Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 8th Day

Today is the eighth and last day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). In Taylorsville, our sister parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange.  On January 23rd, Pastor Bill Dunning from First Christian of Taylorsville preached at All Saints Catholic Church. Deacon Gerry Mattingly from All Saints preached at Taylorsville United Methodist, and Pastor Marco Ballesteros from Taylorsville United Methodist Church preached at First Christian of Taylorsville.

Even though the 2011 Week of Prayer for Chistian Unity ends to day, I encourage everyone to continue to pray for Christian Unity throughout the year.

Deacon Gerry

Day 8 - Called for the Service of Reconciliation

Reading:
Genesis 33:1-4 Esau ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him...and they wept
Psalm: 96:1-13 Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is King!’
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 God...reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the
ministry of reconciliation
Matthew 5:21-26 Leave your gift before the altar, and go: first be reconciled to your
brother or sister...

Commentary:
Our prayers of this week have taken us on a journey together. Guided by the scriptures, we have
been called to return to our Christian origins - that apostolic Church at Jerusalem. Here we have
seen devotion - to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the
prayers. At the end of our reflections on the ideal of Christian community presented to us in Acts
2:42, we return to our own contexts - the realities of divisions, discontents, disappointments and
injustices. At this point the Church of Jerusalem poses us the question: to what, then, as we
conclude this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are we called, here and now?

Christians in Jerusalem today suggest an answer to us: we are called, above all, to the service of
reconciliation. Such a call concerns reconciliation on many levels, and across a complexity of
divisions. We pray for Christian unity so that the Church might be a sign and instrument for the
healing of political and structural divisions and injustices; for the just and peaceful living together
of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim peoples; for the growing in understanding between people of
all faiths and none. In our personal and family lives, too, the call to reconciliation must find a
response.

Jacob and Esau, in the Genesis text, are brothers, yet estranged. Their reconciliation comes even
when enduring conflict might have been expected. Violence and the habits of anger are put aside
as the brothers meet and weep together.

The recognition of our unity as Christians - and indeed as human beings - before God leads us
into the Psalm’s great song of praise for the Lord who rules the world with loving justice. In
Christ, God seeks to reconcile to Himself all peoples. In describing this, St. Paul, in our second
reading, celebrates a life of reconciliation as “ a new creation”. The call to reconcile is the call to
allow God’s power in us to make all things new.

Once again, we know that this ‘good news’ calls us to change the way we live. As Jesus
challenges us, in the account given by St. Matthew, we cannot go on making offerings at the altar,
in the knowledge that we are responsible for divisions or injustices. The call to prayer for
Christian unity is a call to reconciliation. The call to reconciliation is a call to actions - even
actions which interrupt our church activities.

Prayer:
God of Peace, we thank you that you sent your Son Jesus, so that we might be reconciled to
yourself in Him. Give us the grace to be effective servants of reconciliation within our churches.
In this way help us to serve the reconciliation of all peoples, particularly in your Holy Land - the
place where you demolish the wall of separation between peoples, and unite everyone in the Body
of Jesus, sacrificed on Mount Calvary. Fill us with love for one another; may our unity serve the
reconciliation that you desire for all creation. We pray in the power of the Spirit. Amen.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 7th Day

Today is the seventh day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). In Taylorsville, our sister parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange.  On January 23rd, Pastor Bill Dunning from First Christian of Taylorsville preached at All Saints Catholic Church. Deacon Gerry Mattingly from All Saints preached at Taylorsville United Methodist, and Pastor Marco Ballesteros from Taylorsville United Methodist Church preached at First Christian of Taylorsville.
The World Council of Churches publishes materials for Biblical reflections and prayers for the 8 days of the Week of Prayer. Even though, we have no covenant or formal celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Saint Francis Xavier, I encourage everyone to participate with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world with the daily reflections and prayers posted here.

Deacon Gerry

Day 7 - Living in Resurrection Faith

Reading:
Isaiah 60: 1-3 . 18-22 You shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates, Praise
Psalm: 118:1. 5-17 I shall not die, but I shall live
Roman 6: 3-11 …we have been buried with Christ by baptism into death...so we too
might walk in newness of life
Matthew 28:1-10 Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid...

Commentary:
The first Christians’ devotion to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of the bread and the
prayers was made possible, above all, by the living power of the Risen Jesus. This power is living
still, and today’s Jerusalem Christians witness to this. Whatever the difficulties of the present
situation in which they find themselves - however much it feels like Gethsemane and Golgotha -
they know in faith that all is made new by the truth of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
The light and hope of the Resurrection changes everything. As Isaiah prophesies, it is the
transformation of darkness into light; it is an enlightening for all peoples. The power of the
Resurrection shines out from Jerusalem, the place of the Lord’s Passion, and draws all nations to
its brightness. This is a new life, in which violence is put aside, and security found in salvation
and praise.

In the Psalm we are given words to celebrate the central Christian experience of passing from
death to life. This is the abiding sign of God’s steadfast love. This passing from the terrors of
death into new life is the defining reality of all Christians. For, as St. Paul teaches, we have, in
baptism, entered into the tomb with Christ, and been raised with Him. We have died with Christ,
and live to share his risen life. And so we can see the world differently - with compassion,
patience, love and hope; for, in Christ the present struggles can never be the whole story. Even as
divided Christians, we know that the baptism that unites us is a bearing of the Cross in the light of
the Resurrection.

For the Christian Gospel this resurrection life is not some mere concept or helpful idea; it is
rooted in a vivid event in time and space. It is this event we hear recounted in the Gospel reading
with great humanity and drama. From Jerusalem the Risen Lord sends greetings to His disciples
across the ages, calling us to follow Him without fear. He goes ahead of us.

Prayer:
God, Protector of the widow, the orphan and the stranger - in a world where many know despair,
you raised your Son Jesus to give hope for humanity and renewal to the earth. Continue to
strengthen and unify your Church in its struggles against the forces of death in the world, where
violence against creation and humanity obscures the hope of the new life you offer. This we pray
in the name of the Risen Lord, in the power of His Spirit. Amen.

Homily for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity • January 23, 2011

Homily to be preached at Taylorsville, KY United Methodist Church on the occasion of the Covenant Churches Pulpit Exchange on Sunday, January 23, 2011. Part of the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Pastor Bill Dunning from First Christian of Taylorsville will preach at All Saints Catholic Church. Deacon Gerry Mattingly from All Saints will preach at Taylorsville United Methodist, and Pastor Marco Ballesteros from Taylorsville United Methodist Church will preach at First Christian of Taylorsville.

There will be a pot luck dinner at Taylorsville Methodist Church on Main Street after the services.

Deacon Gerry

Introduction

Our 2011 Theme for this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is:

One in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer.

The theme's based on Acts of the Apostles 2: 42-47

This passage from Acts reads:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad, generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. Day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved”

Message:

What is church? Is it JUST the building like this one where we meet to give glory an praise to God? That's a modern understanding of what church means. However, when we look at scripture, we see that church isn't so much a place, but a people...

In the New Testament, church describes groups of believers gathered to do what Jesus intends for them to do…generally in homes rather than in buildings called churches.

In Matthew 28 Jesus' intentions are clear “Go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” Jesus' words still speak to us today.

Going beyond ourselves... inviting others into relationship focusing on Jesus teachings about loving God and loving neighbor. Jesus knows the challenging work he's laid out for us... Reminding us that he's always with us to the end...Welcoming others in, sharing the message, helping people come to know Jesus. This Great Commission that Jesus gave us IS IMPORTANT.

But we hear another really important thing in today’s passage from Acts.

We've heard WHAT Jesus wanted done...Now we hear the HOW ...how those early Christians were being...how they were living their life together... how they were caring for and nurturing one another... How they formed a community to do Jesus' ministry. The how's an important message for Jesus' church today.

There's a story about an old monastery that had fallen upon hard times. At one time the monastery had been a thriving community of faith where many dedicated monks who lived and worked together. The monastery had a great influence on the whole land. But now only five monks lived there... all over 70 years old. Clearly a dying order.

A few miles from the monastery lived an old hermit many thought the hermit was a prophet of God. One day as the monks agonizing over what their monastery had become, they decided to visit the hermit...Maybe he would be able to see the future and show them what they could do to save the monastery.

The hermit welcomed the 5 monks to his little hut, but when they explained the purpose of their visit, the hermit could only sympathize with them.

"No, I'm sorry," said the hermit. I don't' know how your monastery can be saved...BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS...One of you is a mighty, SPECIAL apostle of God.

For months after their visit, the monks each reflected on what the hermit had said...One of us is an apostle of God? AT THIS MONASTERY? That's IMPOSSIBLE. We're all too old...too insignificant. On the other hand...what if it is true? If it's true, then which one of us is it?

Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Yes, if he meant anyone...he probably meant the abbot...After all, he's been our leader for more 20 years. On the other hand... he might have meant Brother Thomas. Certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man...a man of wisdom and light.

Surely, he COULDN'T HAVE MEANT Brother Elred. Elred gets cranky at times...he's difficult to reason with. On the other hand... he's almost ALWAYS right. Maybe the hermit meant Brother Elred.

But surely, he could NOT have meant Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive, so shy...a REAL nobody. Still, he's always there when you need him. He's loyal and trustworthy...Yes, he could have meant Phillip.

Of course, the hermit didn't mean me...I'm just an ordinary person... Yet, suppose he did? Suppose I am that apostle of God?... Oh, God, not me. I couldn't be that much for Jesus... Or, could I?"

As they thought and prayed over what the hermit had told them...the old monks began to intentionally treat each otherwith greater RESPECT than EVER before just on the off chance that one of them might actually be that special apostle of God...And on the off chance that each monk HIMSELF might be that apostle each monk began to intentionally treat HIMSELF with great respect. Honoring his own giftedness, as he honored that of his fellow monks.

Since the monastery was situated in a beautiful forest...many people came there from time to time They picniced on its spacious lawn and walked its many paths, and they would go into monastery's beautiful chapel to pray.

As they did so, without even being conscious of it, they sensed the aura of the extraordinary respect, honor and love for God and each other that now began to surround the five old monks and seemed to radiate out of them... permeating the atmosphere of the whole place.

There was something strangely attractive, even compelling about it... Hardly knowing why, people began to come back the monastery more frequently for picnics, meditation and prayer...that radiated God's love & their friends brought THEIR friends. As more and more visitors came, some of the younger men started to talk with the old monks. After a while one asked if he could become a part of their small community. THen another and another. Within a few years the monastery once again a vibrant center of faith all because of the how..the hermit taught them.

The gift of the hermit to the monks is the message of our passage from Acts today not only was it important what the monks were doing but how they were being, how they were living their life together, how they were caring for and nurturing one another. How they formed a community to do Jesus' ministry

Think about what a difference the question of how makes...Married couples can be married, can show up at the same house night after night, go to family activities together, raise children together, even remain faithful to each other…But think of how different those tasks of marriage are when motivated by respect, tenderness, care and love.

Parents can feed children, change diapers, provide rules and structure, & help with homework, But think of how different the parent/child relationship is when parents understand that their role is not just to perform the tasks of parenting, But that love, encouragement, communication and being present – not just physically, but emotionally, these things... the "HOW" MATTERS.

In our churches we can offer all the right ministries. have programs for all ages, offer help to meet the needs of those who are struggling, offer classes to ensure that people are well educated in the Bible and thoughtful in their decisions. But just because we DO important ministries...doesn’t mean we do them faithfully. The HOW matters.

It makes a difference when we act with kindness toward both those we serve and those we serve with. It makes a difference when the people see evidencethat the Christian community of Taylorsville not only keeping busy at church...

but truly living as a family, caring for one another. It makes a difference when the motivation for our ministries is our passion for Jesus rather than our desire to get what we want...receive recognition, work only with our good friends , or even just keep the church afloat.

Did you notice in our passage WHAT Luke doesn’t tell us. He doesn’t say they went to worship where their friends went. He doesn’t say they went only with people who thought and understood and interpreted THINGS like they did.

Rather he says that they came together...treating one another as children of God because their love for Jesus was enough to hold them together as family Living, learning, growing and praying together...with a deliberateness toward humility and generosity,

Sharing what they had with the others...Making sure that no one among them was in need...Coming to know one another through the acts of sharing at table and in worship. Supporting one another with confidence in their common giftedness & ministry. Recognizing that the one at the other end of the table is as important as they are & deserving respect.

What we seem to hear from Acts is that the more intentional we are about HOW we live our life together…the more intentional we are about building up the whole Christian community…then the more effective we will be in our ministries.

When we care for one another…when we live peaceably among each other…when we know each other deeply…then others will know that we are for real.

That we believe what we've heard, that we teach what we believe, and live what we teach...As we continue to ask where God's calling...let us build up our sense of Christian community between usthat we might serve faithfully together as Jesus intended.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 6th Day

Today is the sixth day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). In Taylorsville, our sister parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange. I will be preaching at Taylorsville United Methodist Church at their 11 AM service on Sunday, January 23.

The World Council of Churches publishes materials for Biblical reflections and prayers for the 8 days of the Week of Prayer. Even though, we have no covenant or formal celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Saint Francis Xavier, I encourage everyone to participate with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world with the daily reflections and prayers posted here.

Deacon Gerry



Day 6 - Empowered to Action in Prayer

Reading:
Jonah 2:1-9 Deliverance belongs to the Lord!
Psalm 67:1-7 Let the peoples praise you, O God!
1Timothy 2:1-8 ...prayers should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions...
Matthew 6:5-15 Your kingdom come, your will be done...

Commentary:
Following devotion to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship and the breaking of the bread, the
fourth mark of the earliest Church of Jerusalem is the life of prayer. It is experienced today as the
necessary source of the power and strength needed by Christians in Jerusalem - as everywhere.
The witness of Christians in Jerusalem today calls us to a deeper recognition of the ways we face
situations of injustice and inequality in our own contexts. In all this, it is prayer that empowers
Christians for mission together.

For Jonah the intensity of his prayer is met with dramatic deliverance from the belly of the fish.
His prayer is heartfelt, as it arises from his own sense of repentance at having tried to avoid God’s
will: he has abandoned the Lord’s call to prophesy, and ended up in a hopeless place. And here
God meets his prayer with deliverance for his mission.

The Psalm calls us to pray that God’s face will shine upon us - not only for our own benefit, but
for the spread of His rule ‘among all the nations’.

The apostolic Church reminds us that prayer is a part of the strength and power of mission and
prophecy for the world. Paul’s letter to Timothy here instructs us to pray especially for those with
power in the world so that we may live together in peace and dignity. We pray for the unity of our
societies, and lands, and for the unity of all humanity in God. Our prayer for our unity in Christ
reaches out to the whole world.

This dynamic life of prayer is rooted in the Lord’s teaching to his disciples. In our reading from
Matthew’s Gospel we hear of prayer as a ‘secret’ power, born not from display or performance,
but from humble coming before the Lord. Jesus’ teaching is summed up in the Lord’s Prayer.
Praying this together forms us as a united people who seek the Father’s will, and the building up
of His Kingdom here on earth, and calls us to a life of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Prayer:
Lord God our Father, we rejoice that in all times, places and cultures, there are people who reach
out to you in prayer. Above all we thank you for the example and teaching of your Son, Jesus
Christ, who has taught us to long in prayer for the coming of your Kingdom. Teach us to pray
better as Christians together, so that we may always be aware of your guidance and
encouragement through all our joys and distress, through the power your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 5th Day

Today is the fifth day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). In Taylorsville, our sister parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange. I will be preaching at Taylorsville United Methodist Church at their 11 AM service on Sunday, January 23.

The World Council of Churches publishes materials for Biblical reflections and prayers for the 8 days of the Week of Prayer. Even though, we have no covenant or formal celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Saint Francis Xavier, I encourage everyone to participate with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world with the daily reflections and prayers posted here.

Deacon Gerry

Day 5 - Breaking the Bread in Hope

Reading:
Exodus 16: 13b-21a It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat
Psalm:116: 12-14.16-18 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
1 Corinthians 11:17-18.23-26 Do this in remembrance of me
John 6:53-58 This is the bread that came down from heaven...

Commentary:
From the first Church at Jerusalem until now, the ‘breaking of bread’ has been a central act for
Christians. For the Christians of Jerusalem today, the sharing of bread traditionally speaks of
friendship, forgiveness and commitment to the other. We are challenged in this breaking of bread
to seek a unity that can speak prophetically to a world of divisions. This is the world by which we
have all, in different ways, been shaped. In the breaking of bread Christians are formed anew for
the prophetic message of hope for all humankind.

Today we, too, break bread ‘with glad and generous hearts’; but we also experience, at each
celebration of the Eucharist, a painful reminder of our disunity. On this fifth day of the Week of
Prayer, the Christians of Jerusalem gather in the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper. Here,
whilst they do not celebrate the Eucharist, they break bread in hope.

We learn this hope in the ways God reaches out to us in the wilderness of our own discontent.
Exodus relates how God responds to the grumbling of the people he has liberated, by providing
them with what they need - no more, and no less. The manna in the desert is a gift of God, not to
be hoarded, nor even fully understood. It is, as our Psalm celebrates, a moment which calls
simply for thanksgiving - for God ‘has loosened our bonds’.

What St. Paul recognises is that to break the bread means not only to celebrate the Eucharist, but
to be a Eucharistic people - to become Christ’s Body in the world. This short reading stands, in its
context (1 Cor 10 - 11) as a reminder of how the Christian community is to live: in communion in
Christ, determining right behaviour in a difficult worldly context, guided by the reality of our life
in Him. We live “in remembrance of him.”

As a people of the breaking of bread, we are a people of eternal life - life in its fullness - as the
reading from St. John teaches us. Our celebration of Eucharist challenges us to reflect on how
such an abundant gift of life is expressed day to day as we live in hope as well as in difficulties.
In spite of the daily challenges for the Christians in Jerusalem, they witness to how it is possible
to rejoice in hope.

Prayer:
God of Hope, we praise you for your gift to us of the Lord’s Supper, where, in the Spirit, we
continue to meet your Son Jesus Christ, the living bread from heaven. Forgive our unworthiness
of this great gift - our living in factions, our collusion with inequalities, our complacency in
separation. Lord, we pray that you will hasten the day when your whole church together shares
the breaking of the bread, and that, as we wait for that day, we may learn more deeply to be a
people formed by the Eucharist for service to the world. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Covenant Pulpit Exchange on Sunday, January 23

The Covenant Churches will celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with our annual "Pulpit Exchange" on Sunday.


Pastor Bill Dunning from First Christian of Taylorsville will preach at All Saints Catholic Church. Deacon Gerry Mattingly from All Saints will preach at Taylorsville United Methodist, and Pastor Marco Ballesteros from Taylorsville United Methodist Church will preach at First Christian of Taylorsville.


There will be a pot luck dinner at Taylorsville Methodist Church on Main Street after the services.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 4th Day

Today is the fourth day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).


In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.


The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity  is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). In Taylorsville, our sister parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange. I will be preaching at Taylorsville United Methodist Church at their 11 AM service on Sunday, January 23.


The World Council of Churches publishes materials for Biblical reflections and prayers for the 8 days of the Week of Prayer. Even though, we have no covenant or formal celebration  of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Saint Francis Xavier, I encourage everyone to participate with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world with the daily reflections and prayers posted here.


Deacon Gerry

Day 4 - Sharing, an Expression of Our Unit

Reading:

Isaiah 58:6-10 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

Psalm 37:1-11 Trust in the Lord and do good

Acts 4:32-37 Everything they owned was held in common

Matthew 6:25-34 Strive first for the kingdom of God

                                                                                                                                Commentary:                                                                                                                      The sign of continuity with the apostolic Church of Jerusalem                                                 is “devotion to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the  breaking of the bread and the prayers.” The Church of                    Jerusalem today, however, recalls to us the practical                   consequences of such devotion - sharing. The Acts of the               Apostles states simply that “All who believed were together                     and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute to all, as any had need” (Acts 2.44-45).

                                                                                                                                 Today’s reading from the Book of Acts links such radical sharing with the powerful apostolic “testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,  and great grace was upon them all.” The later             Imperial Roman persecutors of the Church would note with                 certain accuracy: “see how they love one another.”                                         Such a sharing of resources characterizes the life of Christian people in Jerusalem today. It is a sign of their continuity with the  first  Cristians; it is a sign and a challenge to all the churches.                     It links proclamation of the Gospel, the celebration of the                   Eucharist and the fellowship (or communion) of the Christian    community with radical equality and justice for all. In so far as such sharing is a testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and a sign of continuity with the apostolic Church of Jerusalem,                            it is equally a sign of our unity with one another. There are many ways of sharing. There is the radical sharing of the apostolic             church where nobody was left in need. There is the sharing of one another’s burdens, struggles, pain and suffering. There is the sharing in one another’s joys and achievements, blessings and healing.  There is also the sharing of gifts and insights from one church tradition to another even in our separation from another,      an “ecumenical exchange of gifts.” Such generous sharing is                             a practical consequence of our devotion to the apostles’                                   teaching and fellowship; it is a consequence of our prayer for                             Christian unity.

                                                                                                                                 Prayer:
God of Justice, your giving is without bounds. We thank you that                     you have given what we need, so that all may be fed, clothed and                       housed. Guard us from the selfish sin of hoarding, and inspire us                       to be instruments of love, sharing all that you give us, as a witness                  to your generosity and justice. As followers of Christ, lead us to                          act together in places of want: where families are driven from                            their homes, where the vulnerable suffer at the hands of the                              powerful, where poverty and unemployment destroy lives.                               We pray in the name of Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.                Amen.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 3rd Day

Today is the third day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity  is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). In Taylorsville, our sister parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange. I will be preaching at Taylorsville United Methodist Church at their 11 AM service on Sunday, January 23.

The World Council of Churches publishes materials for Biblical reflections and prayers for the 8 days of the Week of Prayer. Even though, we have no covenant or formal celebration  of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Saint Francis Xavier, I encourage everyone to participate with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world with the daily reflections and prayers posted here.

Deacon Gerry

Day 3 - Devotion to the Apostles’ Teaching Unites Us

Readings:
Isaiah 51:4-8 Listen to me, my people
Psalm 119:105-112 Your word is a lamp to my feet
Romans 1:15-17 Eagerness to proclaim the gospel
John 17:6-19 I have made your name known 
                                                                                                                                       Commentary:
The Church of Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles was united in its devotion to the apostles’ teaching, despite the great diversity of language and culture amongst its members. The apostles’ teaching is their witness to the life, teaching, ministry, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Their teaching is what St Paul simply calls “the gospel.” The apostles’ teaching, as exemplified by St Peter’s preaching in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. In his use of the prophet Joel, he connects the Church with the biblical story of the people of God, drawing us into the narrative that begins in creation itself.
                                                                                                                                                      Despite divisions the Word of God gathers and unites us. The apostles’ teaching, the good news in all its fullness, was at the centre of unity in diversity of the first Church of Jerusalem. Christians in Jerusalem remind us today that it is not simply the “apostles’ teaching” that the united earliest church, but devotion to that teaching. Such devotion is reflected in St Paul identifying the gospel as “the power of God for salvation.”
                                                                                                                                           The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God’s teaching is inseparable from God’s “justice for a light to the peoples.” Or, as the psalmist prays, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.”

Prayer:
God of Light, we give you thanks for the revelation of your truth in Jesus Christ, your Living Word, which we have received through the apostles’ teaching, first heard at Jerusalem. May your Holy Spirit continue to sanctify us in the truth of your Son, so that united in Him we may grow in devotion to the Word, and together serve your Kingdom in humility and love. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 2nd Day

Today is the second day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity  is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). Our parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange. I will be preaching at Taylorsville United Methodist Church at their 11 AM service on Sunday, January 23.

The World Council of Churches publishes materials for Biblical reflections and prayers for the 8 days of the Week of Prayer. Even though, we have no formal celebration  of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity during the week, I encourage everyone to participate with our Christian brother and sisters throughout the world with the daily reflection and prayers posted here.

Deacon Gerry

Readings
Isaiah 55:1-4 Come to the waters
Psalm 85:8-13 Surely salvation is at hand
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body
John 15:1-13 I am the true vine

Commentary
The Church of Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles is the model of the unity we seek today. As such, it reminds us that prayer for Christian unity cannot be for uniformity, because unity from the beginning has been characterized by rich diversity. The Church of Jerusalem is the model or icon of unity in diversity.

The narrative of Pentecost in the Book of Acts’ tells us that there were represented in Jerusalem on that day all the languages and cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world and beyond, people who heard the gospel in their diverse languages, and who through the preaching of Peter were united to each other in repentance, in the waters of baptism, and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Or, as St Paul would later write, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” It is not a uniform community of the likeminded, culturally and linguistically united people who were one in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, but a richly diverse community, whose differences could
easily erupt into controversy. Such was the case between the Hellenists and the Hebrew Christians over the neglect of the Greek widows, as St Luke relates in Acts 6.1. And yet the Jerusalem church was at unity within itself, and one with the Risen Lord who says “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.”

Rich diversity characterizes the churches in Jerusalem to this day, as it does around the world. It can easily erupt into controversy in Jerusalem, accentuated by the current hostile political climate. But like the earliest Jerusalem church, Christians in Jerusalem today remind us that we are many members of one body, a unity in diversity. Ancient traditions teach us that diversity and unity exist in the heavenly Jerusalem. They remind us that difference and diversity are not the same as division and disunity, and that the Christian unity for which we pray always preserves authentic
diversity.

Prayer
God, from whom all life flows in its rich diversity, you call your Church as the Body of Christ to be united in love. May we learn more deeply our unity in diversity, and strive to work together to preach, and build up the Kingdom of your abundant love to all, while accompanying each other in each place, and in all places. May we always be mindful of Christ as the source of our life together. We pray in the unity of the Spirit. Amen.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 • 1st Day

Today is the first day of this year's week of prayer for Christian Unity. The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.

The chosen theme for the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity  is One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer (Acts 2:42). Our parish, All Saints, is in covenant with Taylorsville United Methodist Church and Christian Church of Taylorsville. On the Sunday of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the covenant churches have a pulpit exchange. I will be preaching at Taylorsville United Methodist Church at their 11 AM service on Sunday, January 23.

The World Council of Churches publishes materials for Biblical reflections and prayers for the 8 days of the Week of Prayer. Even though, we have no formal celebration  of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity during the week, I encourage everyone to participate with our Christian brother and sisters throughout the world with the daily reflection and prayers posted here.

Deacon Gerry

Day 1 – The Church in Jerusalem

Readings:
Joel 2:21-22, 28-29  I will pour out my spirit on all flesh
Psalm 46   God is in the midst of the city
Acts 2:1-12   When the day of Pentecost had come
John 14:15-21   This is the spirit of truth

Commentary:
The journey of this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, at the beginning of the Church’s own journey. 

The theme of this week is “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers.” The “they” is the earliest Church of Jerusalem born on the day of the Pentecost when the Advocate, the Spirit of truth descended upon the first believers, as promised by God through the prophet the Joel, and by the Lord Jesus on the night before his suffering and death. All who live in continuity with the day of Pentecost live in continuity with the earliest Church of Jerusalem with it leader St James. This church is the mother church of us all. It provides the image or icon of the Christian unity for which we pray this week.

According to an ancient eastern tradition, the succession of the church comes through continuity with the first Christian community of Jerusalem. The Church of Jerusalem in apostolic times is linked with the heavenly Church of Jerusalem, which in turn becomes the icon of all Christian churches. The sign of continuity with the Church of Jerusalem for all the churches is maintaining the “marks” of the first Christian community through our devotion to the “apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers.” The present Church of Jerusalem lives in continuity with the apostolic Church of Jerusalem particularly in its costly witness to the truth. Its witness to the gospel and its struggles against inequality and injustice reminds us that prayer for Christian unity is inseparable from prayer for peace and justice.

Prayer:
Almighty and Merciful God, with great power you gathered together the first Christians in the city of Jerusalem, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, defying the earthly power of the Roman empire. Grant that, like this first church in Jerusalem, we may come together to be bold in preaching and living the good news of reconciliation and peace, wherever there is inequality and injustice. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who liberates us from the bondage of sin and death.  Amen