Father John Evans
St. Patrick Parish, Dixon, Pastor
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
May Christ, the Prince of Peace, guide and strengthen you this week!
At the beginning of the fall semester of my junior year at Catholic University of America, I ran into a friend who had spent his summer at a “Peace Camp.” Some religious sisters ran a camp for at-risk children on the East Coast. Well before Taylor Swift’s iconic song, they were teaching the young campers to “shake off” their frustrations and hurts. The kids were taught how to get their frustrations out in non-violent ways, in the hopes that as they grew up, they would not turn to destructive behavior.
My friend saw peace in the world as a series of concentric circles, beginning with his own heart. He said if he could cultivate peace in his own heart, then that peace would radiate to those around him, and through them, to the world.
In this month of March, Pope Leo has said “Let us pray that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence.” May it be so, beginning with us!
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This Lent, pray for the Holy Father’s prayer intentions:
MARCH: For disarmament and peace
“We perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war. This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples…”
—Pope Leo XIV, Homily for Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18
