The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be held from January 18 to 25 this year.
Its theme is “Has Christ Been Divided?” This theme is based upon 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, where St. Paul — angry over divisions in the Corinthian Church — wrote, “Each of you is saying ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos’ or ‘I belong to Kephas’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Is Christ divided?”
In the 40 years since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, many people in the Catholic Church have been in the forefront of the pro-life movement to counteract the court’s decision.
Over the years, however, it’s been obvious that people of many different faith traditions have also been involved in defending the right to life. I can remember Lutherans, Baptists, evangelical Christians, and others who attended the annual Respect Life march at our state Capitol in January in past years, followed by an ecumenical prayer service at St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison.
This might have been the first time some people of other faiths had entered a Catholic church! We Catholics also had the opportunity to see how other denominations prayed and sang.
People of many different faiths have also been active in pro-life outreach efforts such as CareNet Pregnancy Center, Elizabeth House, Pregnancy Helpline, the Women’s Care Center, and Vigil for Life in the Madison area. I have been impressed by the commitment of so many people to these efforts to assist parents in choosing life for their unborn babies and to help those in need after the babies are born.
To the editor:
We celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18 to 25.
In John 17:21 Jesus prays for unity among his followers, “Father, I pray that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”
