Pastor's Pen - Jan. 18, 2015

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

Each year we celebrate and reflect on Christian Unity, especially
the week of January 18 (the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter)
through January 25 (the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul). This
year’s
 is taken from John’s Gospel, Chapter 4:7: Jesus said
to her, “Give me a drink.”

She was the ‘Samaritan’ woman at the well who had been
married numerous times. Jews and Samaritans despised one another and wouldn’t even speak to or acknowledge one another. Yet Jesus initiates a dialogue with the woman and embraces the moment, attempting to seek unity in the midst of their differences and diversity. Actually, they both had a need:  He for water from her bucket and she for forgiveness. They recognized the richness and value present in the other and shared a valuable experience.

We pray for the gift of unity, for openness and a change of attitude:

Let us pray: We praise you dear God for creating us in all our diversity. For the gift of our many cultures, languages, diverse expressions of belief, customs, traditions, and ethnicities we
thank you! We thank you for the many church traditions which have kept our communities strong and active even in places where they are a minority. Teach us to celebrate our different identities and traditions, so as to forge bonds of friendship and fellowship leading us to greater unity.
We praise you Holy Spirit for the gift of mutual interdependence and solidarity that has been our heritage as peoples and churches. Teach us to treasure the bonds of unity we enjoy as we beseech your continuing presence with us. Inspire us on our journey towards full visible unity among us, and with all those
peoples and movements that engage in the struggles for life.

How very good and pleasant it is when sisters and brothers live together in unity! Fr. Ralph