Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Jan 18-25
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2025 Theme
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Daily Reflections and Prayers
The fatherhood and care of God who rules the universe
DAY 2, Jan 19:
Creation as God’s work
DAY 3, Jan 20:
The Incarnation of the Son
DAY 4, Jan 21:
The Paschal Mystery: Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus
DAY 5, Jan 22:
The Holy Spirit, the giver of life and joy
DAY 6, Jan 23:
The Church: Community of Believers
DAY 7, Jan 24:
Baptism into the Death and Resurrection of the Lord
DAY 8, Jan 25:
Waiting for the Kingdom and the life to come
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2025 Prayer
Lord our God, we confess together our
faith in the mystery of your perfect
unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one
and only God.We pray for the grace to
grow in unity together as your Church.By baptism, we profess this unity in
the gift of your Holy Spirit, born again
as your sinless children, yet we quickly
surrender to the temptation of division.
Forgive us this sin and lead us to the
miracle of being reconciled by the love
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sin and division
lead to death and destruction. In Jesus,
who conquered death forever by his
supreme act of love, we are empowered
in this world to build his kingdom of
forgiveness and peace.We pray, heavenly One, to you as our Father, that we truly believe and trust in the promise of
the Gospel, “that they all may be one.”
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our
brother and Lord, in the power of the
Holy Spirit.Amen.
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Biblical Text for the Week of Prayer
It is with this in mind that the guiding biblical text was chosen – John 11:17-27. The theme for the week, “Do you believe this?” (v. 26), takes its cue from the dialogue between Jesus and Martha when Jesus visited the home of Martha and Mary in Bethany following the death of their brother Lazarus, as narrated by the evangelist John.
At the start of the chapter, the Gospel says that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus (v. 5), yet when informed that Lazarus was gravely ill, Jesus declared that his illness would “not lead to death” but that the Son of God would be “glorified through it” (v. 4), and remained where he was for two days longer. When Jesus eventually arrived in Bethany, despite being warned of the risk of being stoned there (v. 8), Lazarus “had already been in the tomb for four days” (v. 17). Martha’s words to Jesus express her disappointment at his late arrival, perhaps containing also a note of reproach: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21). However, this exclamation is followed immediately by a profession of confidence in Jesus’ saving power: “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him” (v. 22). When Jesus assures her that her brother would rise again (v. 23), she responds by affirming her religious belief: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (v. 24). Jesus leads her a step further, declaring his power over life and death and revealing his identity as the Messiah. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (vv. 25-26). Following this astonishing declaration, Jesus challenges Martha with a very direct and deeply personal question: “Do you believe this?” (v. 26.)
Like Martha, the first generations of Christians could not remain indifferent or passive when the words of Jesus touched and searched their hearts. They earnestly sought to give a comprehensible answer to Jesus’ question, “Do you believe this?” The Fathers of Nicaea strove to find words that would embrace the entire mystery of the incarnation and the passion, death and resurrection of their Lord. While awaiting his return, Christians around the world are called to witness together to this faith in the resurrection, which is for them the source of hope and joy, to be shared with all peoples.
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Commentary on the Scriptural Text
By James Loughran, SA
Do you believe? (Jn. 11:26)
The prayers, reflections and theme for the 2025 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were developed by the ecumenical monastic community of Bose in northern Italy. This community of predominately lay women and lay men has several monasteries in Italy by approval of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Italy and invites all Christians to retreats and participation in the Benedictine tradition of prayer and work. The theme and texts were the result of meetings at Bose with representatives of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Holy See’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity in the autumn of 2023.
In 2025, the whole Church commemorates the 1,700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council of the entire church at that time, called by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea (presently in the country of Turkey) in the early summer of 325. Aside from important disciplinary agreements, such as a common date for Easter, the Council discussed and debated orthodoxy of doctrine, especially about what Christians believe about the nature of God as Trinity and the two natures, human and divine, of Jesus Christ. The result was an agreed upon Creed, what we today call the Nicene Creed.
The church had just a little over a decade before been able to emerge from three centuries of oAicial persecution and martyrdom. Roman authorities, starting in the East, allowed religious freedom beginning in 313. It is important to note that the Armenian church, outside of the Roman Empire, was recognized in 301. That Church participated in Nicaea and agreed with the outcomes. Within the Empire, particularly between the great apostolic patriarchies of Alexandria and Antioch, disparities in Christology were leading to excommunications and divisions, especially in the rivalry between St. Athanasius and Arius. The common doctrine achieved was a significant milestone in Christian unity.
It is only appropriate then, in remembering this event of common confession, that Christians today may celebrate that which unites them. Spiritual ecumenism, according to Vatican II, is the “soul” of the ecumenical movement. It is our common faith in the Risen Christ that brings us together for prayer. In turn, the prayer itself is eAective in nourishing and confirming our unity.
In the year of 2025, all Christians East and West will have a common date for Easter, something Nicaea tried most seriously to settle. In 2025, Easter will be celebrated on April 20.
The approved text of the Creed used the first-person plural, “We believe…” This form emphasized the expression of a common belonging. The Creed was divided into three parts dedicated to the three persons of the Trinity, followed by a conclusion condemning aAirmations that were considered heretical. The text of the Creed was revised and expanded at the Council of Constantinople in 381, where the condemnations were removed. This is the form of the profession of faith that Christian churches today recognize as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, often referred to simply as the Nicene Creed.
The Creed is the Christian “symbol” of agreed doctrine and its commemoration is a time of reflection on why we Christians remain divided. The community of Bose recommended going farther than a compendium of beliefs. When Christians confess this common faith, what is the gift of this faith? What is its end or telos?
The biblical theme chosen comes from the Gospel of John. In the 11th chapter, we are presented with the story of the raising of Lazarus, the last of the so-called signs of glory of Jesus before he enters Jerusalem. Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. They were dear friends who showed Jesus complete hospitality. He, in turn, confided his joy in visiting with them to take a rest from the mission of announcing the Kingdom.
As we read the story, Jesus appears concerned about the sickness of Lazarus, but resists visiting him right away. Jesus knows he can heal Lazarus, but what about something even more significant to challenge the norms of human wisdom? How could Jesus more dramatically demonstrate the power of the Son of Man in initiating a new age and relationship between humanity and God?
When Jesus appears, he sees everyone mourning and weeping. After all, death was the end, according to human wisdom. Martha runs up to Jesus and expresses at once both her faith and her disappointment, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She cannot imagine another way out of the situation. Jesus tells her, “Your brother will rise.” Still not quite understanding, Martha retorts that she knows he will rise at the general resurrection of the dead, at the end of time. Jesus announces the truth of the new Covenant to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even if they die, will live. Those that believe in me will never die.” He invites a response from Martha when he says, “Do you believe this?”
Martha then makes the confession of faith, “I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the one coming into the world.” What is the result of this aAirmation of belief? Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, contradicting the ultimate fear of every human being that death conquers us. Instead, faith in Jesus conquers death.
This theme, by oAering a way to see that faith is not just a static set of beliefs, but an active means of receiving grace, is most appropriate for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2025. If faith can raise the dead and conquer all fear, surely faith will bring us the miracle of unity as Christians. Remembering that division, separation and rejection are symptoms of sin, the healing of the Church comes about in the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray knowing to whom it is we pray, as one community. God wills us to reconcile. God wills us to love one another. God will give those who profess the faith of Martha, of Nicaea and of all the holy ones who have gone before us, the precious gift of unity.
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Introduction
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)
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Additional Information
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Photo Albums: Photo Credits- Joe Evans, Parish Photographer
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