Monday 21 January 2008

Week of prayer for Christian Unity

It is the week of prayer for Christian unity. As we pray we try and ignore that there are over 30,ooo protestant denimination and groups now, and they are still splitting. We squirm a bit as we look at the schisms that have happened over the last 2000yrs.

LOOK at the icon. That is Christ the Bridegroom; a bridegroom of ONE bride and look what He has done for her. He is whipped and bound and crowned with thorns. His royal robe has been dumped on Him as a mockery and is soaked in His Precious Blood.

Only a few hours earlier He had prayed "And for them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me.
That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them: that, they may be one, as we also are one. "


But a huge number of the world look at us and do not see that oneness and they don't believe. Why should they? Everyone seems to have Christ in his own image; picking and choosing from Scripture and Tradition what fits himself; making up new ideas that have no basis in either Scripture or Tradition.

*Sigh* I've been there-done that.

So here's a prayer for Christian unity.
Dear Lord,
Break our hearts to help us not break Yours
Change our minds, because we can't change Yours.
Let us Love YOU with all our minds, with all our heart and with all our strength
Because only then can we love our neighbour or ourselves.
Help us see the Cross with it's vertical beam so much longer and larger than the
horizontal beam;
Let us then look up to see what Your will is
instread of at ourselves and what we want.
Our Father who art in Heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name
THY KINGDOM COME (not mine)
Thy Will be done (not mine)
on earth as it is in heaven...
If people prayed the Our Father and actually meant it-imagine what kind of world we could have.

4 comments:

gemoftheocean said...

Great prayer. Mine is fairly blunt:
"Dear Lord, make them get with the program!"

Karen
[Best, and I'm keeping your son in my prayers especially .. that he does seek more discernment about a religious vocation.]

WhiteStoneNameSeeker said...

Karen - to the point as always :)

Thank you for your prayers. Things are already happening---I'll let you'll know.

marcella said...

A friend of mine made an interesting comment about Christian unity yesterday. He said you can illustrate the current problem by placing 2 digestive biscuits side by side on a table. The one on the right (!) is the Catholic Church. The one on the left is the Anglican Church. Now pick up the Anglican biscuit and crush it in your hand, then replace it. That's what's happened to the Anglican church. And it is no cause for rejoicing.
Marcella

Anonymous said...

Thankyou for that...