It is only through Jesus that the world can achieve “true peace,” Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula said during a Mass at the Manila Cathedral for the consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
“We cannot build peace simply by debates and discussions,” Advincula said in his homily. “For us Christians, peace does not only mean tranquility or absence of conflict, rather, it refers to the totality of wellness.”
Echoing Pope Francis, Advincula urged the faithful to be “instruments of peace” like Jesus.
“He [Jesus] offers us the true peace that the world could not get, at the same time, he [Jesus] also invites us to be instruments of such peace [so let us be] architects and artisans of peace,” Advincula said.
The Manila archbishop also called on the faithful to be sympathetic toward others, especially amid times of crisis.
“We cannot build peace simply by debates and discussions,” Advincula said. “True peace is not ensured by armed personnel and advanced weapons. Only the wealthy and powerful enjoy that kind of peace.”
“There will never be true peace while some of us are neglected, marginalized and left behind,” he added.
Advincula said the spiritual values of praying and caring can help in peacebuilding.
“Prayer is the most fundamental act of peacebuilding because through peace is heaven’s gift to earth, peace can only come from God,” he said.
Advincula led the Mass with apostolic nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles Brown.
Pope Francis’s consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a “gesture of the universal Church” to end the violence and suffering of innocent people caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“As we pray for an end to the violent aggression against Ukraine, an act of consecration helps us to remember that the well-being of the human race and the peaceful flourishing of human society have a spiritual and political element,” Brown said. Allainne Nicole C. Cruz with reports from Allyssa Mae C. Cruz
