An Octave of Prayers for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Jan 18-15 | New prayers posted daily on our website
Three Catholic spirituality centers in the Kansas City Metro Area offer an octave of prayers to mark the annual celebration known as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25.
The three spirituality centers -- Marillac Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, the Sophia Center in Atchison, Kansas and Precious Blood Renewal Center in Liberty, Missouri -- invite everyone in our communities to join us in a week of prayer, right in your own home, for the cause of Christian Unity among the various denominations in our own hometowns.
Every year, from Jan. 18-25, millions of Christians of all denominations offer the prayer that Jesus himself prayed to his Father, “That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17:21).
Jesus made this plea at the Last Supper shortly before his passion. He prayed that all of us would be united in him. Jesus suffers over any divisions among his Father’s children, just as any of us would suffer over our own children if they were estranged from one another.
Unity is a concern for all of us! We must reach across denominational divisions and pray with one another. Pope John XXIII once said, “Whenever I see a wall between Christians, I try to pull out a brick.”
Many local ministerial alliances sponsor ecumenical prayer services during this week; we encourage you to participate in it. We also invite you to pray with us virtually throughout that week for about 10 minutes each day. We will post on our three websites, short prayers for each of the days between January 18-25, which will highlight one of the leaders in the ecumenical movement, as an example for ourselves.
We encourage you to share these prayers with members of your family and circle of acquaintances, including those who belong to another faith tradition.
Pope John XXIII wanted to highlight how much Christians of all denominations had in common with each other. He wanted to encourage Christians from all traditions to listen to one another with respect, to work together for the good of the world, and to celebrate their common faith in Jesus Christ.
Be sure to look in your email and on our social media for a message from our three spirituality centers shortly before January 18. We will send you a reminder about a list of prayers and reflections for each of the eight days that can be found on our websites. You may print them all at once or save them and read one each day on your computer.
If you are the type of person who prefers to receive daily meditations just one day at a time, go to your Spirituality Center’s website for daily prayers each day.
Please join us in this combined prayer across our region for the unity among all Christians for which Jesus prayed at the Last Supper and for which He still longs today.
All of the prayers in this series can be found here: Witnesses to Unity: Prayers for Christian Unity.www.pbrenewalcenter.org/blog/category/week-of-prayer-for-uhristian-unity/
Learn more about these Catholic Spirituality Centers:
The Marillac Center, the retreat and spirituality center of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, in Leavenworth, Kansas. www.scls.org/prayer-spirituality/marillac-center/
The Sophia Center is a ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas. www.mountosb.org/sophia-spirituality-center/
Precious Blood Renewal Center, in Liberty, Missouri, is a ministry of the United States Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, a Catholic religious order. www.pbrenewalcenter.org/who-we-are/