2014 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 18th - 25th Friars' Global Work for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Ten Things You Can Do To Promote Christian Unity Graymoor Spiritual Life Center 2014 Retreat Schedule Share in our Ministry of Prayer

REACHING OUT TO PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS

Greetings from Fr. Bob ...

In the past year, we were all saddened to read about several acts of violence that took place around the world against our fellow Christians. As we all look to the New Year, we must keep in our prayers the plight of many around the world who are being persecuted because of their faith. At times like these, I think of our Founders, Father Paul and Mother Lurana, the depth of their commitment to believing in unity and our founding scripture from John 17:21, "That All May Be One".

In 1908, there was much conflict within the Church, but believing in the power of prayer, Father Paul and Mother Lurana dedicated the entire week of January 18–25 to praying for peace and Christian unity. Year after year, during this week, the Friars share special prayers and invite others to join them in prayer. More than 100 years later, this week still remains a time for prayers and reflection. Now known as the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" it is shared around the world.

This spirit of unity is close to the hearts of all the Friars and Sisters, especially, during the month of January, the month of Fr. Paul's birthday. We continue Fr. Paul's tradition hopeful that one day "all may be one." We know our prayers for unity must extend to include not only those of Christian faiths, but all people, so that we can heal the religious divisions that separate us.

As the world becomes more of a global community, the Friars promote unity by reaching out to other religions through our Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute. It is important to respect the religious convictions of others in order to promote peace and understanding. In these insecure times, it is vital for people of good will to share their faith and work together for harmony and reconciliation. It is only through these types of dialogues and understanding that we can hope to end the persecution and suffering.

And so, as we enter the New Year, we will continue reaching out to people of all faiths because we believe that many things on Earth are precious, some are holy, but humanity is Holy of Holys. I invite you to join us this year as we continue our prayers for unity and understanding throughout the world in hopes that it may truly be a "new" year.

                     Yours in Christ,
                     
                     Fr. Bob Warren, SA

2014 WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, and was first observed at Graymoor from January 18-25, 1908. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus "that they all may be one" (John 17:21).

The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 is taken from 1 Corinthians 1:13 and is entitled "Has Christ Been Divided?" Materials including prayer cards, posters, Services of the Word, and meditations for each of the eight days can be found on the GEII website, and new for 2014, you can securely order materials online at GEII.org/Order.

FRIARS' GLOBAL WORK FOR WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

From January 18-25, 1908, Fr. Paul Wattson, SA, and Mother Lurana White, SA, celebrated the first Church Unity Octave, an eight-day period of prayers and seminars focusing on the cause of Christian unity. These co-founders of the Society of the Atonement at Graymoor wrote letters and articles encouraging others to pray with them "that all may be one … that the world may believe" (John 17:21). In the late 1960s, the Octave was joined with other prayer movements to form what is now observed worldwide as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Fr. Thomas Orians, SA, Associate Director of Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute (GEII) explains the theme for 2014. "Being faithful to Christ's desire for the unity of his disciples has led to this year's theme which focuses on Saint Paul's provocative question in 1 Corinthians,"Has Christ Been Divided?" Christians continue to be divided by doctrine, polity, and practice, and to maintain our own religious identities, yet our pilgrimage towards unity continues under God's guidance."

Congregations around the world will come together again this January to pray for unity. The Friars of the Atonement work year round for reconciliation and healing through "at-one-ment" — the unity of men and women with God and with one another — so that the prayer of Jesus "that they all may be one" might be fulfilled. One way to participate in the Week of Prayer is to use the daily scripture and prayer guide from home provided by GEII on their website. Even better, participate in some of the events below or find one in your area.

EVENTS FOR WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

Graymoor, Garrison, NY and Local Community
The Friars at Graymoor have organized a full week of prayers and reflections with a variety of speakers to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to take place in the Garrison vicinity. The Week of Prayer events are scheduled from Saturday, January 18 to Saturday, January 25. Click here for times and locations.

New York City
Father James Loughran, SA, Director of the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute, has been invited by the Episcopal Diocese of New York to vest and process at a city-wide service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on Wednesday, January 22, at 5:30 pm at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The Right Reverend Andrew Dietsche, Bishop of New York, will preside at this Service of Choral Evensong.

There will also be a public worship service on Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at noon in the Chapel at the Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive in New York, NY.

Raleigh, North Carolina
Brother William J. Martyn, SA, Director of Ecumenical Commission for the Diocese of Raleigh, NC, reports that the Most Rev. Michael F. Burbridge, Bishop of Raleigh, has been very active and supportive of the work of the Commission. For the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Bishop Burbridge will preside at the 10:30am Eucharist Liturgy at Sacred Heart cathedral on Sunday, January 19. This event, which marks the start of the Week of Prayer, will include Brother Martyn and members of the Commission. Bishop Burbridge is the co-chair of the International Roman Catholic--Pentecostal Dialogue.

Brother Martyn has been active with a working group of United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran, Episcopal , Church of God and Roman Catholics for two years. This group has organized a prayer service on January 23 at Resurrection United Methodist Church in Durham. The service will use the materials produced by the Graymoor Interreligious and Ecumenical Institute, a ministry of the Friars, and features the Dean of Duke University Divinity School, Rev. Richard Hays. All are invited to join together in one place of worship and pray for visible unity in Christ's body.

The week's events will close with evening prayer at St. Mary of the Angels Chapel in the parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Raleigh. For more information, contact Br. Martyn at (919) 791-6500.

Toronto, Canada
Father Damian McPherson, SA, who is Director, Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs for the Toronto, Ontario Diocese, has helped to organize a city-wide Celebration for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity celebration hosted by His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins at St. Paul's Basilica in Toronto on January 26, 2014 at 3 PM. The Cardinal will be joined by Anglican Archbishop Colin Johnson, Slovak Catholic Bishop John Pazak, Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald, Canada's first National Indigenous bishop, and other city-wide religious leaders.

The 2014 materials for the Week of Prayer following the theme "Has Christ Been Divided" were developed by the Canadian Church for the third time in one hundred years.

Rome, Italy
Minister General Rev. James Puglisi, SA, reports that Centro Pro Unione will host an afternoon of prayers and reflection for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. O n Thursday, January 23 at 4:30 pm, Archbishop Donald Reece, Archbishop Emeritus of Kingston, Jamaica will speak about ecumenism in the Caribbean. His talk entitled "Mixed Salad: Ecumenism in the Caribbean--Is There a Future?" will be followed by an Ecumenical Celebration of the Word. The Very Rev. Willie McCulloh, Minister of St. Andrew's Church of Scotland in Rome will preside, and The Rev. Ken Howcroft, Pastor, Pont Sant'Angelo Methodist Church and Methodist Representative to the Holy See will preach. This event was organized by Centro Pro Unione, a ministry of the Friars, and the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas and the Vincent Pallotti Institute.

Japan
Brother Ignatius Kobayashi, SA, reports that in Japan, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has several interfaith events planned: A daily Mass for Christian Unity will take place at 10am in the Catholic Tsurumi Church; the Catholic Tsurumi Church and Protestant Church in Tsurumi area will pray for Christian Unity in Catholic Tsurumi Church on January 19th at 3pm; and the Catholic Yokohama diocese and Anglican Church of Yokohama area will pray for Christian Unity in the Catholic Fujisawa Church on January 19th at 4pm.

TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PROMOTE CHRISTIAN UNITY

1. Pray each day with the Friars and Sisters of the Atonement “that all may be one … that the world may believe” (Jn.17:21). Click here for the prayer for peace and unity that’s said in every mass.
2. Locate a special Week of Prayer service or program in your area and plan to participate. Invite your friends to accompany you.
3. Keep in mind that “wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them,” — suggest regular meetings with similar groups in neighborhood churches: e.g. bible study and centering prayer, soup kitchens and homeless shelters, pastors and religious educators, etc.
4. Create opportunities with other Christians to explore Interreligious opportunities by visiting other houses of worship — e.g. temple, mosque, shrine, etc.
5. Create a calendar of opportunities for joint ecumenical activities — e.g. Blessing of Palms on Palm Sunday, Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, joint prayer services on World AIDS Day (December 1st each year).
6. Look ahead to Pentecost (Sunday, June 8, 2014) and propose a joint choir festival with all the churches in the neighborhood celebrating the many gifts of the Spirit.
7. Organize a neighborhood film festival using either commercial or religious productions to identify and discuss issues that matter to all – especially families.
8. Contact your arch/diocesan officer and volunteer to support in whatever way you can local dialogues and other activities.
9. Call “Family of Faith” to the attention of your parish music director. It’s a hymn that was written to commemorate the centenary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and it can be sung congregationally to several familiar hymn tunes. Click here to learn more.
10. Subscribe to Ecumenical Trends for your pastor – and/or the pastor of a neighboring church – so that ten times a year he/she is reminded of the prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper “that all may be one…that the world may believe.”

ATONEMENT VOCATIONS SHARE YOUR SPIRIT

LEARN ABOUT THE FRIARS MISSION AND MINISTRIES

Happy New Year

Franciscan Friars of the Atonement

Headquartered at Graymoor in Garrison, NY, the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement is a Roman Catholic religious community with social, pastoral and ecumenical ministries in the United States, Canada, England, Italy, and Japan.

Graymoor Spiritual Life Center

In the Franciscan tradition of hospitality, Graymoor Spiritual Life Center welcomes individuals and groups of all faiths for spiritual retreats, meetings, conferences and pilgrimages.

Located on a mountaintop overlooking the Hudson River Valley, facilities include overnight accommodations, large dining room, a library, three chapels, as well as meeting/seminar facilities.

Centro Pro Unione
Christian Unity and
Ecumenical Research

The Centro Pro Unione, founded and directed by the Society of the Atonement, is an ecumenical research and action center. Its purpose is to give space for dialogue, to be a place for study, research and information in ecumenism: theological, pastoral, social and spiritual.

Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute

Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute promotes Christian unity and interreligious dialogue in North America through its monthly (except August) journal, Ecumenical Trends, Lecture Series, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity resources.

St. Christopher's Inn
Residential Shelter & Substance Abuse Treatment Center

St. Christopher's Inn is a temporary shelter dedicated to the rehabilitation of men in crisis. Today the Inn shelters over 1,200 men per year, most of whom suffer from alcohol and/or drug addiction.

Our mission is to offer a continuum of quality health care services that facilitate physical, emotional, and spiritual healing by providing chemical dependency treatment, primary health care, and temporary housing.

Parish Ministries /
Atonement Centers

The Friars of the Atonement serve in parish ministries throughout the world.  To visit parish websites, click on the link below:

St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church, Apex, NC

Christ the Redeemer Roman Catholic Church, Sterling, VA

Chapel of Our Savior, Brockton, Massachusetts

St. Odilia Catholic Church, Los Angeles CA

St. Joan of Arc Parish, Toronto Ontario, Canada

St. Joseph the Worker, Richmond British Columbia, Canada

St. Joseph’s Church, Tsurumi-ku Yokohama, Japan

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2014 Calendar:
The Seasons of Graymoor