Mon, 01 May 2017 12:13:13 +0000
Mr. President, peace be with you
BY Donald Chanda
On 11th December 1979, Mother Theresa (now canonized into a saint) gave a speech when she received the Nobel Peace Prize. To me, the speech guides us on the purpose of humanity on this world. I urge you Mr. President to read it in totality. I urge many other global leaders to read it too. For now, I would want you to focus on certain words and paragraphs from that speech.
“As we have gathered here together to thank God for the Nobel Peace Prize, I think it will be beautiful that we pray the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi which always surprises me very much- we pray this prayer every day after holy communion because it is very fitting for each one of us and I always wonder that 400/ 500 years ago as St. Francis of Assisi composed this prayer, they had the same difficulties that we have today, as we compose this prayer that fits very nicely for us also. (It is interesting that the current Pope Francis also picked on the same name).
Let us thank God for the opportunity that we all have together today, for this gift of peace that reminds us that we have been created to live that peace and Jesus became man in all things like us except sin and he proclaimed very clearly that he had come to give good news. The news was peace to all of good will and this is something that we all want- the peace of heart.
And as if that was not enough- it was not enough to become a man- he died on the cross to show that greater love and he died for you and me and for that leper and for that man dying of hunger and that naked person lying in the street not only of Calcutta, but of Africa and New York and London and Oslo and he insisted that we love one another as he loves each one of us.
You too try to bring that presence of God in your family for the family that prays together, stays together. I think that we in our family don’t need bombs and guns to destroy to bring peace- just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of the presence of each other in the home and we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in this world.
There is so much suffering, so much hatred, so much misery and with our prayer, with our sacrifice all beginning at home. Love begins at home and it is not how much we do but how much love we put in the action that we do.
And so here, I am talking with you- I want you to find the poor here, right in your home first and begin with love there. Be that good news to your own people and find out about your next door neighbor- do you know who they?
So let us thank God that we have had this opportunity to come to know each other and this knowledge of each other has brought us very close. (Note that modern technology allows us to talk to each other instantaneously wherever we are). And we will be able to help not only the children of India and Africa but the children of the whole world……. And this is the prize that I have received as a prize of peace. I am going to try to make a home for many people that have no home because I believe that love begins at home and if we can create a home for the poor- I think that more and more love will be spread. And we will be able, through this understanding love to bring peace, be good news to the poor. The poor in our own family first in our country and the world.
I was surprised in the West to see so many young boys and girls given into drugs and I tried to find out why-why is it like that and the answer was: Because there is no one in the family to receive them. Father and mother are so busy, they have no time. Young parents are in some institution and the child takes to the street and gets involved in something. We are talking of peace. These are things that break peace but I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion because it is a direct war, a direct killing- direct murder by the mother herself.
The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion and we who are standing here- our parents wanted us. We would not be here if our parents would do that to us”.
Mr. President, peace cannot be gained by destroying other lives. Make peace at home on the USA and make peace in the world. PEACE BE WITH YOU.
Donald Chanda -Lecturer,
University of Zambia (RTD),
P.O. Box 32379,
Lusaka
Tell: 0979-771803
Email: chakolongana@gmail.com
