Thank you all for your presence to pray for peace!Today, October 27, the Church throughout the world remembers an event that happened 40 years ago in a small Italian town of Assisi.
In 1986, St. John Paul II did something never done before. He invited 160 leaders of all religions – Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus – to come to Assisi, Italy, to pray for peace.
The gathering in Assis was not to debate, Not to say all religions are the same. But to pray, side by side, for one thing our world desperately needs: PEACE. As Scripture says: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” – Ephesians 2:14
And today our Holy Father if not due to his recent operation and health condition, was supposed to be in Assisi again. This is not just history. This is our present need.
We ask, WHY ASSISI?
WHY ST. FRANCIS?
Why did the Pope choose Assisi, and not Rome, not New York where the United Nations gathers together, not Geneva, a place for peace conventions? WHY ASSISI.
Because Assisi is the town of St. Francis.!
St. Francis lived in the time of Crusades – Christians and Muslims killing each other in the name of God. What did Francis do? In 1219, he left the Crusader camp, crossed the battlefield unarmed, and went to meet Sultan al-Kamil in Egypt.
He did not go with a sword. He went with the greeting: “May the Lord give you peace.” And the Sultan listened. They did not convert each other, but they respected each other. And Francis returned saying: we can be brothers even with our enemies.
Francis understood what Jesus meant when He said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Matthew 5:9
That is why the Pope chose Assisi. Because St. Francis teaches us: peace is not made by armed hands, but by unarmed hearts. That is the theme for this year’s anniversary: “Unarmed and Disarming Peace.”
You cannot build peace with weapons. You can only build peace with people who are willing to disarm their hearts first – from hatred, from pride, from revenge. Jesus Himself said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27 The peace of the world comes from treaties and weapons. The peace of Jesus comes from a changed heart.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks:
“What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”
Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened.” (Luke 13:18–21)
How does this disarming peace work? Jesus reveals it through these two parables. The Kingdom of God and the peace of Christ do not come through sudden, crushing military might, but through small, faithful actions. A mustard seed seems tiny and insignificant when planted, but God nurtures it until it grows into a large shelter for all the birds of the sky. A pinch of yeast works quietly and invisibly from within, yet it transforms the entire batch of dough.
When we plant small seeds of peace—a gentle word, a gesture of forgiveness, a quiet prayer—or when we act as yeast in our homes and communities, God takes those humble efforts and uses them to transform a troubled world from the inside out.
We further more ask, WHY WE MUST PRAY? The danger of war is far from here.
My dear brothers and sisters, some say: “War is far. What does Ukraine or Gaza have to do with Saipan, Tinian, Rota?”
Everything.
Today we have wars that are live on our phones.
In the Middle East – Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen – we see children buried under rubble, hostages still not home after two years, families starving. We pray for them, but also our Catholic faith tells us war there raises the price of oil, food, shipping. Our sons and daughters, members of the US armed forces are sent to war zones, our relatives in the Middle East are affected.
In Europe – Ukraine and Russia – for almost 4 years now. A war in Europe, with nuclear powers threatening each other. Young men dying in trenches like in World War I. If you think it does not affect us – the cost of rice, fuel, fertilizers all went up because of that war.
In Myanmar, Sudan, Congo – forgotten wars, where millions are displaced, Christians persecuted, villages burned. The world forgets, but God does not forget.
Scripture warns us clearly: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” – Matthew 24:6-7
Pope Francis said: we are living a “third world war in pieces.” One piece there, one piece here, but it is one war against humanity.
And war teaches one lesson: No one wins a war. Everyone loses. The winner loses his humanity. The loser loses everything. As St. James asks us: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.” – James 4:1-2
Realize that WE IN CNMI KNOW THIS – WE HAVE THE SCARS*
We do not need to look far. We, the people of CNMI, know the price of war better than most Americans.
During World War II, our islands were hell on earth.
Saipan: In June-July 1944, more than 50,000 people died in 3 weeks. Japanese, American, Chamorro, Carolinian. Our manåmko’ remember hiding in caves in Marpi, drinking dirty water. Our families remember the forced marches, the suicides at Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff because of fear and propaganda.
Who can forget? Our small island of Tinian was taken, and then the Americans built the largest airfield in the world at that time – North Field. Four runways, built by Seabees and our people. From there, history changed. From North Field in Tinian, on August 6 and 9, 1945, the planes Enola Gay and Bockscar took off carrying atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Think about that: the weapon that ended World War II, but killed 200,000 civilians in seconds, started from our backyard, from our island of Tinian.
Think about that: the weapon that ended World War II, but killed 200,000 civilians in seconds, started from our backyard, from our island of Tinian.
We know what war does. It uses our islands as a launchpad. It uses our young men as soldiers. It leaves our islands with unexploded bombs still in the jungle today.
If we have learned anything from World War II, it is this: War never stays where it starts. The bomb loaded in Tinian exploded in Japan, but the radiation fell on all humanity. The war started in Europe exploded in our lagoon.
The prophet Isaiah dreamed of a different ending: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” – Isaiah 2:4 That dream did not happen yet, but it must be our prayer.
That is why our elders always say: We don’t want war again.
So we ask again, What can we do?*
What is the Spirit of Assisi for us in Saipan?
Our faith tells us Jesus is not just a peace-maker, He IS our Peace. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and he will be called… Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6
Three things:
First, Disarm your heart. Before we ask nations to disarm nuclear weapons, can we disarm our gossip, our clan hatred, our political hatred, our family grudges? Plant that small mustard seed of peace at the dinner table. As Paul says: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” – Romans 12:18 And “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” – Colossians 3:15
Second, Pray daily for peace. John Paul II in Assisi did not sign a political treaty. He prayed. Prayer is not useless. It changes the one who prays. Like yeast working quietly in the dough, our prayers work beneath the surface of world events. Jesus said: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” – Mark 11:17 Let us offer one rosary decade every day for peace in Gaza, Ukraine, and for our region in the Pacific, where superpowers are again playing with fire near our islands. Let us pray the prayer of the Psalmist: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem… May there be peace within your walls.” – Psalm 122:6-7
Third, Choose to be instruments. Like St. Francis prayed: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” Let us remember the feet that bring peace are beautiful: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace.” – Isaiah 52:7 And Jesus calls us higher: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” – Matthew 5:44
Our islands suffered war. Let our islands now become islands that preach peace.
Today, from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, from the very place where World War II ended with an atomic bomb, let us join the prayer of Assisi and say, together with our Prince of Peace:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” – Luke 2:14
Lord, never again war. Never again.
Give us peace.
Amen.
