Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Today, we start the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. For 2024, materials are prepared by an ecumenical team from Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community (CCN).

The chosen theme is ‘You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself’ (Lk 10:27).  

A lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25)

Help us, Lord, to have a life turned towards you

Additional scripture passages

• Romans 14:8-9
• Psalm 103:13-18

Commentary

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This crucial question asked of Jesus by a lawyer challenges every believer in God. It affects the meaning of our life on earth and for eternity. Elsewhere in the Bible, Jesus gives us the ultimate definition of eternal life: “… that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). Knowing God means discovering and doing the will of God in our lives. God’s dream for us (cf. Jn 10:10) finds powerful expression in the words of Saint Irenaeus: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive”.

Violence, greed and exploitation distance us from one another and from Jesus as “the Way” that leads us to the Father, our ultimate destiny. Speaking from a society that has been torn apart and traumatised by violence and identity-based conflict for the last eight years, the churches of Burkina Faso offer us a message of hope in the promise of Christ’s all-embracing love.

Reflection

The reality of life in Burkina Faso may be very different from our own, but we can identify significant parallels in the challenges facing Christians in each context. Consider the following reflection offered by Church leaders in Ireland: 

“In our approach to the past we have a moral responsibility to acknowledge the corrosive impact of violence and words that can lead to violence, and a duty of care to those still living with the trauma of its aftermath... Christ’s teaching, ministry and sacrifice were offered in the context of a society that was politically divided, wounded by conflict and injustice… In these encounters, as exemplified in the meeting with the Woman of Samaria (Jn 4:1-42), we see that Christ does not seek to minimise differences, but rather to establish connection through gracious listening, replacing exclusion and shame with the hope of new beginnings.” (Church Leaders’ Ireland Group, In Christ We Journey Together, 17 March 2021)

Prayer

God of life,

You have created us to have life, and life in all its fullness.

Help your wounded Church to be a source of hope and healing.

As we follow Jesus’ way with determination, may we lead others to you.

We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.