In the New Testament, Zechariah’s great prayer – his canticle – ends with the petition that the Lord “guide our feet on the way of peace” (see Luke 1:79). Centuries later, Saint Gregory Nazianzen (d. 390 AD) would sum up our relationship with God in an aphorism, so beloved of Pope Saint John XXIII, as, voluntas tua, pax nostra – your will is our peace. And even in this assembly, the greeting of the bishop to his people is “Peace be with you,” the greeting of the Risen Lord to His disciples after His resurrection (see John 20:19, 27).
It is of this active imperative that the Lord himself speaks when He says, “Blessed are the peacemakers….” (see Matt 5:9). It is in that same spirit that His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, in his World Day of Peace 2026 message, puts before us the challenge of opening ourselves to peace rather than believing it to be impossible and beyond our reach.
Being people of peace, does not simply mean being people who avoid conflict, violence, or trouble. Therefore in his message the Holy Father urges all of us “to encourage and support every spiritual, cultural and political initiative that keeps hope alive”. It is striking that he does not say, “every spiritual, cultural and political initiative that keeps peace alive,” but “that keeps hope alive.”
Enduring peace is born, not of some conviction that we can force a lasting and just peace, a peace that offers dignity to all, that gives to all, “a place to lay their head” (see Matt 8:20). Enduring peace is born of compassion and respect; it is born of patience, of attention to the other, of the conviction that the one who presents themselves as different, as other, is actually like oneself, is a true sister or brother of mine. This is what our faith means when we say that peace is born of hope.
Recent days have seen the release of the State papers from thirty years ago. As well as the many insights one can gain into political events of the time, and into the public figures that shaped them, there is also a clear witness of the many years of building trust and confidence that led to “the commitment to pursue political aims through peaceful means,” that we call the Good Friday Agreement. Given the inevitable complications and setbacks, such a long process can only be born of hope.
It was not for nothing that people of faith across the various communities in Northern Ireland made such a contribution to the “peace process.” Faith transforms; living faith gives us another horizon. Living faith does not lead us away from the world, but brings us to the heart of world.
On this Eight Day of Christmas, we do well to remember that, the birth of Christ, brings God into the world as it is. Jesus, God’s embrace of creation, comes into the world at it is.
On this World Day of Peace, we also do well to remember that a faith that is truly Catholic calls us to encounter the world. In the words of Pope Leo’s message, we are to “foster a civic culture that promotes self-awareness in civil societies, forms of responsible association, experiences of nonviolent participation and practices of restorative justice on both a small and large scale.”
Those who worked for peace on this island, were not only the important figures, whose names we all know, but they were also the people on the streets and farms of this land. They were – and are – the people who did not forget, who remembered. We cannot emphasise enough, as Pope Leo says today, the importance of fostering “a culture of memory that preserves the hard-won awareness of the twentieth century and the millions of victims”, and the need to counter “communication campaigns that spread a perception of threats and promote only an armed notion of defence and security.”
It is worth noting that the same processes are at work in our response to the climate crisis. The remembering and the contribution of every single person is important. Like peace building, care for our Common – and only – Home, is the work of everyone.
Governments clearly have a critical role to play in shaping the course of international events. Specifically, they have the onerous responsibility of pursuing the path of peace even in the face of provocation, there is no enduring peace without the commitment of ordinary people.
Yes, leaders are important; indeed, good leadership is vital. However, we need to take to heart that good leaders bring people with them.
Many here this morning will remember the conviction and witness of the late John Hume. For John Hume, “political leadership [was] like being a teacher. It’s about changing the language of others,” he said. “I say it and go on saying it until I hear the man in the pub saying my words back to me” (The Independent (London), December 21, 1996). That was 1996 – thirty years ago now. Peace takes time. “Until I hear the man in the pub saying my words back to me…” until the hope, the conviction, the values have taken flesh in the ordinary person in the street. Then peace happens. Then Christmas – in its truest sense – happens. The Word is made flesh in us; verbum caro factum est in nobis (see John 1:14). Then the Church, the Body of Christ, can be seen for what it truly is; the people who continue what God began in Mary, the Mother of God, she whom we celebrate today.
Ireland has a proud record in international work for peace. Now, in our days, there is a need and opportunity for the Irish State to articulate how this tradition, and the values which underpin it, will be continued in a rapidly-changing international situation. It is not enough to invest in defence capacity or to point to how the circumstances of our traditional military neutrality have changed; Ireland’s commitment to promoting a sustainable peace needs a new articulation. We are not in an either-or situation. It is not them or us. When we invest in peace everybody wins. In our land too we need to resist dragging the language of faith into political battles or justifying violence in the name of our beliefs.
In this time of deep change in our world, we need to discover a new idiom, and maybe in certain ways a new language. It takes time to learn a new language, and just as learning a new language needs another person. Nobody learns a new language on their own! Real language happens is born of the other. In Christ, God learns our language, from within, without any shortcuts. But that is not all, in Christ, we are learning God’s language for ourselves. No longer do we have a word from beyond ourselves, but in Christ, we receive anew our very own word spoken to us by our brother, by the One who is “God with us,” (see Matt 1:24), by the One who remains faithful to us in all life’s seasons, in all our ups and downs.
As Pope Leo says in his World Day of Peace message today, “Nothing has the power to change us as much as a child.” In these Christmas days, as this new year begins, may we permit the child of Bethlehem to show us the true power of our living God, to open our hearts to “the things of God” (see Mark 8:33), and to guide our feet on the way of peace” (see Luke 1:79).
May Mary, who overcame her fear, and trusted in God’s hope for her, embolden us to work for peace, in every way we can, and remind us, day-in-day-out, that “nothing is impossible to God” (see Luke 1:37).
Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. Amen.