We pray, O gracious Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that we all may be one as you are one. In your community of complete unity, we have our beginning and our end. To you we pray, asking for the gift of visible unity among all who believe in your Christ.
As we commemorate this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we are reminded by your Word that all human beings are our neighbors and that we are to love them like ourselves and in the same way we love you. Help us to overcome the barriers and divisions we have nurtured against your will.
Grant to us, O Lord, a new Spirit of love and solidarity, that we may proclaim your good news to all of creation. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirt are one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Each year, Christians around the world joyfully recall the prayer of Jesus in the
Gospel of John, 17:21, “That they all may be one.” This prayer bears witness to the communion of the Blessed Trinity within the Godhead as extending to the grace of unity and peace among those joined to Christ in baptism. This grace fulfills the mystery of unity in the Holy Spirit among all who bear the name Christian.
The Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, conceived by Servant of God Fr. Paul Wattson, SA, in partnership with the Reverend Spencer Jones of the Church of England, was first observed in the United States January 18-25, 1908 at Graymoor in Garrison, NY by the little Episcopal Franciscan religious community of Sisters and Friars called the Society of the Atonement. Fr. Paul had joined with Mother Lurana White, SA in founding the Society of friars and sisters in 1898. The little group of Franciscans believed strongly that they were called into existence to re-establish unity within the Church. After good and difficult times and experiences, the Holy Spirit led the Society into the Catholic Church in 1909.
The Octave and its reliance on prayer for unity were welcomed wholeheartedly by the Catholic Church and observance grew rapidly. It was at the conclusion of what became known as the Chair of Unity Octave on January 25, 1959, that Pope St. John XIII called for Vatican Council II. At the same time in the 20th century, similar Weeks of Prayer established by Catholics and Orthodox Christians in France as well as Reform Churches in Switzerland worked together on observances from January 18-25, based on the concept of praying for the unity of the Church, “as Christ wills it.” With the birth of the World Council of Churches in 1948, it became a firm part of the Christian Calendar in the West.
The streams came together after Vatican Council II. Since 1968, a joint commission of the WCC and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has settled on an annual scriptural theme produced by ecumenical groups in various countries. The theme for 2022 comes from the Middle East Council of Churches, with most of the input from the Christians of Lebanon. “We saw the star in the East, and we came to worship him.” (Cf. MT 2:2)
Who is Neighbor? What is Neighbor? Must I Neighbor?
By Dawn M. Nothwehr, OSF
Dr. Dawn M. Nothwehr, OSF, is the Erica and Harry John Family Professor of Catholic Theological Ethics at Catholic Theological Union, in Chicago, IL. A leading Catholic environmental ethicist, she is a consultant for the Laudato Si’ Encyclical Working Group of the Office of Human Dignity of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Her research and teaching address a variety of issues in environmental ethics, ethics of power and racial justice, and fundamental moral theology, through the lens of Franciscan theology. Of equal concern is the religion/science dialogue. She was a Project Leader for AAAS-DoSER Grant that enabled the CTU Faculty to integrate the science/religion dialogue in theology and ethics courses. She currently serves as grant proposal evaluator with AAAS-DoSER, a program that offers support for theology schools, enabling them to include the science/ religion dialogue in their curriculum. Her most recent book is Franciscan Writings: Hope amid Ecological Sin and Climate Emergency (London: Bloomsbury, 2023).