Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth

Uploaded on December 14, 2006by majamom under Creative Commons License

Today I was searching the Vatican web site for a Christmas message, and I came across the Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace . It was such a beautiful message of hope and peace that I will share parts of it here.

The title of His message is "The Human Family, A Community of Peace". He says the human family " is the first and indispensable teacher of peace" and that "the language of the family is a language of peace". He extends the love of our own families to the love of the entire human community: "But the peoples of the earth, too, are called to build relationships of solidarity and cooperation among themselves, as befits members of the one human family: All peoples —as the Second Vatican Council declared— are one community and have one origin, because God caused the whole human race to dwell on the face of the earth (cf. Acts 17:26); they also have one final end, God", and, furthermore: "We do not live alongside one another purely by chance; all of us are progressing along a common path as men and women, and thus as brothers and sisters."

He also makes a clear statement about our responsibility to care for our common home, the earth, and protect it for future generations: "We need to care for the environment: it has been entrusted to men and women to be protected and cultivated with responsible freedom, with the good of all as a constant guiding criterion." He urges us to consider our responsibility towards the poor, for they cannot be excluded from the "goods of creation destined for all" and we need to "ensure a prudent use of resources and an equitable distribution of wealth".

He goes even further and discusses the relationship between nations and the need to "submit to a common standard" and a "common moral law ", and He says there is an urgent need to "encourage the legislation of individual States to converge towards a recognition of fundamental human rights". He states: "In difficult times such as these, it is truly necessary for all persons of good will to come together to reach concrete agreements aimed at an effective demilitarization, especially in the area of nuclear arms", and entreats those in authority to negotiate for "progressive and mutually agreed dismantling of existing nuclear weapons".

I am truly in awe of this amazing and encouraging message advocating the unity of the human race and the need to work together to ensure a common, peaceful future for every member of the human family, excluding none. This statement by the Head of the Catholic Church is (solely in my own opinion) nearly word for word in agreement with the beliefs of my own Faith, the Baha'i Faith. So on this wonderful Eve of one of the holiest of Christian holidays, we can stand together with people of all Faiths and collectively pray and hope for Peace and Blessings upon our one human family.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!