“Abide in My Love…You Shall Bear Much Fruit” is the theme for the 2021 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which will take place January 18-25.
“Jesus gave his life for all out of his love for all,” said Fr. James Loughran, SA, Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII). “To abide in his love reminds us that we live in a community celebrating our gift of unity.”
Considering the current global situation, the week of prayer and the theme for 2021 are especially poignant. “In these days of the Coronavirus threat, our world has become smaller,” said Fr. James Loughran, SA. “We are one in our response. More than ever, we need to appreciate the value of Christian unity.”
The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is January 18-25. Those dates were proposed by Servant of God, Fr. Paul Wattson, SA, founder of the Society of the Atonement, who initiated observance of the first “Church Unity Octave” in 1908, to cover the original days of the feasts of the Chair of St. Peter (Jan. 18) and the Conversion of St. Paul (Jan. 25), and therefore have a symbolic significance.
More information and resources are available through the Friars’ Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute, on-line at www.GEII.org.