Document
Prayer
God our Father,
you reveal to us your love through Christ and through our brothers and sisters.
Open our hearts so that we can welcome each other with our differences
and live in forgiveness.
Grant us to live united in one body, so that the gift that is each person comes to light.
May all of us together be a reflection of the living Christ. Amen.
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021, 25)
♪ Lumière de Dieu (Come light, light of God)
Responsive Psalm 86: 9 – 17
All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
O God, the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant;
save the child of your serving girl.
Show me a sign of your favour,
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
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 13: 1 – 15, 34 – 35
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Reflection:
On the eve of his death, Jesus knelt to wash the feet of his disciples. He knew the difficulty of living together and the importance of forgiveness and mutual service. “Unless I wash you,” he said to Peter, “you have no share with me.” Peter received Jesus at his feet; he was washed and was touched by the humility and gentleness of Christ. Later he would follow Jesus’ example and serve the fellowship of the faithful in the early church. Jesus wishes that life and love circulate through us as the sap through the vine, so that Christian communities be one body. But today as in the past, it is not easy to live together. We are often faced with our own limitations. At times we fail to love those who are close to us in a community, parish or family. There are times when our relationships break down completely. In Christ we are invited to be clothed in compassion, through countless new beginnings. The recognition that we are loved by God moves us to welcome each other with our strengths and weaknesses. It is then that Christ is in our midst.
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021, 25)
Closing Prayer
O God, illuminate our hearts with light, our eyes with light and our ears with light; and let there be light on our right and light on our left. Let there be light above us and light below us; let there be light in front of us and light behind us. O God, make us a light. Amen
(Pilgrim Prayer, 17)
With the words that Jesus taught us, let us now pray together:
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.
