Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

From January 18th until January 25th, the Catholic church celebrates a week of prayer "that the family of Christ all over the world might come to one accord...[For] Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches... to remember that we are one family" (Amazing Days publication).

I find this interesting because just yesterday I sat down with someone who has a different religious background than myself and we both talked about the things that scared us, that we don't understand, or that we just don't agree with. This was the first person I've done this with so it was a little scary at first but we both came to the same realization: That we both believe in Jesus and that our differences don't matter in the long run. We all have that one principle and the rest is just frosting on the cake. I enjoy the structure and rich history of the Catholic church while someone else may be turned off by all the "rules". I enjoy hymns and traditional church music while other people might not use music during their religious service.

I want to remind people that I speak in general here and understand that there is more to it than those things listed above. There are reasons why there are many different denominations and I respect those reasons. For example, the Catholic church believes in the infallibility of the Pope.

I guess the reason for this post is to highlight that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and that we should celebrate our differences instead of fighting about them. Because truthfully, does it really matter? If we are following the 10 commandments, the golden rule, and believe in the Trinity, aren't we, at some basic level, the same?

Prayer for Christian Unity (from Amazing Days publication):

Almighty and eternal God,
you keep together those you have united.
Look kindly on all who profess you
by one common baptism.
Make us one in the fullness of faith
and keep us one in the fellowship of love.

God our Father,
your Son promised to be
with all who gather in his name.
Pour out on us the spirit of understanding,
truth and peace.
Help us to strive with all our hearts
to know what is pleasing to you,
and when we know your will
make us determine to do it.
Grant our prayer through Christ our Lord.

Amen.


On a side note: This morning after Mass, I had a cup of tea using my Scripture Tea bags and this was the bible verse I got this morning (very fitting): "Try to live in peace with everyone; work hard at it" Psalms 34:14 (TLB translation).