hope, and that of those around us, that peace is possible? As daughters of Angela, let’s never forget her advice: ‘You will achieve more with gentleness and kindness than by harsh and cutting rebukes.’ (2nd Counsel).
Each of us regularly seeks ways in which we can model peaceful relationships in our daily lives. Let’s also remember the call to be builders of peace and advocates for peace in whatever ways we can in the wider communities to which we belong and in our places of ministry, especially in our schools. As women of action and contemplation, we also take seriously our commitment to pray for peace, and to pray with great longing and urgency.
In response to the many disturbing situations in the world, UISG (The International Union of General Superiors) has issued a call for a Day of Prayer and Fasting on 14th August, the vigil of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. They invite women religious across the world to join in a collective act of prayer, discernment and witness, so that peace may not only be hoped for, but built.