Rector's Musings Jan 25, 2019
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
I'm writing to you on the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU). In 1908, Episcopalians Father Paul Wattson and Mother Lurana White set aside the period of eight days (between the Feast of the Confession of Peter, January 18 and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, January 25) for the purpose of praying for the unity which was prayed for by Christ Himself. For 111 years, the Franciscan Sisters and Friars of the Atonement have been tirelessly promoting this ecumenical Week of Prayer as a visible sign of the Christian Church seeking healing for its many fractions.
I remember being invited by Sr. Elizabeth Kelliher to my first WPCU event in 2003 at St. Paul's Catholic Church, next-door neighbour of St. James' where I was a curate. Sr. Elizabeth later became my mentor in organizing community for justice and peace. Under her unrelenting advocacy and leadership, she and I and a group of community leaders representing a diverse base laid the groundwork for the broad-base organization Metro Vancouver Alliance (MVA). Sr. Elizabeth died a year before the formal launch of MVA in 2014 and I had the privilege to tell the founding story in her honour before an assembly of 800+ delegates. Today MVA has 50 due-paying affiliated organizations representing faith, labour, education, and community sectors.
Why am I telling you this? Sr. Elizabeth taught me the Prayer for Christian Unity cannot be privatized (i.e. ends with our private prayers) and domesticated (i.e. ends within the walls of churches). Our prayers for unity need to take on flesh so that our prayers are grounded in openness, dialogues, and actions to build common good and justice.
What is your prayer for Christian Unity this year? How are you praying it with your actions?
Clarence
Rector's/Deacon's Musings is a weekly column of the Clergy of St. Hilda's
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