{"id":479,"date":"2024-12-17T07:31:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T07:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/?p=479"},"modified":"2024-12-17T07:31:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T07:31:42","slug":"fasting-and-prayer-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/fasting-and-prayer-for-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Fasting and Prayer for\u00a0Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brothers and sisters
May the Lord give you peace!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have listened to the invitation of our Patriarch for this day of fasting and prayer for peace\u2026. The Holy Father Pope Francis also called us to join him. Yes, we have listened, and as the Catholic Church of Cyprus we have fasted, prayed for peace. And we have been accompanied by the motherhood of the Virgin Mary, celebrating today the Most Holy Virgin of the Rosary\u2026. Yes, the motherhood of Mary, the Mother of all peoples, the mother of the Church, my mother, yours, our mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


But I would like to share with you briefly my feelings, the many questions that came to me during this day about the meaning of having a day of fasting, of prayer for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


First of all, it means praying\u2026. And praying for peace. Praying does not mean convincing God to do something good. It would be very strange to think that we sinners are the ones who convince God that peace is important\u2026. But what does it mean, Lord, to really make a prayer of intercession?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attention brothers and sisters\u2026. Interceding does not simply mean \u201cpraying for someone\u201d, as we often think. Etymologically it means \u201ctaking a step in the middle\u201d, taking a step so as to put oneself in the middle of a situation. Intercession then means placing oneself where the conflict takes place, placing oneself between the two parties in conflict. And it is not having a political attitude\u2026 it is not a political act\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Interceding is a much more serious, grave and involving attitude, it is something much more dangerous. Interceding is staying there, without moving, without escape, trying to put one\u2019s hand on the shoulder of both and accepting the risk of this position.
It is not praying generically for peace, but rather entering into the heart of the situation, and extending one\u2019s arms to the right and left to unite and pacify. I must be able and willing to embrace with love and without innuendo all the parties involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, brothers and sisters, fasting and penance are necessary\u2026 to purify our bodies and our minds. Yes, it is something serious. If you had feelings of hatred in your heart, of resentment against someone, your prayer for peace would be quite inconsistent. Yes, you cannot pray with all your heart for peace, if you are then at war, with your neighbor, with your family, with your brothers and sisters of the ecclesial community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Let us therefore understand that true prayer of intercession is not easy. And it can only be done in the Holy Spirit\u2026 We must understand that peace is a gift from God and for this we must bend our knees and ask the Lord to give us his Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and our minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Let us pray that Christians, those who follow other religions and people of good will promote peace and justice in the world\u2026 In particular in the Holy Land (Gaza), in Ukraine, in Nicaragua, in Venezuela\u2026 throughout the world, even in Cyprus which is still experiencing the occupation of the island, with its division. And we pray with purified hearts, with feelings of love for all\u2026 (and it is not easy). Because every day we open the internet, our cell phones to understand and take a side\u2026 to agree or not to agree etc..<\/p>\n\n\n\n


And we have understood that praying for peace is a conversion, and a step to want to love everyone\u2026 And that He, the Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace give us his peace\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I would like to conclude by invoking the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin, of Saint Joseph asking for the gift of peace, and remembering the prayer that we make in all the Holy Masses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Jesus Christ who said to your apostles; \u201cI leave you peace\u201d, \u201cI give you my peace\u201d, do not look at our sins but at the faith of your Church, give her unity and peace according to your will\u2026. Amen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruno Varriano, OFM
Bishop Patriarchal Vicar of Cyprus<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brothers and sistersMay the Lord give you peace! We have listened to the invitation of our Patriarch for this day of fasting and prayer for peace\u2026. The Holy Father Pope Francis also called us to join him. Yes, we have listened, and as the Catholic Church of Cyprus we have fasted, prayed for peace. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":480,"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions\/480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lccy.org\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}