Every January Christians around the world observe a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 18-25 (formerly called the Church Unity Octave). Your parish may be joining in prayer this week with other Christian faith communities. This week of prayer had its beginnings 115 years ago but the desire for the unity of Christians goes back the words Jesus prayed at the last supper, on the night before he died. He prayed that night not only for those gathered at table with him but also for all of us who would come to believe in him through their word..
Father, I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
-John 14:20-26
What a shame and sadness it is that 2,000 years later the Body of Christ has yet to achieve and maintain the unity that is ours in Jesus...
We're members of your Body, Lord,
but we're shamefully divided, fractured and splintered;
painfully wounded, weakened and broken;
sadly unfaithful to the gospel we preach...
Who will believe the gospel we preach
when our preaching reveals the divisions we keep?
Who will believe that we're one with you
when we fail to be one in the faith we profess?
How can we offer one hymn to your glory
when we gather in separate houses to pray?
How will the work of the gospel succeed
when we fail to speak and act as one?
Heal us, Lord, of our sad divisions...
Cleanse our hearts of their stubborn pride...
Open all minds to the truth you reveal...
Mend the broken structures we cling to...
Throw open the doors that keep others out...
Bring us together in serving the poor
and doing the work of justice...
Make us one with you
as you're one with the Father,
make us all one in you
as you're one in us...
Protect us, Lord, while we're awake
and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
Tonight's music is a little longer than usual: it's a medley of three songs, each of which captures the spirit of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Father, make us one
Father, make us one
that the world may know
you have sent your Son
Father, make us one.
We are pilgrims on a journey
Fellow travelers on the road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load
When we sing to God in heaven
We will find such harmony
Born of all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony
Will you let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace
To let you be my servant too
We being many are one body
in Christ, in Christ,
And everyone, members of one another,
loving each other with God as Father
who loves us as a mother loves her new born child
SUBSCRIBE HERE!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please THINK before you write
and PRAY before you think!