News Archives » Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
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.
Special Release of Resources for the Week of Christian Unity January 8th, 2021
FOR RELEASE TO ALL OBLATES, OBLATE INSTITUTIONS, and OMIUSA WEB:
(Editor’s Note: This news release was sent out today (January 6) by Fr. Jim Brobst alerting the Oblate community (or Mazenodian Family) of resources available for the week of Christian Unity prepared by Fr. Harry Winter, OMI. Fr. Winter’s website, “Mission-Unity-Dialogue” may be accessed HERE)
January 6, traditional feast of the Epiphany, God’s Revelation to the Nations
For All Members of the Mazenodian Family:
Special thanks to Fr. Harry Winter, OMI, for generously drawing our focus to these resources for the upcoming week of Christian Unity. He has distilled for us some helpful resources for our own participation in this missionary endeavors, even though pandemic precautions prevent much in the way of ecumenical or interfaith gatherings in crowds.
Admin Team
Fr. James Brobst, OMI
Please review pp. 73-76 of our Oblate Prayer book, explaining the importance of the annual Church Unity Octave, or Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. I recommend especially the material for every parish and community published by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches, available from Graymoor: Click here. The theme this year is “Abide in My Love. . . . You Shall Bear Much Fruit”(Jn.15:1-17).
These materials include “Homily Notes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” which this year is Monday, Jan. 18. There is no doubt this year, with the Black Lives Matter movement, is more important than ever as we continue to overcome the effects of slavery in the USA.
During the Week of Prayer, we pray with more Evangelical Protestants than ever. They are our allies as we approach the Jan. 31 March on Washington and elsewhere to combat the effects of the Roe vs Wade abortion decision. Will President Biden and Vice-President Harris back off from the controversial position of the Democratic Party on abortion?
You may enjoy the mini-course on Christian Unity represented by the attached “Ecumenical Vademecum.” Although it is addressed to bishops, it is clearly written for every Catholic and indeed every Christian. Do not let the 50 pages overwhelm you. These are actually the half pages which the Vatican uses for some documents, and the language is less technical than usual.
Pope Francis continues to promote a vital New Evangelization, using elements from Popes John Paul II and Benedict, and including his special emphasis on people on the fringes. He alerts us to the growing number of drop-out Catholics, and those belonging to no religion. As a help for each member of the Oblate Family, please consult perhaps monthly the province website Mission-Unity-Dialogue. You may access it in two ways, either going onto www.omiusa.org and clicking on Mission-Unity-Dialogue, the fifth item on the right “Looking for Something?” or directly using www.harrywinter.org.
Let us profit from this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
The document can also be downloaded at this link: Vademecum-EN.pdf (christianunity.va)
Rev. James P. Brobst, OMI
Vicar Provincial for Mission & Ministry
U.S. Province, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Remembering Dr. King’s Legacy Promotes Christian Unity January 5th, 2017
Martin Luther King and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
by Father Harry Winter, OMI
Although it began in 1908, the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25, took a jump following Vatican II (1962-65), and peaked about 1980. Then it began slowly to lessen in observance. Concern that the disunity among Christian Churches was hurting Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation efforts lessened. The bond between Ecumenism and Evangelization weakened.
Fr. Harry Winter, OMI
Placing the observance of Martin Luther King’s birthday on the third Monday of January, sometimes right in the middle of the Week, and sometimes before it, as this year, seemed at first to be the final straw that made the Week of Christian Unity too difficult to observe. However, after a few years, the two organizations in the USA responsible for the Week (the Protestant/Eastern Orthodox National Council of Churches and the Catholic Graymoor Atonement/US Conference of Catholic Bishops) decided to draw up materials which would incorporate Dr. King’s birthday with the observance of the Week.
It became clear that Martin Luther King stood for civil rights for all, not just African-Americans. Native Americans and Hispanics especially began to see Dr. King as a champion of justice for everyone. Black Catholics, a minority within Catholicism, began to bond with the Black Churches such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church Zion, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and black Baptist Churches.
All Christians began to remember that Catholic priests, religious men, and sisters, white Protestant ministers, and Jewish rabbis, marched proudly with Dr. King. When US Senator Jesse Helms distributed a 300 page document attempting to prove that Dr. King was associated with Communists, it was Catholic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who called the document “a packet of filth,” threw it on the Senate floor, and stomped on it (see Wikipedia, Martin Luther King Birthday Observance).
On Sunday, Jan. 24, 1999, our superior general, Louis Lougen, was serving as the pastor of Holy Angels Church, Buffalo, NY, an Italian-American parish with a growing number of Hispanics. He had continued the membership of the parish in VOICE Buffalo, which membership his predecessor as pastor, Tony Rigoli, has begun. VOICE Buffalo continues to this day as an interfaith organization promoting social Justice in the Buffalo, NY area.
VOICE Buffalo held an Ecumenical Service of Worship at White Rock Missionary Baptist Church, 480 E. Utica Street, Buffalo, from 4-6 pm, and I accompanied Fr. Lougen to provide support for the lay representative from Holy Angels to VOICE, Owen Dussault. “Loud, joyful, jammed with 400 people…What an upbeat celebration after all the poorly attended events of the Week of Prayer,” I noted in my journal. The large African-American population of Buffalo was well represented at the service.
So the decision to promote materials for Martin Luther King’s birthday, as either a preparation for or part of the Week of Prayer seems to be revitalizing concern for Christian Unity. This year’s material also contain specific references to King’s namesake, Martin Luther, and the impetus given to Catholic-Lutheran relations by Pope Francis’ visit to Sweden last Oct. 31-Nov. 1 for the 500th anniversary of the posting of Luther’s theses
For more on the documents from the pope’s Sweden visit, go to Missionary Unity Dialogue’s website, www.harrywinter.org.
Remembering Dr. King and his legacy promotes Christian Unity; Christian Unity is needed to accomplish what he began.
To download materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which takes place from Jan. 18-25, visit USCCB’s website.
