Life & Work Magazine
Life & Work Magazine


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‘We saw a star in the east’

Thomas Baldwin looks ahead to year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which takes place this month.

Photo: iStock

THIS year’s resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will have additional resonance for being prepared by the churches of the Middle East.

The Week of Prayer is celebrated each year from January 18-25, less than two weeks after Epiphany, when Christians remember the Magi visiting the Holy Family in Bethlehem. This year’s reflections, entitled ‘We Saw His Star in the East’, are based around the account of the Magi’s visit in Matthew’s Gospel.

The introduction notes that the Epiphany story, with its account of people of diverse cultures and backgrounds gathering in the house in Bethlehem to pay homage, can be seen as a metaphor for Christian unity: ‘of different Christian peoples drawn together in their common search to recognise Christ, to know him and to worship him and witnessing to wider need for unity and to overcome injustice’.

However, the account also includes the darkness of the Massacre of the Innocents, in which King Herod ordered the killing of every child under two years old around Bethlehem. The churches say ‘the cruelty of these narratives resonates with the long history and difficult present of the Middle East’.

“In this context,” they add, “Christians are called to seek the new-born king, the king of gentleness, peace and love. But where is the star that leads the way to him? It is the mission of the Church to be the star that lights the way to Christ who is the light of the world. By word and through action the Christian people are called to light the way so that Christ might be revealed, once again, to the nations.

Yet divisions dim the light of Christian witness and obscure the way, preventing others from finding their way to Christ.”

The resource, which is available to download free, includes an order of service. The organisers note that this is designed for a physical service, but hope that churches will adapt it for online use if necessary.

There are also eight daily reflections with prayers and meditative responses, discussion questions and ‘Go and Do’ action points provided by Christian Aid, linking into the important work of the charity in the relief of poverty and advocacy of justice.

Visit ctbi.org.uk/week-of-prayer-forchristian-unity-2022/ to download the British and Irish version of the resources, available as an A5 pamphlet or accessible text-only edition. It is also available in other languages, including Scots Gaelic.

The international version, jointly prepared and published by the Roman Catholic Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches (WCC), is available from the WCC website and includes additional resources and suggested hymns. 

You can show your support for Christian Unity by posting unity messages and details of your events to Churches Together Britain and Ireland’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Twitter wall, - just add the #wpcuwall hashtag to your tweet. You can also find updates about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on Twitter by following the #wpcu2022 hashtag.

This article appears in the January 2022 Issue of Life and Work

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This article appears in the January 2022 Issue of Life and Work