From the 18th to 25th January, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity took place, which this year had as its theme "You shall love the Lord your God... and your neighbour as yourself" (Lk 10:27).
On the 24th January, in the Custody of the Holy Land, the Custos, Br Francis Patton, OFM, presided over the prayer vigil that was celebrated in the Latin parish church of St. Saviour, in Jerusalem. Br Francis dwelt on the unity of Christians paradoxically already achieved in those places: "As Christians of the Holy Land we already have an ecumenical element that unites us all and it is the element of common suffering, what in extreme cases is called the ecumenism of blood. When we are targeted, we are not targeted because we are Catholic or Orthodox or Armenian or Syriac or Coptic or Anglican or Lutheran. We are targeted simply because we are Christians. [...] Even if we do not yet perceive ourselves as united, those who want to strike us already perceive us as a single reality. I believe that in this there is a solicitation on the part of the Spirit so that we too may learn to recognize ourselves more and more as part of a single body that is beaten and humiliated and for this reason has the possibility of manifesting some form of unity that already exists in sharing the Lord's Passion, since we are not yet able to share His glory together."
On Thursday the 25th January, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, during the celebration of Second Vespers on the Solemnity of the Conversion of St. Paul, Pope Francis commented on the Gospel passage from St. Luke that inspired this week. If, on the one hand, the Doctor of the Law wants to divide as the devil does by asking who is the "neighbour," that is, he wonders who we should love and whom we should ignore, on the other hand, the Samaritan goes beyond religious prescriptions and becomes a neighbour, he draws closer to his wounded brother. "Only this love that becomes gratuitous service," he said, "only this love that Jesus proclaimed and lived, will bring separated Christians closer to one another. Yes, only this love, which does not return to the past to distance itself or point fingers, which in the name of God puts one's brother and sister before the iron defense of one's own religious system, only this love will unite us. First the brother and sister, then the system."
The Holy Father dwelt at length on the difference between asking "Who is my neighbour?" and "Do I make myself a neighbour?": "Am I and then my community, my Church, my spirituality, becoming neighbours? Or do they remain barricaded in defense of their own interests, jealous of their autonomy, locked up in the calculation of their own advantages, entering into relationships with others only to get something out of it? If this were the case, it would not only be a matter of strategic mistakes, but of infidelity to the Gospel."
Pope Francis then related the Doctor of the Law, who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, and St. Paul, who, blinded by the light of the Lord, simply asks him, "What must I do?" Paul doesn't change his life on the basis of his goals, he doesn't become better because he realizes his projects. His conversion is born of an existential reversal, where primacy no longer belongs to his skill before the Law, but to docility towards God, in a total openness to what He wants. [...] And the night before He gave His life for us, He prayed ardently to the Father for us all, "that they may all be one" (Jn 17:21). This is His will," Francis said.
The Holy Father concluded his homily by recalling the importance of prayer, with a thought turned to the wars in Ukraine and the Holy Land.
The handbook to accompany the celebrations, published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches, was prepared by an ecumenical group from Burkina Faso, coordinated by the local community of Chemin Neuf.
The West African country, in the Sahel region, has 21 million inhabitants, of whom 64% are Muslim, 9% profess traditional African religions and 26% are Christian (20% Catholic, 6% Protestant). For years, it has been experiencing serious political instability that puts the security of its citizens at risk: terrorist attacks and human trafficking have resulted in more than 2 million internally displaced persons. The situation is out of control in many parts of the country. Christian churches have been the object of many attacks and worship, abbreviated in rites, can only be considered "safe" in large cities, under the protection of the local police.
But this situation of hardship has fostered a new solidarity between the different religions, especially amongst the Christian religions, which have come together to elaborate the texts for the Week of Prayer and to give their witness of unity despite the objective difficulties they are experiencing.
The text reads: "It is only by learning to love one another, despite differences, that Christians can draw near to others, following the example of the Samaritan of the Gospel" (cf. Texts for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, pp. 6-7).
Photo: Custodia Terræ Sanctæ
