The Holy See Mission Honours the Meditation Group

The evening of 9 December 1977 Monsignor Cheli, Permanent Observer of the Holy See, and members of the Mission honoured members of the Meditation Group at a reception, appreciating the Group ‘s printing of the Holy See Mission’s booklet on World Peace Day.

Excerpts from a statement which was read out by Monsignor Cheli and remarks made by Dr. Robert Muller, Deputy Under-Secretary-General for Inter-Agency Affairs and Coordination, follow.

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Monsignor G. Cheli, Permanent Observer of the Holy See: My dear friends, it is a pleasure for the Holy See Mission to have you here and to get to know each of you who has worked so generously with us in the preparation of the World Peace Day Booklet .

You represent in the U.N. Secretariat a movement that seeks to help the people of the U.N., who are so busy and so preoccupied, to find themselves through the exercise of meditation, prayer and contemplation. In silence and reflection, people find themselves again . Not only themselves, but they find their origin, God. They identify their task in this world, which is to love and help their neighbour. Finally, they locate their ultimate goal, which is to return to the Creator. In reflection, people come to see clearly the true scale of value of the created things around them and they learn to give to each one of them the right priority.

The secret for happiness, for interior peace and brotherly co-existence with others: it’s all here! For this reason, we here at the Holy See Mission feel our selves very close to you, and we feel our selves supported and encouraged in our efforts to inject moral and spiritual values into the United Nations. We wish that this communion of spirit and of aims would continue forever. We wish to thank all who collaborated with us. You will be happy to know that your efforts have touched people all over the world. We have sent a copy to the Holy Father in Rome, to members of the Curia, to all the Permanent Missions at the United Nations; UNICEF has asked us for six extra co pies. So, you know that your work has gone to all corners of the globe . Everywhere, people comment on the beauty of the reproduction. So we congratulate everyone who contributed to it.

Monsignor Cheli serving the guests.

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Dr. Robert Muller, Deputy Under-Secretary-General: Year after year, the scope of the UN’s work increases, as does its perception of the totality. This is one of the most prestigious and amazing stories the earth has ever seen. Alas, it is understood by only a very few of the four billion inhabitants….

The UN is the school where all learn from each other, listen to each other, try to find solutions and define what is good and bad for the whole human family.

It is the place of a thousand bridges. It is the cradle of future world destiny, the scanning light of our planet, the warning tower from which one global signal after the other is emitted to humans over the globe.

It is the birthplace of unique world efforts which help humanity to better know itself and guide its behaviour in our planetary home.

The religions and the prophets and the poets and artists did not need a United Nations, a world organization, conferences or experts to help them discover the truth. They saw it straight with the heart, with an internal vision, with an Instinct that went right to the point without getting lost in the convolutions of the mind. They all gave us generally correct codes of conduct, codes of internal serenity, codes of happiness, codes for the highest fulfillment of the miracle of life. . . . This will explain to you why I am listening so attentively with my mind, heart and soul to what great religions and spiritual groups have to say.

They have a long experience of human life and often their perceptions are still the quickest and most accurate. This is why I am grateful to you for your efforts to give the work of the United Nations a spiritual interpretation and dimension.

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From the spiritual point of view, the soul-love of the United Nations will always remain

resourceful in all problematical situations,
untiring in the discharge of its national and international duties,
sagacious in its willingness to add to the peace, love and joy of searching and ascending humanity. [*1]

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Reference Notes:

[*1] excerpt from talk “The Soul-Love Of The United Nations“, by Sri Chinmoy in Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium on 01 February 1973. Talk appears in, The Tears Of Nation-Hearts, Agni Press, 1974.

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