Peace

Archbishop Anthony J. Bevilacqua said yesterday that while the end of the Persian Gulf war is cause for celebration, real peace in the Middle East will require lots of hard work in the months ahead. "Peace is the fruit of justice, reason and love," he said. "Peace is not merely the absence of warfare. " Archbishop Bevilacqua's comments came during his sermon at a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul to celebrate the end of the war. In his sermon, Archbishop Bevilacqua said that before there can be lasting peace in the Middle East, it will be necessary to resolve the thorny question of Palestinian rights and the political morass that has kept rival factions warring in Lebanon for years.

There are no peace heroes. Of our most famous presidents, the only one whose name isn't intimately linked with war is Jefferson. Unfortunately, though, he is best known, not for the arts of peace in which he excelled, but for writing the Declaration of Independence, which might as well also be called a Declaration of War. Our parks are full of the statues of bronze warriors, and our people have long had a dangerous proclivity for elevating soldiers...

THE DOZENS who gathered for a gospel concert in Kingsessing yesterday witnessed a miracle in the form of the Rev. Patrick Rice. "I slept out here in the park. I was a crackhead, alcoholic liar," Rice, who's been clean since 1992, recounted to the crowd at Kingsessing Recreation Center. "You're looking at a miracle. " On the heels of a weekend that began with a violent mob of teens wreaking havoc in Center City, the concert marked the close of the city's eighth annual Weekend of Peace.

Peace through strength, the doctrine of the Reagan-Bush years so reviled by liberals, has worked. President Bush's announced reduction of America's nuclear arsenal and the promise by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to take "comparable action" is a victory for those who believed the way to defeat communism was to oppose it without wavering. In 1983, then Vice President Bush said, "Our program for peace recognizes that the power of deterrence . . . can be the only foundation on which negotiations for lasting peace can proceed.

In that place in the human spirit where religion and patriotic duty overlap, local military chaplains have managed to find meaning. It's discovered while preaching under gunfire. Or informing relatives of the death of a soldier. Or wiping the tears of a homesick GI. For many chaplains of many faiths, this past weekend, just days before tomorrow's United Nations deadline for Iraq to leave Kuwait or face military action, has meant testing the limits of the head and the heart.

Join with me in a circle of friendship and love around the world. I wish you peace and happiness forever. This message of peace, written by 11-year-old Renee Wallace, is being beamed to Earth from an orbiting satellite. Similar messages written by nine of her fellow students at Herbert Hoover Elementary School in Langhorne also are being beamed to Earth from the 10- inch-square Digital Orbiting Voice Encoder, known as DOVE. Ham radio operators and owners of police scanners will be able to pick up the voices of the children when DOVE passes over the United States twice a day for a year.

The strong scent of incense greeted worshipers as they entered St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Upper Darby. Passing yellow ribbons hung on church lanterns, some paused to light candles in the vestibule before entering the sanctuary. Once inside, they stood quietly, their thoughts with the soldiers and the civilians caught up in the Persian Gulf war. "Again we pray that Thou will swiftly hear us and deliver us from the grievous crisis in the Middle East, granting peace, justice and deliverance for all the inhabitants of these lands," said the Rev. Antoun Aaraj, pastor.

'TIS THE season our most holy, sacred and beloved savior, Jesus Christ, was born. 'Tis the season for joy, love, happiness and reflection. It is said that only God's love can conquer hate. It is difficult indeed to acknowledge that hate does exist, even, especially this time of year. So let us put aside our swords. Even for a short while. Because no one wants "Jesus to be sad. " Do they, boys and girls? Mark Anthony Vare, Philadelphia

There are prayers for peace and prayers for soldiers' deliverance. But after that, say Bucks County clergymen, not everyone is praying for the same thing. Some pray that the U.S. will get out now; others that we will stay in to see Saddam Hussein deposed. With the Persian Gulf war entering its second month today, clergymen say more members of their flocks are turning to prayer. But many parishioners are wrestling with the deep conflicts this war engenders - whether to follow the Bible's command to turn the other cheek, for instance, or obey religious teachings on the need to act for justice.

Protesters took to the streets last night in swift response to the start of war in the Persian Gulf, while peace groups continued planning for larger demonstrations today and in coming days. In a scene reminiscent of the 1960s, protesters carrying candles and signs assembled in front of the Liberty Bell pavilion on Market Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets. But, while some voices protested, others were raised in support of President Bush's Middle East policy. Earlier in the day, more than 75 people turned out for a rally organized by a group of veterans at the Philadelphia Navy Base.