Dokument
Word of Welcome
Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, Interim General Secretary, World Council of Churches.
Call to Prayer
Rev. Prof. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus, Interim Deputy General Secretary, World Council of Churches.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this year the theme of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,
chosen by the sisters of the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland, is: “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit”.
It is the great desire of God, expressed by Jesus, that we might come to him and abide in him. He waits for us tirelessly, hoping that, united to him in love, we will bear fruit that will bring life to all. Faced with the difference of ‘the other’, we risk withdrawing into ourselves and seeing only that which separates us. But let us listen to how Christ calls us to abide in his love, and so bear much fruit.
Sister Pierrette, Grandchamp Commmunity.
In peace let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, you are the vinedresser who cares for us with love. You call on us to see the beauty of each branch united to the vine: the beauty of each person united to you in Christ through the Holy Spirit. And yet, too often the differences in others make us afraid. We withdraw into ourselves. Our trust in you is forsaken. Enmity develops between us.
Come and direct our hearts toward you once again. Grant us to live from your forgiveness so that we may be together and praise your name.
♪ Comment ne pas te louer ?
Responsive Psalm 103
Dr Theodora Issa, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, WCC central committee member and Mrs Roma Ann Nisha Prodhan, Church of North India, WCC central committee member.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits —
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.
As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding,
obedient to his spoken word.
Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will.
Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
Scripture Reading - John 15: 1-17
H.E. Archbishop Mor Dionysius John Kawak, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East and WCC central committee member.
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Pastoral Greeting 1
Dr Agnes Abuom, Anglican Church of Kenya, Moderator of WCC central committee.
Prayers of Intercession
Bishop Sally Dyck, United Methodist Church, WCC central committee member.
Responses: Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, Deputy General Secretary, WCC.
God of love, through Christ you said to us: “You did not choose me but I chose you”. You seek us, you invite us to receive your friendship and abide in it. Teach us to respond more deeply to this invitation, and grow in a life that is ever more complete.
The joy of our heart is in God.
God of life, you call us to be praise in the midst of the world and to welcome one another as a gift of your grace. May your loving gaze, which rests upon each person, open us to receive each other just as we are.
The joy of our heart is in God.
Mrs Elenor I. Lawrence, Church in the Province of the West Indies, WCC central committee member.
Responses: Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, Deputy General Secretary, WCC.
God who gathers, you knit us together in your son Jesus. May your loving Spirit abide in us at parish meetings and local ecumenical gatherings. Grant that together we might celebrate you with joy.
The joy of our heart is in God.
God of the one vineyard, you call us to abide in your love in all we do and say. Touched by your goodness, grant us to be a reflection of that love in our homes and workplaces. May we pave the way for bridging rivalries and overcoming tensions.
The joy of our heart is in God.
♪ Lumière de Dieu (Come light, light of God)
Pastoral Greeting 2
H.B. Archbishop Prof. Dr Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania.
Prayer
Ms Celina Falk, Church of Sweden, WCC central committee member.
Responses: Ms Elaine Dykes, Finance Director, WCC.
Holy Spirit, you create and re-create the church in all places. Come and whisper in our hearts the prayer which Jesus addressed to his Father on the eve of his passion: “that they may all be one … so that the world may believe”.
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy)
Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, light the fire of your love in us so that suspicions, contempt and
misunderstanding cease in the church. May the walls that separate us fall.
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy)
Rev. Dr Hermen Shastri, Methodist Church in Malaysia, WCC Faith and Order Commission.
Responses: Ms Elaine Dykes, Finance Director, WCC.
Holy Spirit, Consoler of all, open our hearts to forgiveness and reconciliation and bring us back
from our wanderings.
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy)
Holy Spirit, you never abandon the men, women and children who are persecuted for their
fidelity to the gospel. Give them strength and courage, and support those who help them.
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy)
♪ La joie de notre cœur (The joy of our heart – Community of Grandchamp)
Pastoral Greeting 3
Cardinal Kurt Koch, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Prayer
Rev. Silishebo Silishebo, United Church of Zambia, WCC central committee member.
Responses: Doug Chial, director of the WCC Office of the General Secretariat.
God of life, you have created every human being in your image and likeness. We sing your praise for the gift of our many cultures, expressions of faith, traditions and ethnicities. Grant us the courage always to stand against injustice and hatred based on race, class, gender, religion, and fear of those not like ourselves.
God of peace, God of love, in you is our hope!
Merciful God, despite our divisions as churches, your Spirit shows us, as we come together in prayer, that we are one in our allegiance to Christ. Teach us to use this gift in the world so that believers of all faiths in every country may be able to listen to each other and live in peace.
God of peace, God of love, in you is our hope!
Rev. Gloria Ulloa Alvarado, Presbyterian Church of Colombia, WCC President for Latin America and the Caribbean, WCC central committee member. (in Spanish)
Responses: Ms Marianne Ejdersten, Communications Director, WCC
O Jesus, you came into the world and shared fully in our humanity. You know the hardships of life for people who suffer in so many different ways. May the Spirit of compassion move us to share our time, life and goods with all those in need, especially with our brothers and sisters in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey whom we remember this week in the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle.
God of peace, God of love, in you is our hope!
Holy Spirit, you hear the fury of your wounded creation and the cries of those already suffering from climate change. Guide us toward new behaviours. May we learn to live in harmony as part of your creation.
God of peace, God of love, in you is our hope!
♪ Dieu de paix, Dieu d’amour (God of peace, God of love – Community of Grandchamp)
Prayer
Bossey Students:
Fr. Nestor Vadym Chaika, Ukraine, Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Rev. Yarong Wang, People's Republic of China, China Christian Council.
Rev. Evans Nyamadzawo, Republic of Zimbabwe, Church of Christ.
From the sin which is in us, leading us to prefer our will to yours,
From prejudice and blindness, in our souls, in our nation, and in our religious fellowship,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From unreadiness to hear your call, and from slothfulness in our obedience,
From racial pride and national arrogance, whereby we mar the harmony of life in your great family,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From easy contentment with what is familiar, and from hesitation in making adventure for your Kingdom,
From failure to recognize your Holy Spirit dispensing other gifts differing from those which we have received,
Good Lord, deliver us.
The Lord’s Prayer
Rev. Dr Mikie Roberts, Programme Executive for Spiritual Life and for Faith and Order, WCC.
With the words that Jesus taught us, let us now pray together in the language of our heart:
Our Father…
Benediction
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and all peace in faith,
so that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Show of concluding imagery.
