Creating a Culture of Peace
Four congregations of Catholic sisters presented Together, Creating a Culture of Peace on Saturday, August 1 in La Crosse, Wis. The congregations, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist celebrated the 160th anniversary of their common founding. The Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis-Cameroon, West Africa, joined these communities in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Franciscan Common Venture. FSPA also celebrated the beginning of 132 years of Perpetual Adoration. Opening at the conference was the Peace Women Across the Globe 1000 Women for Peace exhibition.
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- “Love and forgiveness can heal our world and make a brighter future for our children. Every time we meet someone, it is our opportunity to give love to that person.”
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- “Peace is not peace unless it is shared. Peace lives on the horizon of a new future. The universe cannot attain peace without us.”
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- The 1000 Peace Women Across the Globe exhibition opened during the Peace Conference.
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- “Guideline for peace-making: Remember God first, above all and throughout the process. No peace can be established without an awareness of God.”
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- The conference closed with Mass that ended with a Cameroonian drum finale.
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- “It’s time to start coaching. A chronic need is to find women to mentor younger women in peace-making.” Dr. Robert Zuber, United Nations Emergency Peace Service and Global Action to Prevent War
The conference closed with a Peace Mass during which the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis offered the Gospel Procession and Acclamation.
I attended yesterday’s Peace Conference. The day moved me to send a song I wrote that echoes the content of the day. Let me know if it’s something you can use for your Peaceprograms or liturgies in the future. Bob 785-0645
The Family Reunion
Words & music, Bob Schneyer ©
Copyright 1989
C Am F G
1. Even though I’d never met you ‘til the moment you walked in
C Am F G
The family resemblance made it clear you were my kin.
C Am F G
I can see it in your eyes and mouth; I can feel it in my heart…
C Am F G
That a family reunion is just about to start.
Refrain:
C G Am
Each of us can tell a different story.
F G Am
Each of us has come a different way.
C G Am
But all of us are made of the same Music.
F G C
Each one has a part in Life’s (God’s) never-ending play.
2. Six billion family members of a hundred shades and hues,
When we hurt and kill each other the whole family’s sure to lose.
When “number one” obsesses us, we forget our neighbor’s needs.
A million cousins starve to death, and the heart of all mankind
bleeds.
Refrain:
3. Some have come before to _________(fill in name); we welcome you again.
Some have come here for the first time, and we welcome you as
friends.
Being “stranger” is a state of mind; being “friend” a state of heart.
Whether old or new, we’re glad you’re here…each an essential part.
Refrain:
4. Well, you may feel rather awkward; that’s a very natural
thing.
And you may prefer the quiet while I prefer to sing…
So many differing styles, so many different calls,
Connected by a Presence that lives within us all.
Refrain:
5. When you bare your teeth and shake your fist, I still can see
right through.
For I know the family treasure’s buried deep inside of you.
Sometimes the way we view our world is distorted by our pain.
Let’s stop here, readjust our lens
Come, let’s go look again.
Refrain
6. Black, white, brown, red or yellow, the story still is true.
There’s something deeper than our skin that makes up me and you.
I just noticed that you’re breathing. Have you noticed, I am, too.
There are differences in each of us, but so much in common, too.
Refrain:
7. Even though I’ve never been you, and you never have been me,
If I listen, and you listen we might soon become a “we.”
And if we’s and we’s connect some more, what a deep rich
harmony…
Instead of getting swallowed up, I end up much more of “me.”
Refrain:
8. When I see you stripped of basic rights, and turn my head away
Something in me loses too; and what a price we pay…
Even worse if I should close my eyes, and pretend that I don’t see.
The world goes slightly colder, and that touches you and me.
Refrain:
9. When a person stands for human rights…woman, child or man
It sparks a hope inside of me that says, “I know we can…”
There’s a spirit building in the land; it’s here my friends, it’s real,
Calling me to love my neighbor and help our world to heal.
QUE LA PAZ DEL MUNDO REINE ENTRE TODO(A)S NOSOTRAS!