SOUTHBURY — The Catholic Committee on Scouting of The Diocese of Brooklyn and the Catholic Chaplain of JFK International Airport announce the 2014 arrival of the Peace Light from Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity, Jerusalem to the United States.

The public is invited to visit Troop A barracks, 90 Lakeside Road in Southbury, on Tuesday, December 16. The Peace Light will be available between noon and 4 pm for those who wish to light their own candle or oil lamp.

The Peace Light from Bethlehem is a continuously burning flame, originating from the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Israel, the birthplace of Jesus. It is flown to the United States and spread from person to person throughout the US and the world each December. The light serves us all as a reminder that everyone can be channels of peace through words and actions.

For over 1,000 years lamps have been continuously lit in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Israel. For the last 29 years, a child from Austria has fetched the flame from a grotto lamp and brought it back to Vienna, where it is then distributed at a Service of Dedication to Scouts from all across Europe.

From Vienna, these Scouts take the Peace Light back to their own communities to deliver it, with a message of peace, to churches, hospitals, nursing homes, homeless shelters, prisons, and places of public, cultural and political importance — to anyone who appreciates the significance of this gift of peace.

The Peace Light first arrived to New York in 2001, when it made its way to Ground Zero. In 2002, DHL delivered the Peace Light as a gift from Belgian Scouts and Guides to the Boy Scouts of America in New York.

In 2003 the light did not make it to the United States. Fortunately, members of the diocesan Scouting committee had kept the 2002 Peace Light burning and spread that around the diocese and beyond. Since 2004, Austrian Airlines has flown the Peace Light from Vienna to New York City and Scout leaders have begun spreading it from there across the North American continent.

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have always played a large part in sharing the flame and its message of peace. Last Thursday, Connecticut Rivers Council Commissioner Orlando “Lonny” Mo traveled to JFK Airport to the Our Lady of the Skies Catholic Chapel to participate in a ceremony that began to spread the Peace Light all over North America.

Lonny Mo is also a Connecticut State Trooper, one of many who responded to the Sandy Hook School shooting tragedy. Today Trooper Mo and many of his co-workers, continues to serves many of the Sandy Hook families as Family Liaison Troopers. This year is the third year Trooper Mo has brought the Peace Light to Sandy Hook and then spread the light throughout Connecticut.

In December 2012, within days of the SHES shootings, Trooper Mo left his Peace Light lantern at Newtown United Methodist Church for a few days.

This year the light was at St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, December 14, part of the church’s marking of the second anniversary of 12/14. Parishioners were invited to receive it by bringing a candle or a lamp to be lit from the Peace Light.

For those who missed it, all are invited to visit the Troop A barracks in Southbury on Tuesday. Bring your own enclosed candle or oil lamp.