Week of Prayer for Christian Unity January 18 – 25, 2024 in Winnipeg
December 21, 2023
Every year, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU), Christian communities and churches are invited to join together to pray for the unity of Christians, to reflect on Scripture together, to participate in ecumenical services and events, and to share Christian fellowship.
The resources for 2024 have been prepared by an ecumenical team from Burkina Faso, facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community, and by the international Week of Prayer for Christian Unity writing team. The theme chosen for 2024 is "You shall love the Lord your God... and your neighbour as yourself" (Luke 10:27).
It can be said that LOVE is the 'DNA' of Christian faith. God is Love and "the love of Christ has gathered us into one" (Ubi caritas attrib. Paulinus of Aquileia). We find our common identity in the experience of God's love (cf. Jn 3:16) and reveal that identity to the world by how we love one another (Jn 13:35).
The choice of biblical and liturgical texts is inspired by the image of the good Samaritan from the parable (Lk 10: 25-37) in which Jesus demonstrates what it means to love one's neighbour, in answer to a question about the Old Testament commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God... and your neighbour as yourself" (Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18b). The inn in the parable of the Good Samaritan can be interpreted as an image of the Church. Just as the Samaritan brought the wounded man to the inn, so Christ entrusts those who are wounded and in need to our churches, to tend their brokenness and help restore them to health. This mission in service of the world is also the pathway towards the unity which is God's desire and gift for God's people.
Many will recall that for a couple of years our customary way of marking the Week of Prayer here in Winnipeg with a City-Wide Ecumenical Service and other services throughout the week had been curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the waning of the pandemic, we quickly pulled together an evening city-wide service for January 2023. We had hoped to begin preparations for January 2024 much earlier and try to organize a week of events, but unexpected health and other challenges did not permit the small remnant of our preparation committee enough time to do this. So, after some inquiries, we find ourselves once again trying to get something together without too much lead time.
With the 2024 Week of Prayer just a month away, we are pleased to announce that we have begun preparations for a City-wide Ecumenical Worship Service to be held at 7:30 pm on Sunday evening, January 21, 2024 at Lutheran Church of the Cross, 560 Arlington Street, Winnipeg. God willing, our effort for the Week of Prayer in January 2024 will sow the seeds for other communities to host the citywide service and other Week of Prayer events in 2025 and in the years beyond.
We cordially invite church leaders (i.e. bishops, moderators, presbytery chairs, etc. and/or their representatives) to take an active part leading the worship during the upcoming City-wide Ecumenical Worship Service on January 21st . If possible, we ask church leaders to please reserve the evening of January 21, 2024 on your calendar. If you will be unable to attend, we kindly ask that you try to arrange for someone to represent your church/diocese/eparchy/denomination.
As done in earlier years, we plan to form an Ecumenical Choir for the upcoming City-wide Ecumenical Worship Service. Information concerning rehearsal times is included on one of the posters we have prepared. Suggested bulletin announcements concerning choir rehearsals and the ecumenical worship service are also provided.
Please arrange to have the attached posters for the ecumenical worship service on January 21, 2024 and the bulletin announcements including choir invitation forwarded a.s.a.p. to the various parishes, congregations and other contacts within your community, diocese, eparchy or denomination, if possible before Christmas. Thank you for your assistance.
In addition to the city-wide event to be held on January 21, 2024, we suggest that there still may be enough time for some churches/congregations around the city and in the rural areas to consider preparing and hosting a simple WPCU prayer service or WPCU bible study for Christians in their own congregation/parish and others in their neighbourhood. For those who wish to do this, WPCU resources are available online at www.weekofprayer.ca.
Most Rev. Andriy Rabiy
Auxiliary Bishop for the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg
