Service for Christian Unity,
Thursday, April 21st, 2022
Meditation
You are the light of the world
The light of a candlestick burns to illuminate everyone in the house. It creates unity in the household. It is by dying that it really lives. If we wanted to limit the light, we would prevent it from being light. It would be a crime to want to stifle a shining light. If it is deprived of the air in which it radiates, it is extinguished. It ceases to be light.
Jesus’ humanity is clarity and warmth, the life force in which the old life is consumed. What is shameful can only exist in the dark. Clarity leads to openness, simplicity and purity, to what is essential and true. When, under the influence of Jesus, humans become truly human, their lives become authentic and pure. They shine in the darkness of the world and unmask what is false and what tries to hide.
But the light that Jesus turns on is never limited to clarifying the situation. Cold light does not belong to the Kingdom of God. The light of which Jesus speaks should not be confused with clairvoyance, insight, systematic clarity of thought and the acuity of discernment. There is no point in trying to reason like God when we have only human thoughts. It is about living in the heart of God, living from the heart of God. The clarity of one’s being, like that of the sun, has a warmth that creates life. Its radiance is a love that builds community, a joy that unites, that springs from the depths of being and is expressed through acts that are always constructive, never destructive.
Excerpt from: Salt and Light by Eberhard Arnold (1883 – 1935, German Protestant Theologian), 2017, Plough Publishing House, pp. 17-18om: Michel Evdokimov, Ouvrir son coeur, Desclée De Brouwer, 2004, pp. 151
Intercessions
Prepared by our brothers and sisters from Melleray Abbey
To be used as appropriate
1 / The third “Amen Toi festival” will take place from 1 to 3 July in Loire-Atlantique. This event aims to evangelize while living unity among our Christian denominations.
Lord, we ask you to bless this initiative. Send your Holy Spirit on the organizers and all those who will participate. We ask you to strengthen the bonds between our churches so that the world may believe that you are risen.
2/ From April 22-24, the national meeting “Lands of Hope” will bring together the rural Catholic dioceses of France. During this event, the participants will reflect, on the great diversity of the rural world and on the future for the Church and other the forms of Christian presence to be developed in these places.
Lord, we pray for all the participants who will be involved in this initiative. Come and bring the light and hope of your Holy Spirit.
3/ In the two months since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Christian Churches have multiplied their calls for peace, in prayer and service to the victims of this conflict.
Lord, the Orthodox Churches are preparing to celebrate Easter, we beg you, grant your peace with your passion and resurrection to Ukraine and Russia.