The Sacrament of Nonviolence

"The Eucharist is the sacrament of non-violence!" - So pronounced the man who was appointed by Pope John Paul II to be Preacher to the Papal Household during the Lenten reflections before his death. Far from being a justification of violence, the Eucharist is God's absolute No to violence, as Father Cantalamessa says, "the modern debate on violence and the sacred thus helps us to accept a new dimension of the Eucharist, thanks to which God’s absolute 'no' to violence, pronounced on the cross, is kept alive through the centuries." - 3rd Lenten Sermon by Father Cantalamessa, March 11, 2005 (Zenit.org)

May the Pope look down on this battered earth and call upon our Lord to let nonviolence master our hearts. I place all my weapons at your feet, O Lord. In Christ's sacrifice the bond between the sacred and violence is forever broken. In the same way, Lord, let my weapons break.