wfn.org | Christmas Message 1997

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)]

by Rev. Dr K
November 13, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-2010
Christmas Message 1997
by Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser
General Secretary, World Council of Churches        

       "Once again, at Christmas we hear the message of the angels who
sing:
"Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to all in whom
he
delights" (Luke 2:14).  This was and is the announcement that a new
era, the reign of the Prince of Peace, has begun. 
       We hear the message.  It responds to our deepest longings but we
still
wait for its fulfillment.   Who can count those who were killed during
this
year in wars and military confrontation, those who were massacred as
defenseless victims of terrorism?  More than ever the world seems to be
held captive to the unending cycle of fighting and killing, of victory and
revenge, of merciless competition for power, and of a culture of violence
in which only the winner counts. 
       And yet, the reign of the Prince of Peace has begun.  It does not
make
the headlines.  It escapes the focus of TV cameras.  It does not conform
to the law that the winner takes all and can impose the terms of peace. 
The new era of peace which began with the birth of Jesus continues
today among the little ones, those who are forgotten, excluded and lost. 
These are those whom God loves and in whom he delights.  For, as
Mary the mother of Jesus said, "(God) has lifted up the lowly and has
filled the hungry with good things" (Luke 1:52f.). 
       Is this real, or is it wishful thinking?  We may indeed need new
eyes to
discover the ways in which God's reign of peace shows itself in our
time.  And there are examples, like parables, pointing to this different
reality. 
       In August this year, the World Council of Churches launched a
"Peace to
the City" campaign as the initial focus of its Program to Overcome
Violence.  The campaign is designed to make visible the efforts of those
often unknown groups of women and men who dare to be peacemakers
in the midst of a culture of violence.  They live among us in our troubled
cities, like Belfast and Boston, Rio and Colombo, Suva in Fiji, Durban
and
Kingston.  They live and work among street children and urban gangs. 
They seek to mediate between ethnic groups, and protect minorities. 
They monitor police actions and help to improve run-down
neighborhoods. 
       Through their lives and actions, they help a culture of peace to
emerge. 
These people of peace are signs that the reign of the Prince of Peace
has begun.  It is real.  In this, today's peacemakers echo the Christmas
message of the angels: "Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth
peace to all in whom he delights.""