Day 1 – The Church in Jerusalem
Readings
Joel 2:21-22, 28-29 I will pour out my spirit on all flesh
Psalm 46 God is in the midst of the city
Acts 2:1-12 When the day of Pentecost had come
John 14:15-21 This is the spirit of truth
Commentary
The journey of this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins in Jerusalem on the day of
Pentecost, at the beginning of the Church’s own journey.
The theme of this week is “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to
the breaking of the bread and the prayers.” The “they” is the earliest Church of Jerusalem born on
the day of the Pentecost when the Advocate, the Spirit of truth descended upon the first believers,
as promised by God through the prophet the Joel, and by the Lord Jesus on the night before his
suffering and death. All who live in continuity with the day of Pentecost live in continuity with
the earliest Church of Jerusalem with it leader St James. This church is the mother church of us
all. It provides the image or icon of the Christian unity for which we pray this week.
According to an ancient eastern tradition, the succession of the church comes through continuity
with the first Christian community of Jerusalem. The Church of Jerusalem in apostolic times is
linked with the heavenly Church of Jerusalem, which in turn becomes the icon of all Christian
churches. The sign of continuity with the Church of Jerusalem for all the churches is maintaining
the “marks” of the first Christian community through our devotion to the “apostles’ teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers.”
The present Church of Jerusalem lives in continuity with the apostolic Church of Jerusalem
particularly in its costly witness to the truth. Its witness to the gospel and its struggles against
inequality and injustice reminds us that prayer for Christian unity is inseparable from prayer for
peace and justice.
Prayer
Almighty and Merciful God, with great power you gathered together the first Christians in the
city of Jerusalem, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, defying the earthly power of the Roman
empire. Grant that, like this first church in Jerusalem, we may come together to be bold in
preaching and living the good news of reconciliation and peace, wherever there is inequality and
injustice. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who liberates us from the bondage of sin and
death. Amen.
Day 2 - Many Members in One Body
Readings
Isaiah 55:1-4 Come to the waters
Psalm 85:8-13 Surely salvation is at hand
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body
John 15:1-13 I am the true vine
Commentary
The Church of Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles is the model of the unity we seek today. As
such, it reminds us that prayer for Christian unity cannot be for uniformity, because unity from
the beginning has been characterized by rich diversity. The Church of Jerusalem is the model or
icon of unity in diversity.
The narrative of Pentecost in the Book of Acts’ tells us that there were represented in Jerusalem
on that day all the languages and cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world and beyond, people
who heard the gospel in their diverse languages, and who through the preaching of Peter were
united to each other in repentance, in the waters of baptism, and through the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit. Or, as St Paul would later write, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” It is not a
uniform community of the likeminded, culturally and linguistically united people who were one
in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, but a richly diverse community, whose differences could
easily erupt into controversy. Such was the case between the Hellenists and the Hebrew
Christians over the neglect of the Greek widows, as St Luke relates in Acts 6.1. And yet the
Jerusalem church was at unity within itself, and one with the Risen Lord who says “I am the vine,
you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.”
Rich diversity characterizes the churches in Jerusalem to this day, as it does around the world. It
can easily erupt into controversy in Jerusalem, accentuated by the current hostile political climate.
But like the earliest Jerusalem church, Christians in Jerusalem today remind us that we are many
members of one body, a unity in diversity. Ancient traditions teach us that diversity and unity
exist in the heavenly Jerusalem. They remind us that difference and diversity are not the same as
division and disunity, and that the Christian unity for which we pray always preserves authentic
diversity.
Prayer
God, from whom all life flows in its rich diversity, you call your Church as the Body of Christ to
be united in love. May we learn more deeply our unity in diversity, and strive to work together to
preach, and build up the Kingdom of your abundant love to all, while accompanying each other in
each place, and in all places. May we always be mindful of Christ as the source of our life
together. We pray in the unity of the Spirit. Amen.
Day 3 - Devotion to the Apostles’ Teaching Unites Us
Readings
Isaiah 51:4-8 Listen to me, my people
Psalm 119:105-112 Your word is a lamp to my feet
Romans 1:15-17 Eagerness to proclaim the gospel
John 17:6-19 I have made your name known
Commentary
The Church of Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles was united in its devotion to the apostles’
teaching, despite the great diversity of language and culture amongst its members. The apostles’
teaching is their witness to the life, teaching, ministry, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Their teaching is what St Paul simply calls “the gospel.” The apostles’ teaching, as exemplified
by St Peter’s preaching in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. In his use of the prophet Joel, he
connects the Church with the biblical story of the people of God, drawing us into the narrative
that begins in creation itself.
Despite divisions the Word of God gathers and unites us. The apostles’ teaching, the good news
in all its fullness, was at the centre of unity in diversity of the first Church of Jerusalem.
Christians in Jerusalem remind us today that it is not simply the “apostles’ teaching” that the
united earliest church, but devotion to that teaching. Such devotion is reflected in St Paul
identifying the gospel as “the power of God for salvation.”
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God’s teaching is inseparable from God’s “justice for a light
to the peoples.” Or, as the psalmist prays, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.”
Prayer
God of Light, we give you thanks for the revelation of your truth in Jesus Christ, your Living
Word, which we have received through the apostles’ teaching, first heard at Jerusalem. May your
Holy Spirit continue to sanctify us in the truth of your Son, so that united in Him we may grow in
devotion to the Word, and together serve your Kingdom in humility and love. In Christ’s name
we pray. Amen.
Day 4 - Sharing, an Expression of Our Unity
Reading
Isaiah 58:6-10 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
Psalm 37:1-11 Trust in the Lord and do good
Acts 4:32-37 Everything they owned was held in common
Matthew 6:25-34 Strive first for the kingdom of God
Commentary
The sign of continuity with the apostolic Church of Jerusalem is “devotion to the apostles’
teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers.” The Church of Jerusalem
today, however, recalls to us the practical consequences of such devotion - sharing. The Acts of
the Apostles states simply that “All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute to all, as any had need” (Acts 2.44-45).
Today’s reading from the Book of Acts links such radical sharing with the powerful apostolic
“testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” The later
Imperial Roman persecutors of the Church would note with certain accuracy: “see how they love
one another.”
Such a sharing of resources characterizes the life of Christian people in Jerusalem today. It is a
sign of their continuity with the first Christians; it is a sign and a challenge to all the churches. It
links proclamation of the Gospel, the celebration of the Eucharist and the fellowship (or
communion) of the Christian community with radical equality and justice for all. In so far as such
sharing is a testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and a sign of continuity with the
apostolic Church of Jerusalem, it is equally a sign of our unity with one another.
There are many ways of sharing. There is the radical sharing of the apostolic church where
nobody was left in need. There is the sharing of one another’s burdens, struggles, pain and
suffering. There is the sharing in one another’s joys and achievements, blessings and healing.
There is also the sharing of gifts and insights from one church tradition to another even in our
separation from another, an “ecumenical exchange of gifts.” Such generous sharing is a practical
consequence of our devotion to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship; it is a consequence of our
prayer for Christian unity.
Prayer
God of Justice, your giving is without bounds. We thank you that you have given what we need,
so that all may be fed, clothed and housed. Guard us from the selfish sin of hoarding, and inspire
us to be instruments of love, sharing all that you give us, as a witness to your generosity and
justice. As followers of Christ, lead us to act together in places of want: where families are driven
from their homes, where the vulnerable suffer at the hands of the powerful, where poverty and
unemployment destroy lives. We pray in the name of Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Day 5 - Breaking the Bread in Hope
Reading
Exodus 16: 13b-21a It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat
Psalm:116: 12-14.16-18 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
1 Corinthians 11:17-18.23-26 Do this in remembrance of me
John 6:53-58 This is the bread that came down from heaven...
Commentary
From the first Church at Jerusalem until now, the ‘breaking of bread’ has been a central act for
Christians. For the Christians of Jerusalem today, the sharing of bread traditionally speaks of
friendship, forgiveness and commitment to the other. We are challenged in this breaking of bread
to seek a unity that can speak prophetically to a world of divisions. This is the world by which we
have all, in different ways, been shaped. In the breaking of bread Christians are formed anew for
the prophetic message of hope for all humankind.
Today we, too, break bread ‘with glad and generous hearts’; but we also experience, at each
celebration of the Eucharist, a painful reminder of our disunity. On this fifth day of the Week of
Prayer, the Christians of Jerusalem gather in the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper. Here,
whilst they do not celebrate the Eucharist, they break bread in hope.
We learn this hope in the ways God reaches out to us in the wilderness of our own discontent.
Exodus relates how God responds to the grumbling of the people he has liberated, by providing
them with what they need - no more, and no less. The manna in the desert is a gift of God, not to
be hoarded, nor even fully understood. It is, as our Psalm celebrates, a moment which calls
simply for thanksgiving - for God ‘has loosened our bonds’.
What St. Paul recognises is that to break the bread means not only to celebrate the Eucharist, but
to be a Eucharistic people - to become Christ’s Body in the world. This short reading stands, in its
context (1 Cor 10 - 11) as a reminder of how the Christian community is to live: in communion in
Christ, determining right behaviour in a difficult worldly context, guided by the reality of our life
in Him. We live “in remembrance of him.”
As a people of the breaking of bread, we are a people of eternal life - life in its fullness - as the
reading from St. John teaches us. Our celebration of Eucharist challenges us to reflect on how
such an abundant gift of life is expressed day to day as we live in hope as well as in difficulties.
In spite of the daily challenges for the Christians in Jerusalem, they witness to how it is possible
to rejoice in hope.
Prayer
God of Hope, we praise you for your gift to us of the Lord’s Supper, where, in the Spirit, we
continue to meet your Son Jesus Christ, the living bread from heaven. Forgive our unworthiness
of this great gift - our living in factions, our collusion with inequalities, our complacency in
separation. Lord, we pray that you will hasten the day when your whole church together shares
the breaking of the bread, and that, as we wait for that day, we may learn more deeply to be a
people formed by the Eucharist for service to the world. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Day 6 - Empowered to Action in Prayer
Reading
Jonah 2:1-9 Deliverance belongs to the Lord!
Psalm 67:1-7 Let the peoples praise you, O God!
1Timothy 2:1-8 ...prayers should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high
positions...
Matthew 6:5-15 Your kingdom come, your will be done...
Commentary
Following devotion to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship and the breaking of the bread, the
fourth mark of the earliest Church of Jerusalem is the life of prayer. It is experienced today as the
necessary source of the power and strength needed by Christians in Jerusalem - as everywhere.
The witness of Christians in Jerusalem today calls us to a deeper recognition of the ways we face
situations of injustice and inequality in our own contexts. In all this, it is prayer that empowers
Christians for mission together.
For Jonah the intensity of his prayer is met with dramatic deliverance from the belly of the fish.
His prayer is heartfelt, as it arises from his own sense of repentance at having tried to avoid God’s
will: he has abandoned the Lord’s call to prophesy, and ended up in a hopeless place. And here
God meets his prayer with deliverance for his mission.
The Psalm calls us to pray that God’s face will shine upon us - not only for our own benefit, but
for the spread of His rule ‘among all the nations’.
The apostolic Church reminds us that prayer is a part of the strength and power of mission and
prophecy for the world. Paul’s letter to Timothy here instructs us to pray especially for those with
power in the world so that we may live together in peace and dignity. We pray for the unity of our
societies, and lands, and for the unity of all humanity in God. Our prayer for our unity in Christ
reaches out to the whole world.
This dynamic life of prayer is rooted in the Lord’s teaching to his disciples. In our reading from
Matthew’s Gospel we hear of prayer as a ‘secret’ power, born not from display or performance,
but from humble coming before the Lord. Jesus’ teaching is summed up in the Lord’s Prayer.
Praying this together forms us as a united people who seek the Father’s will, and the building up
of His Kingdom here on earth, and calls us to a life of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Prayer
Lord God our Father, we rejoice that in all times, places and cultures, there are people who reach
out to you in prayer. Above all we thank you for the example and teaching of your Son, Jesus
Christ, who has taught us to long in prayer for the coming of your Kingdom. Teach us to pray
better as Christians together, so that we may always be aware of your guidance and
encouragement through all our joys and distress, through the power your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Day 7 - Living in Resurrection Faith
Reading
7 -
Isaiah 60: 1-3 . 18-22 You shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates, Praise
Psalm: 118:1. 5-17 I shall not die, but I shall live
Roman 6: 3-11 …we have been buried with Christ by baptism into death...so we too
might walk in newness of life
Matthew 28:1-10 Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid...
Commentary
The first Christians’ devotion to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of the bread and the
prayers was made possible, above all, by the living power of the Risen Jesus. This power is living
still, and today’s Jerusalem Christians witness to this. Whatever the difficulties of the present
situation in which they find themselves - however much it feels like Gethsemane and Golgotha -
they know in faith that all is made new by the truth of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
The light and hope of the Resurrection changes everything. As Isaiah prophesies, it is the
transformation of darkness into light; it is an enlightening for all peoples. The power of the
Resurrection shines out from Jerusalem, the place of the Lord’s Passion, and draws all nations to
its brightness. This is a new life, in which violence is put aside, and security found in salvation
and praise.
In the Psalm we are given words to celebrate the central Christian experience of passing from
death to life. This is the abiding sign of God’s steadfast love. This passing from the terrors of
death into new life is the defining reality of all Christians. For, as St. Paul teaches, we have, in
baptism, entered into the tomb with Christ, and been raised with Him. We have died with Christ,
and live to share his risen life. And so we can see the world differently - with compassion,
patience, love and hope; for, in Christ the present struggles can never be the whole story. Even as
divided Christians, we know that the baptism that unites us is a bearing of the Cross in the light of
the Resurrection.
For the Christian Gospel this resurrection life is not some mere concept or helpful idea; it is
rooted in a vivid event in time and space. It is this event we hear recounted in the Gospel reading
with great humanity and drama. From Jerusalem the Risen Lord sends greetings to His disciples
across the ages, calling us to follow Him without fear. He goes ahead of us.
Prayer
God, Protector of the widow, the orphan and the stranger - in a world where many know despair,
you raised your Son Jesus to give hope for humanity and renewal to the earth. Continue to
strengthen and unify your Church in its struggles against the forces of death in the world, where
violence against creation and humanity obscures the hope of the new life you offer. This we pray
in the name of the Risen Lord, in the power of His Spirit. Amen.
Day 8 - Called for the Service of Reconciliation
Reading
-
Genesis 33:1-4 Esau ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him...and they wept
Psalm: 96:1-13 Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is King!’
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 God...reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the
ministry of reconciliation
Matthew 5:21-26 Leave your gift before the altar, and go: first be reconciled to your
brother or sister...
Commentary
Our prayers of this week have taken us on a journey together. Guided by the scriptures, we have
been called to return to our Christian origins - that apostolic Church at Jerusalem. Here we have
seen devotion - to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the
prayers. At the end of our reflections on the ideal of Christian community presented to us in Acts
2:42, we return to our own contexts - the realities of divisions, discontents, disappointments and
injustices. At this point the Church of Jerusalem poses us the question: to what, then, as we
conclude this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are we called, here and now?
Christians in Jerusalem today suggest an answer to us: we are called, above all, to the service of
reconciliation. Such a call concerns reconciliation on many levels, and across a complexity of
Such a call concerns reconciliation on many levels, and across a complexity of
divisions. We pray for Christian unity so that the Church might be a sign and instrument for the
healing of political and structural divisions and injustices; for the just and peaceful living together
of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim peoples; for the growing in understanding between people of
all faiths and none. In our personal and family lives, too, the call to reconciliation must find a
response.
Jacob and Esau, in the Genesis text, are brothers, yet estranged. Their reconciliation comes even
when enduring conflict might have been expected. Violence and the habits of anger are put aside
as the brothers meet and weep together.
The recognition of our unity as Christians - and indeed as human beings - before God leads us
into the Psalm’s great song of praise for the Lord who rules the world with loving justice. In
Christ, God seeks to reconcile to Himself all peoples. In describing this, St. Paul, in our second
reading, celebrates a life of reconciliation as “ a new creation”. The call to reconcile is the call to
allow God’s power in us to make all things new.
Once again, we know that this ‘good news’ calls us to change the way we live. As Jesus
challenges us, in the account given by St. Matthew, we cannot go on making offerings at the altar,
in the knowledge that we are responsible for divisions or injustices. The call to prayer for
Christian unity is a call to reconciliation. The call to reconciliation is a call to actions - even
actions which interrupt our church activities.
Prayer
God of Peace, we thank you that you sent your Son Jesus, so that we might be reconciled to
yourself in Him. Give us the grace to be effective servants of reconciliation within our churches.
In this way help us to serve the reconciliation of all peoples, particularly in your Holy Land - the
place where you demolish the wall of separation between peoples, and unite everyone in the Body
of Jesus, sacrificed on Mount Calvary. Fill us with love for one another; may our unity serve the
reconciliation that you desire for all creation. We pray in the power of the Spirit. Amen.
Additional worship resources
Prayer by the Heads of churches in Jerusalem
(3 persons to pray different sections)
Heavenly Father,
We give you thanks and praise for your gift to us of your only Son, Jesus - His birth in
Bethlehem, His ministry throughout the Holy Land, His death on the Cross and His Resurrection
and Ascension. He came to redeem this land and the world. He came as the Prince of Peace.
We give thanks to you for every church and parish around the world that is praying with us this
day for peace. Our Holy City and our land are much in need of peace.
In your unfathomable mystery and love for all, let the power of your Redemption and your Peace
transcend all barriers of cultures and religions and fill the hearts of all who serve you here, of
both peoples - Israeli and Palestinian - and of all religions
Send us political leaders ready to dedicate their lives to a just peace for their peoples.
Make them courageous enough to sign a treaty of peace that puts an end to the occupation
imposed by one people on another, granting freedom to Palestinians, giving security to Israelis
and freeing us all from fear. Give us leaders who understand the holiness of your city and will
open it to all its inhabitants - Palestinian and Israeli - and to the world.
In the land you made holy, free all of us from the sin of hatred and killing. Free the souls and
hearts of Israelis and Palestinians from this sin. Give liberation to the people of Gaza who live
under unending trials and threats.
We trust in you, Heavenly Father. We believe you are good and we believe that your goodness
will prevail over the evils of war and hatred in our land.
We seek your blessing especially on the children and young people, that their fear and the anxiety
of conflict may be replaced with the joy and happiness of peace. We pray too for the elderly and
the handicapped, for their well-being and for the contribution they can make to the future of this
land.
We pray, finally, for the refugees scattered across the world because of this conflict.
God give the politicians and governments responsible for them the wisdom and courage to find
suitable and just solutions.
All this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen
Lord make me a channel of your Peace
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness, ever joy.
Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.
(Prayer attributed to St. Francis)