Paths of Peace

The image of the Wildflowers is at the centre of prayers and Bible study for Thursday, 7 November. The Bible text guiding prayers and study is from John 14:27-31.

Wildflowers

We are called to be peacemakers. This peace, which we share with one another,  is of the Spirit, who breathes into us the deep peace of Christ. Christ eases our troubled souls (John 14:27-31), assuring us of God’s care even as God clothes the common flowers and beautiful weeds of the field and ditch (Matthew 6:25-34).

Tenacious wildflowers, unlike cultivated flowers, are tended only by God.  So too, we may trust in God alone to tend our own souls. God plants deep within us the seeds of humility that we may blossom into humble servants of peace. This steadfast, unshakeable peace of Christ is the peace we bear in the world. The Spirit of God grants us courage and wisdom to journey into the peaceable reign of God on earth.

Opening Prayer

L: My beloved speaks and says to me: 
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;
for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
C: The flowers appear on the earth.

L: The time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance.
C: The flowers appear on the earth.
The time of singing has come.

See page 152 of Halleluja! Resource for Prayer and Praise (pdf, 4 MB) for all prayer texts of the day.

Bible Study: Go in Peace

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “peace.” When Jesus tells us about peace, the night before his betrayal and death, he is not speaking from a peaceful place in his own life. Where and what kind of peace are the church and the ecumenical movement talking about? God's peace is not temporary, and it does not have to do with happy events. Peace is a matter of life for those people who are yearning for it. At the end of the assembly, “go in peace” will be a biblical and missiological empowerment and mandate for us to bear witness to the vision of abundant life in the new heaven and earth.

Read the complete Bible study by Néstor O. Míguez.

Questions for reflection and discussion

1. How can we identify paths to the genuine “peace of Christ” in our day-to-day lives, in our faith communities?
2. How has the violence seen at the global level influenced the violence we find also at local levels?
3. In a consumer society anxiety comes forth; can “the peace of Christ” bring an answer to it?
4. How can our churches show signs of repentance for the various ways in which they have promoted violence (racial, gender, colonial) through history and today?
5. “Peace is a defenseless flower”; yet flowers produce seed. How can we sow the seed of peace in our children and young people?