CSDC 519

It is through prayer that the Church engages in the battle for peace. Prayer opens the heart not only to a deep relationship with God but also to an encounter with others marked by respect, understanding, esteem and love.¹⁰⁹⁸ Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 1992 World Day of Peace, 4: AAS 84AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 84 (1992) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1992), 323-324. Prayer instils courage and lends support to all “true friends of peace”,¹⁰⁹⁹ Paul VI, Message for the 1968 World Day of Peace: AAS 59AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 59 (1967) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1967), 1098. those who love peace and strive to promote it in the various circumstances in which they live. Liturgical prayer is “the summit towards which the action of the Church tends and, at the same time, the source from which she draws her strength”.¹¹⁰⁰ Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10: AAS 56AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 56 (1964) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1964), 102. In particular, the Eucharistic celebration, “the source and summit of the Christian life”¹¹⁰¹ Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution Lumen Gentium, 11: AAS 57AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 57 (1965) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1965), 15., is a limitless wellspring for all authentic Christian commitment to peace¹¹⁰² The eucharistic celebration begins with a greeting of peace, the greeting of Christ to his disciples. The Gloria is a prayer for peace for all the people of God on the earth. Prayer for peace is made through the anaphora at Mass: an appeal for the peace and unity of the Church, for the peace of the entire family of God in this life, for the advancement of peace and salvation in the world. During the communion rite the Church prays that the Lord will “grant us peace in our day” and remembers Christ's gift that consists of his peace, invoking “the peace and unity of his Kingdom”. Before communion, the entire assembly exchanges a sign of peace and the assembly prays that the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world will “grant us peace”. The eucharistic celebration concludes with the assembly being dismissed in the peace of Christ. There are many prayers that invoke peace for the world. In these, peace is sometimes associated with justice, for example, as in the opening prayer for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, in which the Church asks God to guide the course of world events in justice and peace, according to his will..