PRIEST: As we share this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and celebrate Peace Sunday, we witness Jesus’ first miracle, His first Sign of Glory – insipid water turned into rich wine! The water is transformed because in Mary’s words, the servants do what he tells them! The world can be transformed if only we, the Church, the community of the Servants of God, do what He tells us. But our disunity shows well that we do not. Our disunity is not only a scandal that silences the Good News for so many, but makes our work for Peace ring hollow to the world in conflict. Let us embrace the Lord’s forgiveness, that he may change our disobedient hearts, and heal the wounds of division in His Body, the Church that we might better serve the Peace of our world.
READER: When we feel complacent and superior as Catholics;
for our failure to recognise the values and faith of others…
LORD HAVE MERCY
For judgmental attitudes towards our fellow Christians;
for conflicts and divisions in the Body of Christ
that diminishes our witness for Peace and Reconciliation
LORD HAVE MERCY
When we make no effort
to understand Christian thinking different from our own,
ways of witnessing and praying different from our own;
for not having the courage to blend love
with the search for truth
LORD HAVE MERCY
PRIEST: May the God of perfect unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
fill us with mercy, clothe us with forgiveness,
and empower us with reconciliation,
that together we may heal the Church
and build a world of unity and peace,
bringing all to everlasting life…
AMEN!