Did your March 17 include prayers?

How did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day this week? Wearing green? Eating corned beef and cabbage? Tippling a little Guinness? Marching in a parade on an icy Saturday?

How about praying for peace in Northern Ireland? Did you find time to ask God to smile on the Irish, Catholic and Protestant, who have been warring for so long?

As reported by Catholic News Service this week, the bishop who heads the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Policy encouraged Americans not to tire of supporting those who are working nonviolently for a just and lasting peace in Northern Ireland. "In recent years, the U.S. government and countless individuals and groups have given invaluable support to the peace process," said Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick of Newark. "Today, this support and encouragement are as important as ever."

The archbishop called St. Patrick's Day an appropriate time to think about God's blessings on Ireland and the Irish, and to celebrate historic ties between Ireland and the United States.

"We should make good use of these special ties to support and encourage a just peace and reconciliation for which so many in Northern Ireland yearn, work and pray," he said, adding that there should be no support for groups that employ violence.

He also called for more efforts to overcome discrimination, promote fair employment, and ensure the equal treatment and human rights of all people. Archbishop McCarrick said the most direct way for Americans to support the peace process is through ongoing practical initiatives, including:

* American business investment and job creation in Northern Ireland, especially for those who lack opportunities or suffer discrimination;

* The Business Education Initiative, which brings 150 mostly-disadvantaged students to the United States for a year of business studies at 90 Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist and Episcopal colleges nationwide; and

* The International Fund for Ireland and other private funding efforts that support "valuable cross-community development and reconciliation."

Such "acts of solidarity are indispensable to peace in Northern Ireland," the archbishop said. To that, we would add another indispensable initiative: the power of prayer to swing hearts and minds away from anger and direct them toward friendship, cooperation and unity.

(03-20-97)

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