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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
An ecumenical Service
18th - 25th January 2006
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
United Service
Monday 23rd January 8pm
Ss Alban and Stephen Church,
Beaconsfield Road
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A Wayfarer’s Prayer
God of mystery,
God within all things and beyond all things,
To you we bow down in awe and adoration.
Give us sight to see your inward imprint in all whom we meet and in all that we look upon,
Ears to sense your music in all that we hear. May our lives be a joyous pilgrimage to you and with you through this world of your making.
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Finding you in all, may we never cease to seek you above all, glimpsing you at every turn of the way.
May we never falter
or stray from the long road that leads through light and darkness to the
final meeting point where we are to see you, no longer through created veils, but face to face.
As each day we set our feet upon the way, staff in hand, we know that the
very earth we tread is holy ground, and we kiss the imprint of your presence
there.
Loving God, known and unknown, present and yet to come, draw us in mind, heart, and body wholly to yourself.
(Francis Clark)
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The Theme The theme for the service (and for the week of Prayer for Christian Unity) was taken from the Good News according to Matthew ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them’.
God calls his people together and shows how love and forgiveness go
hand in hand . The experience of Christ on the cross calls to the people
of Christ to reach out and forgive. In villages, towns and cities, the people
of God are called to find a way forward which recognizes and acknowledges
the hurt and pain of people, and in that understanding to find forgiveness,
wholeness and the new way of Christ.
Gathering The
service commenced with members of the enabling group of CTSA come forward
and light the candles that will act as symbols of Christ and of all
those who are affiliated to Churches Together in St Albans.
CTSA members brought symbols and gifts to the table:
- The Scriptures (The Word of life)
- Some Twigs ( representing the True Vine)
- A pitcher of oil (source of all forgiveness)
- Some reminders of our actions to reduce
poverty ( Jesus, friend of the poor)
- A peace banner is placed by the cross (Prince of Peace)
And all prayed the following gathering prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, You call us together in faith and love.
Breathe again the new life of your Holy Spirit among us,
That we may hear your Holy Word. Pray in your name,
Seek unity among Christians And share more fully in your way of life. All
glory and honour be yours, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, For ever
and ever. Amen
Hymn Julia
White led the united congregation in singing "Be thou my vision, O Lord of
my heart" (Irish 8th century traditional, by Mary Byrne).
Be thou my vision, O lord of my heart,
Naught be all else to me save that thou art;
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A Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is traditionally celebrated every year from January 18th to 25th.
Those dates were proposed in 1908 by Paul Wattson to cover the days between
the feast of St Peter and the feast of St Paul, and therefore have a symbolic
meaning
The
theme for this year's initiative (2006), taken from the Gospel of Matthew,
is: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Each day of the Week had a different theme
Wednesday 18 January
United through the presence of Christ. "One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism"
(Ephesians 4: 5, 6)
Thursday 19 January
Building Christian unity with Jesus in our midst - daily ecumenism. "You also ought to wash one another's feet"
(John 13: 14).
Friday 20 January
Praying together in Jesus' name. "The Lord waits to be gracious to you"
(Isaiah 30: 18).
Saturday 21 January
From the past to the future - forgiveness and healing of memories. "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven"
(Matthew 18: 22)
Sunday 22 January
God's presence among us: a call to peace. "The Lord is with us"
(Psalm 46)
Monday 23 January
Mission in Jesus' name. "So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost"
(Matthew 18: 14)
Tuesday 24 January
Recognizing and welcoming God's presence in the other in Jesus' name. "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me"
(Matthew 18: 5)
Wednesday 25 January
One in hope. "On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you"
(John 14:20).
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Thou my best thought in the day and night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Proclamation of the Word - We listened to the following scripture readings
Exodus 14 : 34–38 (reflecting on the presence of God in the wilderness wanderings of his people)
Psalm 76 (77) (we said this antiphonally)
Revelation 22: 1–5 (reflecting on the supreme glory of the presence of God in the midst of his people when his kingdom has come)
Matthew 18:15–22 (reflections
on the tensions which exist in reality and acknowledging the presence of
God in the midst of his people, no matter how small the gathering).
Reflection - we listened to a reflection by the Right Rev. Bishop
James O'Brien (retired), which was followed by a professino of our common
faith:
We believe in one God
The Father, the Creator.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ
His only Son, our Saviour.
We believe in the Holy Spirit
The Lord, the giver of life.
We believe in His Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body
And the life everlasting. Amen
Finally, before sharing refreshements, we reflected on the following prayer:
Shortly before his accidental death in Bangkok, the Trappist monk Thomas Merton
spoke of the prayer of love which unites all people. This comes from his
last presentation:
 A NEW LANGUAGE OF PRAYER
We are going to have to create a new language of prayer. And this new language
of prayer has to come out of something which transcends all our traditions,
and comes out of the immediacy of love…..The things that are on the surface
are nothing, what is deep is Real. We are creatures of love. Let us therefore
join hands. I ask you to concentrate on the love that is in you, that is
in us all. I have no idea what I am going to say. I am going to be silent
for a minute, and then I will say something…..
Oh God, we are one with You. You have made us one with You. You have taught
us that if we are open to one another, You dwell in us. Help us to preserve
this openness and to fight for it with our hearts. Help us to realize that
there can be no understanding where there is mutual rejection. Oh God, in
accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely, we accept You, and
we thank You, and we adore You, and we love You with our whole being, because
our being is in Your being, our spirit is rooted in Your spirit. Fill us
then with love, and let us be bound together with love as we go our diverse
ways, united in this one spirit which makes You present in the world, and
which makes You witness to the ultimate reality that is love. Love has overcome.
Love is victorious.
Amen
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© Ss Alban & Stephen
Catholic Church 2006
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