• Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Synod
  • Columnists
  • Revista Catolica
  • Vatican
  • Subscribe
The Texas Catholic
The Texas Catholic

Dallas, Texas

Today is Monday, March 20, 2023
  • Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Synod
  • Columnists
  • Revista Catolica
  • Vatican
  • Subscribe
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Instagram
Home
Pope Francis

Week of prayer focuses on reconciliation among Christians

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

By Junno Arocho Esteves
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity should help Christians see that the closer they draw to Christ, the closer they will be to one another, said materials for the week published by the Vatican.

“Divisions among Christians — moving away from one another — are a scandal because it is also moving further away from God,” the material said. “Christ’s prayer for unity is an invitation to turn back to him and so come closer to one another, rejoicing in the richness of our diversity.”

The resource material for the Jan. 18-25 octave of prayer, published on the website of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, was prepared by the Monastic Community of Grandchamp, an ecumenical religious community of women based in Switzerland.

“The theme that was chosen, ‘Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit,’ is based on John 15:1-17 and expresses the Grandchamp Community’s vocation to prayer, reconciliation and unity in the church and the human family,” the pontifical council said.

The community’s reflections were adopted by the World Council of Church’s Faith and Order Commission and the pontifical council and are proposed to Christians worldwide for the week of prayer.

According to its website, the Monastic Community of Grandchamp is comprised of 50 religious sisters who dedicate themselves “to the work of reconciliation between Christians, within the human family and with respect to all creation.”

The Faith and Order Commission and the pontifical council alternate identifying communities to choose the Week of Prayer theme, draft a worship service, come up with sub-themes and Bible readings for each day of the octave and describe the ecumenical situation in their local community.

Representatives of the pontifical council and the commission met in Switzerland in September 2019 to work on drafting the reflections prepared by the Grandchamp community.

With input from international representatives and then approval from the World Council of Churches and the Vatican, the material was sent around the world.

Jesus’ call to “abide” in his love is an “inner attitude that takes root in us over time,” the community wrote. “It demands space to grow. It can be overtaken by the struggle for the necessities of life and it is threatened by the distractions, noise, activity and the challenges of life.”

Each day of the octave will reflect on a different aspect of Jesus’ words in John 15 and will be modeled after the monastic community’s life of prayer.

“In this tradition, three of the monastic prayer services — sometimes called ‘vigils’ or ‘nocturns’ in the Benedictine tradition — traditionally said during the night are combined into one evening service. In the same way, our service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is shaped by three sections, called ‘vigils,’ which follow a pattern used by the community of Grandchamp,” the resource material states.

The reflections drafted by the community, it said, “allowed the sisters to share the experience and wisdom of their contemplative life abiding in the love of God, and to speak about the fruit of this prayer: closer communion with one’s brothers and sisters in Christ and greater solidarity with the whole of creation.”

  • Tags
  • Faith
  • Pope Francis
  • prayer
  • Vatican
Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest
Next article College student creates gingerbread cathedral, raises money for homeless
Previous article Father Gollob: Christmas tales and the joy of the season

Related Posts

To be an apostle is to serve, not move up church's hierarchy, pope says Pope Francis
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

To be an apostle is to serve, not move up church's hierarchy, pope says

Liturgical elements must foster prayer, sense of communion, pope says Pope Francis
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Liturgical elements must foster prayer, sense of communion, pope says

Pope from 'ends of the earth' brings new style to Rome Pope Francis
Friday, March 10, 2023

Pope from 'ends of the earth' brings new style to Rome

Texas Catholic Classics

A look at the five Dallas law enforcement officers who gave their lives while protecting citizens during a mass shooting in downtown Dallas in July 2016.

 

How a child with special needs inspired a high school volleyball team, community and a family who heeded God’s call to protect life.

 

After a young runner collapsed at a Dallas marathon, grace and providence unfolded for those involved in the valiant effort to help her.

   

In the summer of 2016, 50 students and 25 chaperones from Dallas Catholic high schools traveled to Nicaragua for a 10-day mission trip.

 

Early on a November morning, Kenndrick Mendieta bounded from the gym at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep toward the campus’ athletic fields as clouds lifted on a fresh new day.

 

Subscribe

Get the award-winning Texas Catholic delivered to your door. Use the menu below to subscribe now.


Subscription length




 

Photo Gallery

Click here to find your favorite Texas Catholic photographs.

The Texas Catholic Newspaper

Catholic Diocese of Dallas
Michael Gresham, Editor

3725 Blackburn Street
Dallas, Texas 75219
(214) 379-2800

Our Affiliated Sites

Texas Catholic Youth

Revista Católica

Legal and Other

Contact us

Terms of service

Privacy policy

Site map

Site powered by TexasCatholicMedia

© 2013-2019 The Texas Catholic Publishing Company. All rights reserved.