Cluny Sisters’
'Cor Unum et Anima Una!'
'Cor Unum et Anima Una!'
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has a history of over 100 years in which Christians around the world have taken part in an octave of prayer making visible, Christian unity and discipleship. By annually observing the ‘Unity Octave’, Christians globally move toward the fulfillment of Jesus' commandment, that we love one another as Jesus loves us.
The theme for the 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit,” is taken from the Gospel of John 15: 5-9. The resources for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have been prepared by the Monastic Community of Grandchamp and expresses their vocation to prayer, reconciliation and unity in the church and the human family.
As I pray for unity and freedom from hatred, violence and division, I unite with my Cluny Sisters throughout the world and pray for the gift of ‘Cor Unum et Anima Una’.
Abiding in Christ is an inner attitude that takes root in us over time. It demands space to grow. It can be overtaken by the struggle for the necessities of life and it is threatened by the distractions, noise, activity and the challenges of life.
We live in a time that is both troubling and magnificent, a dangerous and challenging time. As Disciples of Christ, Christians know the value of a spiritual life and embrace the responsibility to a Gospel Life, uniting with and helping each other to build the Kingdom of God here on earth. As refuges of peace and environments of silence we can together call on the creative word of God and bring about the Kingdom of God.
Abiding in Christ the Fruit of Solidarity and Witness Grows
Though we, as Christians, strive to abide in the love of Christ, we also live in a creation that groans as it waits to be set free (Romans 8). In the world we witness the evils of suffering and conflict. Through solidarity with those who suffer we allow the love of Christ to flow through us. Jesus’ paschal mystery bears fruit in us when we offer love to our brothers and sisters and nurture hope in the world.
Spirituality and solidarity are inseparably linked. Abiding in Christ, we receive the strength and wisdom to act against structures of injustice and oppression, to fully recognize ourselves as brothers and sisters in humanity, and to be creators of a new way of living, with respect for and communion with all of creation.
Prayer and everyday life are not two separate realities but are meant to be united. All that we experience is meant to become an Encounter with the Living God.
For these eight days of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2021, we propose a journey of prayer and reflection:
Day 1 Called by God: “You did not choose me but I chose you”
(Jn 15:16a)
Day 2 Maturing internally: “Abide in me as I abide in you” (Jn 15:4a)
Day 3 Forming one body: “Love one another as I have loved you”
(Jn 15:12b)
Day 4 Praying together: “I do not call you servants any longer … but
I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15)
Day 5 Letting oneself be transformed by the Word: “You have
already been pruned by the word…” (Jn 15:3)
Day 6 Welcoming others: “Go and bear fruit, fruit that will last”
(Jn 15:16b)
Day 7 Growing in unity: “I am the vine, you are the branches” (Jn 15:5a)
Day 8 Reconciling with all of creation: “So that my joy may be in you, and
that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11)
Blessing Prayer
Be one, so that the world may believe! Amen.
Abide in his love! Amen.
Go into the world and bear the fruits of this love. Amen.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and all peace in faith, so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Church’s One Foundation
Is Jesus Christ the Lord
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