SJA / WAMM

WAMM Peacemakers
The St. Joan of Arc/WAMM Peacemakers group was formed in June 1996. Our membership is comprised of St. Joan of Arc parishioners and members of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM).

Our mission is to identify and address justified violence which is antithetical to the "good news" of the gospel. We believe nonviolence is the humane answer to militarism, and institutional and personal violence.

Our goals:

To rediscover early Christian teachings and practices regarding war and the military in order to understand how our church turned away from the nonviolent practices of Jesus.
To provide education and to engage in action that promote peace and oppose militarism.
To oppose militarism through direct nonviolent actions.
To encourage St. Joan of Arc parishioners of all ages to embrace nonviolence.

In order to better education ourselves on what constitutes early Christian teachings and practices regarding war and military, we devote time at each meeting to study sources that attest to this early nonviolent tradition. Because later church teachings and practices sometimes deviate from, or even subvert the early nonviolent traditions, we feel it is important to recall it. Within the context of confronting militarism, we are mindful that

Our group meets monthly on the third Tuesday of each month at St. Joan of Arc. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact the WAMM office at 612-827-5364, John Braun at 612-522-1861, or Julie Madden, SJA staff liaison at 612-823-8205 ext. 228.

The Pax Christi Vow of Nonviolence

Before God the Creator and the Sanctifying Spirit, I vow to carry out in my life the love and example of Jesus:

by striving for peace within myself and seeking to be a peacemaker in my daily life;
by accepting suffering rather than inflicting it;
by refusing to retaliate in the face of provocation and violence;
by persevering in nonviolence of tongue and heart;
by living conscientiously and simply so that I do not deprive others of the means to live;
by actively resisting evil and working nonviolently to abolish war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the face of the earth.

God, I trust your sustaining love and believe that just as You gave me the grace and desire to offer this, so You will also bestow abundant grace to fulfill it.

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith

Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy

O divine Master
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life
Amen

Recommended links to other peacemaking sites: