By Sr Rachel fcJ
On Ash Wednesday this 2026, I joined the annual Pax Christi walk in Liverpool. I rejoiced to meet there my fcJ sister Marguerite, Adeline our friend and Companion in Mission, with her friend Paul and her dog, and about twenty Pax Christi veterans and friends, including Kathryn Lydon, Jan Harper, Peter Moonan, Terry Philips, Sr. Eleanor RSHM, and three local priests: Arthur Fitzgerald, Tony Sligo, and Terry Madden MOA. How I admired everyone’s commitment to come out on such a cold and windy day!
As ever, we met at St Luke’s bombed out church and walked through the town centre to the town hall, stopping periodically to pray and sing and to receive the Ash Wednesday ashes, celebrating our God-given fragility. Windblown banners announced that we were praying for peace, offering repentance for our national sin: the possession of nuclear weapons of mass destruction.
I felt that our little group radiated a tangible sense of peace and calm. There was no angry shouting of our message; nobody heckled us; many people accepted a small flier; several people spoke words of encouragement and seemed glad that people were speaking up for peace.
I ask myself, have I, have we, the courage to be faithful to divine non-violence, no matter what the cost, in imitation of Jesus? I continue to pray for that grace.
Photos courtesy of Adeline
