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Peace Stations part of prayer life
By LINDA M. LINONIS
WARREN
Reciting the Stations of the Cross for Peace continues as part of the prayer life at Blessed Sacrament Church.
These Peace Stations evolved in the fall of 2007, recalled Pat Campbell, director of worship and music. She suggested these specific stations because of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Military service by family members and friends of Blessed Sacrament members was a reason behind the Peace Stations. In the gathering space at the church, photos of family members and friends in the military are displayed as a reminder of the ongoing action. Campbell’s son, Thomas Campbell, who recently was promoted to major in the U.S. Army, served two deployments in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Her daughter, Catherine, recently earned the rank of captain in the Army.
The Peace Stations are recited at noon the first Tuesday of the month. The group is usually small, but it is the intent, not number, that counts. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I am in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)
Judy Gerrity of Warren, a member of Blessed Sacrament since 1969, said she has been involved since the beginning. “I think it’s important to pray in small groups,” she said. “I like being part of this community and praying for our soldiers.”
Another participant, Ged Flynn of Howland, a member since 1980, said she began participating because her son, Thomas Flynn, served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War. “I come from a family that cares about what the military does,” she said. “I hope our prayers help.”
“Prayer is important. God listens,” Campbell said of the ongoing Peace Stations. “Prayer takes us out of ourselves as we pray for other people and concerns.”
Gerrity said, “Prayer is a way of life for me. I believe it helps.”
“Prayer helps me feel closer to God,” Flynn said.
The Stations of the Cross for Peace were assembled by the Rev. Matthias Neuman, a member of the Benedictine of St. Meinrad Archabbey and chaplain for the Benedictine Sisters of Our Lady of Grace Monastery, Beech Grove, Ind.
In a world where conflict seems like the norm, personal to global peace – the freedom from disturbance, quietness, tranquility or serenity – is a state of being that eludes many individuals, communities and countries. Stations of the Cross for Peace provides an opportunity to pray for innocent victims of violence including war, domestic abuse, poverty and economic oppression. The guidebook for these special stations notes participants should “examine the many attitudes and actions in our personal lives that contribute to a failure to live peacefully in this world of ours.”
In the introduction, Father Neuman suggests that parishes use these Peace Stations as a “self-examination of their Christian mission to be a community of peace, a place where people can grow in faithful living and loving.” He cites the verse from Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
The stations begin with an opening prayer that asks participants, who live in a world “filled with conflicts, rage and hostility,” to follow the command of “Seek peace and pursue it” from 1 Peter 3:11.
The Peace Stations follow the same format as Stations of the Cross that are a common practice in Roman Catholic churches and some Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches. Jesus is Condemned to Death is the first station, and Jesus Rises from the Dead concludes as the 15th station. These stations focus on the last hours that Jesus lived on Earth.
The Peace Stations connect to the subject of station and tie it to goal or message of peace. For example, in the third station, Jesus Falls the First Time, the Peace Station relates that roadblocks stand in the way of peace because of human greed and stubbornness, and peacemakers “fall from time to time” and should pray for the “courage and strength and humility to rise” from the falls and carry on.
To end each station, Campbell uses a part of the “Prayer for Peace” song by Catholic composer David Haas, “Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet. Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.”