By Christopher Khoo
For many people around the world who were hoping and praying for successful peace talks between the United States and Iran, the announcement on April 12 that no agreement had been reached after 21 hours of negotiations must have been severely disappointing.
This was especially true for Catholics who had attended or watched the Prayer Vigil for Peace at St. Peter’s Basilica the previous day, during which Pope Leo XIV and others prayed for peace in a moving service.
In the wake of the announcement of the failed talks the very next day, many were probably left wondering: What now? More bombings, more lives lost? It is tempting to feel dejected in such circumstances, especially when the war threatens the global economy and countries not directly involved in the conflict are forced to deal with the consequences.
However, as I watched and listened to the pope’s reflection towards the end of the prayer vigil, several of his remarks caught my attention. They spoke to the power of prayer amidst the violence and senselessness of war.
“Prayer teaches us how to act,” Pope Leo said. “In prayer, our limited human possibilities are joined to the infinite possibilities of God. Thoughts, words and deeds then break the demonic cycle of evil and are placed at the service of the Kingdom of God. A kingdom in which there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness.”
I believe the pope has just handed us the key to alleviating what seems intractable: the power of prayer.
“Within each of us, within every human being, the interior Teacher teaches peace, urges us towards encounter and inspires us to make supplication,” the pope said. He urged his listeners to “turn to a Kingdom of peace that is built up day by day—in our homes, schools, neighbourhoods, and civil and religious communities.”
Towards the end of his reflection, he entreated: “Let us return home having made a commitment to pray without ceasing and without growing weary, a commitment to a profound conversion of heart,”
Here, then, is the Christian’s means of bringing about transformative change—prayer. In light of his remarks, it behoves dioceses, parish organisations, prayer groups and families to pray unceasingly for God to bring about peace and healing at this point in humanity’s history.
As the pope put it, quoting from his World Day of Peace Message on January 1: “Now more than ever, we must show that peace is not a utopia.”
Christopher Khoo is a Singapore-based freelance journalist and educator
