“THERE WILL be no peace if we do not hope.”
Thus, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle underscored the theological virtue of hope as an imperative, indeed a sine qua non, in mankind’s quest for peace in his New Year’s Eve homily.
Aside from being the start of the new year, January 1 is World Day of Peace.
“Only people of hope will work for peace. If you are hopeless, you will be violent,” expounded Tagle, impressing too that the faithful should be a “people of dialogue,” to achieve peace.
“Be people of dialogue. When we dialogue, we listen, we understand, we get reconciled, we forgive, and we don’t destroy each other, we don’t destroy society, we don’t destroy the earth,” said the Cardinal.
Referencing to the essence of the season, Tagle noted how the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit became a very good dialogue partner of God.
“In that dialogue was born the Prince of Peace (Jesus). A dialogue of prayer, a dialogue of mission, a dialogue of faith and hope, then the Prince of Peace comes in the flesh,” Tagle said.
Concluding: “I hope like the dialogue of God and Mary we will also speak of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation.”
Hope in the youth
“THIS YEAR, my New Year’s message is to the greatest source of that hope: the world’s young people.”
So declared UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, noting: “From climate action to gender equality to social justice and human rights, your generation is on the frontlines and in the headlines.”
In the face of persistent inequality and rising hatred, “a world at war and a warming planet,” with climate change as “a long-term problem” and “a clear and present danger,” Guterres said that “we cannot afford to be the generation that fiddled while the planet burned”.
Hailing young people for “rightly demanding a role in shaping the future,” he assured them: “I am with you.”
“The United Nations stands with you – and belongs to you,” he said.
“This year, the world needs young people” to keep speaking out, thinking big, pushing boundaries and keeping up the pressure, concluded the Secretary-General with wishes for “peace and happiness in 2020. – Sourced from UN News
