Welcome to our website.
Parishioners of Our Lady Of the Way, and others, who seek to engage in dialogue and understanding around issues of peace and justice, can find articles of interest, news of upcoming events, and links to related sites here.
Pope Paul VI titled his address for the World Day of Peace on 1 January 1972 : “If you want Peace, work for Justice“. He said:
“A Peace that is not the result of true respect for man is not true Peace. And what do we call this sincere feeling for man? We call it Justice.
….The developing countries shout it out with a loud voice. It is the voice of peoples, the voice of mankind. It demands a new expression of Justice, a new foundation for Peace.
Convinced as we all are of this irrepressible cry, why do we waste time in giving peace any other foundation than Justice? “
Pope Benedict titled his address for the World Day of Peace on 1 January 2010: “If you want to cultivate Peace, protect Creation”. He said:
The Church has a responsibility towards creation, and she considers it her duty to exercise that responsibility in public life, in order to protect earth, water and air as gifts of God the Creator meant for everyone, and above all to save mankind from the danger of self-destruction.
Pope Francis in his address for the World Day of Peace on 1 January 2020 said:
“Setting out on a journey of peace is a challenge made all the more complex because the interests at stake in relationships between people, communities and nations, are numerous and conflicting. We must first appeal to people’s moral conscience and to personal and political will. Peace emerges from the depths of the human heart and political will must always be renewed, so that new ways can be found to reconcile and unite individuals and communities.”
In his Apostolic Exhortation “Querida Amazonia” Pope Francis, addressing the exploitation in the Amazon region, reminded us :
“We need to feel outrage, as Moses did (cf. Ex 11:8), as Jesus did (cf. Mk 3:5), as God does in the face of injustice (cf. Am 2:4-8; 5:7-12; Ps 106:40). It is not good for us to become inured to evil; it is not good when our social consciousness is dulled….. “
We intend to be inclusive and welcome people from outside our parish and faith to join with us in this journey.
We hope that this group and its activities will be a catalyst for engaging people in issues related to peace and justice.
Our focus is on conversations about care for asylum seekers and care for our common home, leading we hope to actions in these areas.
EvangelIi Gaudium paragraph 190:
Sometimes it is a matter of hearing the cry of entire peoples, the poorest peoples of the earth, since “peace is founded not only on respect for human rights, but also on respect for the rights of peoples”. Sadly, even human rights can be used as a justification for an inordinate defense of individual rights or the rights of the richer peoples. With due respect for the autonomy and culture of every nation, we must never forget that the planet belongs to all mankind and is meant for all mankind; the mere fact that some people are born in places with fewer resources or less development does not justify the fact that they are living with less dignity. It must be reiterated that “the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others”. To speak properly of our own rights, we need to broaden our perspective and to hear the plea of other peoples and other regions than those of our own country. We need to grow in a solidarity which “would allow all peoples to become the artisans of their destiny”, since “every person is called to self-fulfilment”.