Reflection text
This week’s service was prepared by brothers and sisters from Vincennes (France)
Reflection text ‘Fasting as spiritual warfare’
Father Alexandre Schmemann (Russian Orthodox priest and theologian)
Original reference in FR: https://www.pagesorthodoxes.net/je%C3%BBner-avoir-faim-de-dieu
What is fasting for us Christians? It’s our participation in the experience of Christ himself, through which he frees us from our total dependence on food, on matter and on the world.
Fasting means only one thing: to hunger, up to the limit of the human condition which depends entirely on food, and there, being hungry, to discover that this dependence is not the whole truth about humankind, that hunger itself is above all a spiritual state and that, in the end, it is in reality hunger for God… What we need above all is spiritual preparation for the effort of fasting. It consists in asking God for help and focusing our fasting on God. We must fast out of love for God. We need to rediscover our body as a temple of the divine presence, to rediscover a holy respect for the body, for food, for the very rhythm of life.
Intercessions
In the Ile-de-France town of Saint Mandé, where the Chemin Neuf Community runs the parish, there is a strong Jewish community. The cultural association, CORDOBA, brings together Christians, Jews and Muslims to get to know one another and have space for dialogue.
Lord, give us a desire to encounter the other, and a sense of wonder at the diversity of your creation and the seeds of Jesus the Word scattered throughout the earth.
In the 12th ‘arrondissement’(district) of Paris, the House of Unity offers students and young professionals the chance to live in shared accommodation with other young people from different Christian denominations. It also organizes formation evenings about Christian unity that are open to all.
Lord, grant this generation to breathe new life into the quest for unity.
A few days ago in the city of Orléans, a rabbi was violently assaulted in the presence of his 9-year-old son.
Risen Lord, you have come to us to manifest the peace that reigns in the Kingdom of God. Lead us into this peace, inspire us to seek it through dialogue and a passion for justice.
On Tuesday March 18, an ecumenical webinar entitled “The Bishop of Rome and Christian Unity” was organized by the World Council of Churches, in collaboration with various Christian Communions. It was the first in a series of webinars in the run-up to the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order. This conference, entitled “Where is visible unity?”, is scheduled for October 2025 in Egypt.
Lord, let the call for unity be heard more widely through these modern means of communication.