In a world marked by violence, Mother Maria Rosa Muscarella of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jean-Antide Thouret offers a message filled with faith and urgency. From the heart of consecrated life, she invites us to pray for peace, disarm our hearts, and become artisans of fraternity in a wounded world

“With this brief message, I wish to reach out to each of you at this particular moment in history, because we are all living in a climate of insecurity and great tension. Humanity as a whole,is undergoing a trial, but some peoples are living or trying to survive in the midst of these wars of destruction.

Our concern is especially for our Sisters and people in Lebanon and Syria, who, once again, are under the shadow of bombs. We are also deeply concerned for many other places that are politically unstable places where populations are facing destructive guerrilla warfare: Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic and Pakistan…

There are so many questions we would like to ask ourselves in the face of this scenario, and we would like clear answers, especially from our leaders, but it seems that the time for dialogue,accountability and reasoning together is over. Listening to the messages of the “powerful of the earth”, we run the risk of thinking that by exercising more force we can obtain answers and results…

Dear sisters, let us not lose sight of the fact that we are disciples of the One who made the Cross the instrument of salvation for humanity; we are disciples of the One who loves with a gratuitous, unconditional love, a love that changes lives, that makes us recognise in others “our brothers and sisters”.

We are in Lenten season, a time of conversion and rebirth: let us pray unceasingly for the gift of Peace.  Let us continue to be “artisans of fraternity” with ever greater commitment.

As the Holy Mother says: “Be always united together in the holy peace of the Lord; may neither the world nor the devil ever divide you: this is what I ask of God, begging him to pour out his abundant blessings upon you continually”. I invite each community and each Sister of Charity to intensify her prayer to implore for Peace!

Let us pray with the words of Pope Leo: ‘Lord, enlighten the leaders of nations, that they may have the courage to abandon their plans of death.’ Each one of us is therefore called to disarm our hearts “from hatred, resentment and indifferences, so that we may become instruments of reconciliation.

Holy Spirit, grant us the grace to be faithful and creative builders of peace in our daily lives: in our hearts, in our families, in our communities and in our cities. May every kind word, every gesture of reconciliation and every choice of dialogue become seeds of a new world”.

On this day dedicated to all women around the world, let us work to ensure that every woman is respected and promoted in her dignity as a person. With the strength of femininity, let us continue together to perform gestures of peace and to build bridges of solidarity.

Together with the General Councillors, we assure each one of you of our closeness and our prayers.

Madre Maria Rosa Muscarella

Source: https://www.suoredellacarita.org/