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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25, 2023 January 13th, 2023
(Originally published at OMIUSA.ORG)
As our Oblate Prayer Book mentions, we observe each year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from Jan. 18-25 (pp. 73-76). Our divisions hurt the way people view Jesus and the Church He founded.
Minnesota Council of Churches. Minneapolis, MN became a flashpoint for calls for racial justice and equity during the responses of communities to the George Floyd murder. This received worldwide attention.
The theme chosen for this year is “Do Good: Seek Justice,” from Isaiah 1:17. Materials for each day are available from the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute.: www.geii.org.
Many members of the Oblate Family reside in Minnesota. May we join with them in spirit as we observe the 2023 Week.
The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday occurs on January 16. The Graymoor website gives special material linking the holiday with the Week of Prayer: click on “Prayer/Worship,” and search for “Homily Notes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
Prayer for Christian Unity
O God of justice and peace, One in the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, enliven the unity of your Church on earth. Help us to see that our unity goes beyond unity in doctrinal essentials to an active unity of humanity with you and with one another.
Forgive us for not remembering we are brothers and sisters in equity and justice under your law of love. Help us remember that each of us is created in your Divine image and that we share the dignity of being your children. Temper your justice, O Lord, with mercy to forgive and heal our broken relationships. Unite us in a fellowship that recalls our baptism, which has conquered sin and death, hate and division in the power of the Paschal mystery of Jesus Christ.
Grant all this, O Lord, in his name and by the power of your Holy Spirit, now and forever, Amen.
Cardinal Urges Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Participants to Live a Unique Statement May 8th, 2017
By Fr. Harry Winter, OMI
As Antonio Ponce, OMI, and I took part in the 2017 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held in Minneapolis May 1-4, we listened to a first ever message from a cardinal to the participants of this event (started in 1969 and held annually). Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, asked us to examine and live together the short and vital 5-page statement “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World, Recommendations for Conduct.”
One reason the document is so extraordinary is that it was approved by three very different groups: the World Council of Churches, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the World Evangelical Alliance. Another reason is that it begins by affirming, “Mission belongs to the very being of the church,” and then bonds social justice, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.
Although approved in late January, 2011, we are all puzzled and disturbed that this statement remains virtually unknown. The 400 participants in the Week of Prayer have resolved to make it publicized.
Most Rev. Denis J. Madden, retired Auxiliary Bishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore and Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Participants of the National Workshop on Christian Unity 2017
