During the Week of Prayer for the Unity ofChristians[1] We are invited to focus our attention on a particular theme, the one addressed in Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. In the so-called prison letters, Paul addresses his recipients, urging them to give credible witness to their faith through unity, based on one faith, one Spirit, and one hope, only through which they bear witness to Christ as body.
«There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called».
Paul calls us to hope. What is hope, and why are we invited to live it? It is a sprout, a gift, and a task that we have a duty to safeguard, cultivate, and make fruitful for the good of all. «Christian hope entrusts us to stand on the thin line of the mountain range, that frontier where our vocation demands that we choose each day and at every moment to be faithful to God’s faithfulness to us»[2].
For Christians, our vocation, our calling, is not a matter solely between the individual and God, but rather a "convocation"—that is, we are called together; it is the call to unity among those committed to living the Gospel. In Chiara Lubich's speeches and writings, we often find explicit references to unity as a defining aspect of her spirituality: this unity is the fruit of Jesus' presence among us. And this presence is the source of profound happiness.
«If unity is so important to Christians, then nothing is more contrary to their vocation than failing to uphold it. And we sin against unity every time we give in to the ever-present temptation of individualism, which drives us to do things on our own, to be guided by our own judgment, self-interest, or personal prestige, ignoring or even despising others, their needs, and their rights»[3].
«There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called».
In Guatemala, there is a very active dialogue among members of different Christian churches. Ramiro writes to us: «We prepared the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity together with a group of people from various churches. The program included an arts festival prepared with young people and several events in different churches. The Catholic Episcopal Conference asked us to continue the experience by also organizing a time of exchange with a group of Catholic bishops and people from different churches who had come together from all over the Americas for a meeting dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Beyond these activities, we experienced a very strong sense of unity among us all and the fruits that this brings: fraternity, joy, and peace».
Patrizia Mazzola and the Word of Life team
[1] This feast is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere from January 18 to 25, and in the Southern Hemisphere during the week of Pentecost. This year's prayer texts were prepared by an ecumenical group coordinated by the Armenian Apostolic Church.
[2] Madeleine Delbrêl, considered by many to be one of the most significant spiritual personalities of the 20th century: https://www.pasomv.it/files/bocc/madalein_del_brel_noi_spes.pdf.
[3] C. Lubich, Word of Life, July 1985: EAD., Words of Life/1 (1943-1990), Madrid 2020, p. 343.
