The Diocese of Broken Bay held a Vigil of Prayer for Peace in the World on Thursday night,19 October, hosted by Our Lady of Dolours at Chatswood, with the Vicar General and Parish Priest, Very Rev Dr David Ranson.
Parishioners from around the Diocese attended the very moving and prayerful vigil for all those suffering from violence and conflict, particularly following recent events.
Families, adults and students were invited to place a lighted candle at the foot of the altar, alongside a floral peace wreath.
Also joining the vigil were members of the Buddhist community – the Venerable JueGuan from Nan Tien Temple, Chatswood, Buddhist Light International Association (BLIA) committee member Li-Ting Han, and Daniel Wu, BLIA president.
The prayers and intercessions called for understanding, hope, solidarity, and peace.
In his Homily, Fr David said; “Our intercession expresses that our God is the God of life who is calling us into richer and more abundant life.
“They express our commitment to struggle through the obstacles to that life, to have those obstacles removed, to a world in which we are genuinely brothers and sisters to one another, a world in which our diversity is complementarity not a threat, a world in which justice is not revenge but a new way of being in relationship with each other, a world of care rather than of competition, a world of peace which is not the absence of conflict but a navigation of difference which never loses sight of the incalculable value of every life.
“Is such a world possible? Only if you and I work to create it in the circle of our own life.”
Fr David’s full Homily can be read
here.