CANDLE LANTERNS ON THE RIVER -- PRAY & WORK FOR PEACE IN MIDST OF WAR'S DARKNESS

For many years, starting in Croswell, MI in 1985, there have been small gatherings making prayer vigils on the August 6th, 9th anniversary evenings of the Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We've placed floating candle lanterns on area rivers, and prayed in commemoration of all those who've died in all wars, on all sides, and for an end to all wars. This year we'll do this again this Wednesday on the banks of the St. Clair River in Port Huron. There is an ever increasing need, especially with Gaza and Israel, to turn back to God for our trust and strength, and put down forever the terrible technology of war that ensnares us, and plagues so many, all across the globe. Please come if possible and pass the word.

CANDLELIGHTS ON THE RIVER

FOR PEACE AND DISARMAMENT

Wednesday, August 6th, Year 2014

A prayer vigil in commemoration of all those who have died in war

To commit ourselves to put an end to war

On the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima

So that future generations may live in peace

Come pray for conversion from the arms race, on the banks of the St. Clair River, at the new River Walk, south of Vantage Point, in Port Huron {midway down the walk at the reef barriers} At 9:15 PM, Wednesday, August 6, 2014

ave we yet listened to, or even heard, the voice of the U. S. Catholic Bishops, spoken in their “The Challenge of Peace” pastoral letter of 1983?

“After the passage of nearly four decades and a concomitant growth in our understanding of the ever growing horror of nuclear war, we must shape the climate of opinion which will make it possible for our country to express profound sorrow over the atomic bombing in 1945. Without that sorrow, there is no possibility of finding a way to repudiate future use of nuclear weapons…”

We found none invading Iraq, but we still possess more than 5,000 nuclear weapons here in our homeland, and plan on making new generations of them ourselves. We are by far the biggest overall arms supplier in the world. It’s time to follow the Gospel’s advice: “Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.” Mt 7:5

"Other warheads" are bombs still in storage, yet to be destroyed.

Unjust wars rage in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, Israel, Sudan, Ukraine, Libya, Syria, drug wars in Mexico, Central and Latin America … This tragic violence should touch our consciences--our choices of vocations, jobs, our uses of time and money. Do these support war or peace? Do these follow the way of Caesar, or the way of Jesus?

Come, pray, help prepare the way of the Peaceable Kingdom.

“Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.” -- Martin Luther King

“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"I give you a new commandment, love one another as I have loved you" -- Jesus Christ the Lamb of God