In November we pray for all the souls that have gone before us and hope our prayers will propel them quickly from any residual sinfulness into the arms of God the Father. We also pray during this month for our brave veterans who serve our country to preserve our freedom. And in a few days, we will gather around food-laden tables to give thanks for the bounty and the way of life we are so fortunate in this country to enjoy.

 

But as we prepare for the traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving, let us not forget that not all our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world will enjoy a bounty. Too many around the world will go hungry as we watch football, converse with friends and relatives and divide up the leftovers. And those same people went hungry the day before we celebrated and will most likely go hungry the day after and so on.

 

Even worse, many hunger amidst violence and war. Those who live in the land where Jesus walked are currently living in fear of attack each day. And the violence goes on in Syria, Ukraine and too many other places. 

 

So as we consider all we have to be thankful for and as we prepare for the season of Advent, let us remember all those who desperately need our prayers and advocacy.

 

Let us remember to pray for peace. I offer the words of others below so you too can be inspired to pray that peace can be a reality and our prayers can turn from pleading to real thanksgiving.

 

-- “We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.” –Mother Teresa

 

-- “We plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest for all.” –Dorothy Day

 

-- “People with clenched fists cannot shake hands.” –Indira Gandhi

 

-- “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.” –St. Francis of Assisi

 

-- “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” –Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of John 14:27

 

-- “God loves all men and women on earth and gives them the hope of a new era, an era of peace. His love, fully revealed in the Incarnate Son, is the foundation of universal peace. When welcomed in the depths of the human heart, this love reconciles people with God and with themselves, renews human relationships, and stirs that desire for brotherhood capable of banishing the temptation of violence and war. . .. To everyone I affirm that peace is possible.” –Pope St. John Paul II

 

-- “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.” Aristotle

 

-- “Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.”

–Thomas Merton

 

-- “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” –Nelson Mandela

 

-- “Life is simple, you know. Life is not what bullets shall make it. At the grassroots remain individuals who can pray together, who are acquainted together.” –Elias Chacour, retired Archbishop of the Melkite Catholic Church for Akko, Haifa, Nazareth, and all Galilee.

 

-- “For our part, let us join Blessed John XXIII in asking God to enlighten all leaders so that, besides caring for the proper material welfare of their peoples, they may secure for them the precious gift of peace, break down the walls which divide them, strengthen the bonds of mutual love, grow in understanding, and pardon those who have done them wrong; in this way, by his power and inspiration all the peoples of the earth will experience fraternity, and the peace for which they long will ever flourish and reign among them.” –Pope Benedict XVI

 

-- “Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.” –Jill Jackson-Miller

 

--  “Let us not be afraid to become beggars for peace.” –Pope Francis

 

-- “Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God” –Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew 5:9

 

-- “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” –John Lennon

 

Peace be with you and a happy Thanksgiving.