Serendipity and Peace

UST Arch of the Centuries and Fountain of Knowledge

Serendipity means accidentally discovering something valuable while looking entirely for something else.

"We are gathered here looking for a way to make peace in a turbulent world. I hope that/we shall learn not only techniques and strategies on how to make peace. I hope we shall discover that peace is not something we make: as in make love, make money, or make believe. A holy man named Augustine once wrote: Peace is the tranquility of order. Tranquilitas ordinis.

Peace, like happiness, is a by-product. It is the end result of our common endeavor to put things in their proper order. We shall never experience peace if there is dis-order in our personal lives, in society, in our churches.

One contemporary apostle of UNITY among peoples, Chiara Lubich once gave us this insight into our contemporary situation: 'What hurts me is mine.' I take those words to mean that peace begins when we realize that all the pain and suffering we endure are of our own making. It is by owning this pain that we develop a sense of belonging to a human family broken by sin and its consequences, and which enable us to dialogue with others in humility and reverence."

Excerpt from the welcome address of Rev Fr Rolando V de la Rosa, OP, rector of the University of Santo Tomas, before the delegates to the 7^th General Assembly Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (ARCP) Peacemaking in Asia, October 17 to 21, 2008.