Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Commitment to the unity of Christians is not just a task for the few, or an appendage to the life of the Church. Each is called to offer his or her contribution to help take those steps towards the full communion of all Christ's disciples, never forgetting that it is, above all, a gift constantly to be implored from God.” Pope Benedict XVI

 
Dear Friend of Jesus King of All Nations,
 
May the peace and love of Jesus be yours and may you have a happy and holy New Year!
 
On the day after his election as pope, Pope Benedict XVI said that his “primary commitment would be working tirelessly toward the full and visible unity of all Christ’s followers.” He appealed for prayer “so as to be aware that the holy cause of the re-establishment of Christian unity exceeds our poor human efforts and that unity, finally, is a gift of God. God and our love are the condition for the unity of Christians.” He concluded, “They are the condition for peace in the world.”
 
Later, Pope Francis said, “I am one of many who called Benedict XVI the Pope of Christian Unity. He placed the full communion of the Church at the forefront of his Papacy. This was clear in his overtures toward our Orthodox brethren, whom we recognize as a Church and whose priesthood and Sacraments we recognize. It was evident in his outreach to the separated Christians of the Reformation communities of the West.”
 
He continued, “The Gospel proclaims that in and through Jesus Christ, authentic unity with God - and through Him, in the Spirit, with one another - is the plan of God for the entire human race. The Church is the way to that unity. For the Church to continue the redemptive mission of Jesus effectively, she must be one. It was not the Lord’s plan that she be divided. It is His plan that she be restored to full communion.”

So what does Jesus require of us? He requires, as Pope Benedict XVI said, prayer and love for the condition of unity and the condition of peace. He requires Christian unity as a sign to the world that He is truly the Son of God! To help us to realize this unity He wants us to pray for it. Pope Francis prays for it and Jesus King of All Nations revealed His Chaplet of Unity and asked us to pray for it.
 
Jesus prayed that the Church would be united as a sign that His Father sent Him to the world. He prayed, “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so 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 17:20-21).  Christian unity will be a sign for the entire world to believe!
 

Theme for the 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

 
The theme for the 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is “Abide in My Love…You Shall Bear Much Fruit.” (John 15:5-9).

“Jesus gave His life for all out of His love for all,” said Fr. James Loughran, SA, Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII). “To abide in His love reminds us that we live in a community celebrating our gift of unity.”

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, churches of all faiths are called together to form a vibrant and prayerful witness for Christian Unity by heeding Jesus’s prayer “that they all may be one.