These are times in which this simple five-letter word bounces from one part of the world to another without finding a place to settle, grow, and proliferate. I imagine peace as one of the many migrants crossing the globe in search of a home, or a boat laden with hope in search of a port. Whatever image comes to mind, they all have one thing in common: the lack of welcome.  We all say the word peace several times a day and perhaps think about it even more. But is that enough? Is it enough to talk about peace? To think about it? To desire it? To invoke it? I believe that sometimes we are missing another action, namely, to MAKE peace. To build peace, we must first know how to make it with ourselves, with our personal history, with the Congregation, with the Church, with the people we live with every day who are a small portion of the humanity to which we all belong. Perhaps it would be enough to become more aware of all those thoughts that pass through our minds every day, bringing messages of war, division,and revenge, leaving us without peace. Then, perhaps, we would be able to respond to these thoughts with that four-letter word to defuse the bombs in our minds and disarm the weaponsin our hearts. PEACE begins with us...let us remember that.

Sr. Barbara Perali, ASC