PRIEST: In this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and on this Peace Sunday we listen to John the Baptist pointing to Jesus that we might follow him closely, for to walk his path of unity and love is to become his light in a world darkened by war, conflict and divisions. Filled with His Spirit, we are called to be true Servants of God bringing the light of true justice to the nations. We need to repent that in God’s Church too there can be found petty warring, conflicts and divisions. Our disunity is a denial of our following of Christ, our ‘doing His will’: let us embrace the Lord’s forgiveness, that he may heal the wounds of division in His Body, the Church and build peace upon the earth.
READER: For our complacency and feelings of superiority
as a Church or as a nation;
For failing to recognise the gifts of other traditions
or the needs of other peoples…
LORD HAVE MERCY
For being judgmental and impatient in dialogue
with our brothers and sisters of other church traditions;
when our world prefers war and conflict
to negotiation and peace
CHRIST HAVE MERCY
When we make no effort to understand forms
of language, witness and of prayer different from our own;
for lacking 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!