U.S. citizens: Tell U.S. Senate to reject new ‘anti-terrorism’ bill
(LifeSiteNews) — This month, Catholics will gather in their parishes, pilgrim shrines, and homes to implore God to restore peace to our world.
From the eve of December 7 to the morning of December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Catholics are encouraged to participate in the Vigil for World Peace as part of an initiative launched by Swiss Catholic Ernest Williams.
“We are in a terribly dangerous situation now,” Williams told LifeSiteNews. “All those with faith must pull their weight.”
“It’s not enough to say, ‘I pray for peace,’” he argued. “We pray each day at Mass for peace. Efforts must be united. There is a strength in unity of heart and mind in petitioning the Lord for peace. We see examples of this in the history of the Church.”
In addition to the prayer vigil, Williams encouraged Catholics to spend the day in fasting and personal repentance. During the vigil, he suggested that Catholics read Psalms and Scripture passages from Isaiah and the Gospel of John in addition to praying the Rosary.
Williams stressed the importance of prayer as a Catholic’s weapon during the ongoing wars throughout the world.
“In the third verse of the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for the coming of the kingdom, as Jesus taught us. The Father’s Kingdom of peace, justice, righteousness and love,” he explained. “As Christians, we are obligated to pray for this, to pray for the removal of all that opposes the reign of Jesus in the hearts of all men, women, and children.”
“He is the King of Peace, where He is absent, always darkness occupies the void,” Williams said, explaining that darkness to be “of sin and its offspring: division, fear, hatred, violence, and destruction.”
“We see it now in the restlessness in our world, the terrible wars being wrought,” Williams warned. “We see the disrespect for the sanctity of life, the failure to see in each human being, the image of our Creator. To see in the other, a brother and sister. As a consequence, the horrors of abortion, the genocidal fratricide in the Holy Land of the Palestinian peoples.”
“So, to pray for peace is a Christian obligation,” he stated. “But if the pain of those I am praying for does not enter my heart, my prayer is but noise. I always think here of the parable of the Good Samaritan and the words of the Prophet Isaiah concerning the fast that pleases the Heavenly Father.”
Williams also called for a second vigil on December 31 “to implore the love and light of Jesus Christ down upon all of suffering humanity where the darkness of Satan reigns. To shatter his yoke of death.”
“This will be the first of many vigils for peace until the situation with Russia, Ukraine, the Holy Land, Yemen, and Eastern Africa improves,” he revealed.
Williams shared that he was inspired to call for a worldwide prayer vigil after a dream on the morning of All Saints Day. At the time, Williams was working on a dialogue proposal for Peace and Prosperity in the Middle East between Businessmen of all Faiths.
“I dreamt I was standing somewhere in a forest or wood on a track with a group of people,” he recalled. “There was something like a separation or barrier in front of us, beyond which I could not walk. A group of young children suddenly appeared the other side of the barrier and walked towards us.”
“One of them, a beautiful young girl with black hair and lightly coloured skin approached me,” Williams continued. “I felt a resistance from those in the group I was with, to interact directly with the children. The young girl held out her hand with a light blue-violet, white flower resembling an orchid and some stones, giving them to me.”
“I wanted to give her some coins in return as I perceived they were in need. Again, I felt a resistance within the group I was with to help,” he said, adding after he awoke from the dream, “I wondered at that moment if these young children were Palestinian martyrs of Gaza.”
Please consider joining the Vigil for World Peace with Catholics around the world on December 7.
Light a candle. Pray in silence. Bless the world.
U.S. citizens: Tell U.S. Senate to reject new ‘anti-terrorism’ bill