Office for Christian Unity,
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Meditation
Bringer of fire
[…]
I will carry burning embers with me to start homes everywhere. In the morning, leaving my house, I will ask myself: what barriers, will my Lord of Love destroy today in view of His greater Love? What doors am I going to open today to limitless Love? What fire am I going to light today? Who am I going to light a fire for?
[…]
But, how dare I dream of lighting fire in homes, I who have in my hands only my poor green and damp wood and a few dying embers? I who fail to do good and ordinary things, how shall I do extraordinary things?
My child, what matters is not the little you hold in your hands. It is, with this little in your hands, to come closer to the true home, to the only home, which is my Heart. Then your dying embers will be revived and your green wood will dry up. You think you can do almost nothing; this almost nothing, try to do it in an extraordinary way. I am not saying in a spectacular way. Concentrate on the most ordinary, on the smallest. Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. That is, by loving – by loving in an extraordinary way. Then the spark will strike. Then the fire will “take”. Then the fire will take “you”. Then you will begin to be a bearer of Fire.
Love without limits by a monk of the Eastern Church, Editions de Chevetogne, 1971, pp. 92-94.
Intercessions
To be used as appropriate
(Intercessory Chorus)
1/ The Time or Season of Creation celebrated throughout the world by several Christian communities from September 1st (beginning of the liturgical year for the Orthodox Churches), will end on October 4th (feast of St. Francis of Assisi).
Lord, with the invitation made to us this year to “listen to the voice of Creation”, help us to dispose ourselves in prayer and to take care of our common home together. That by practicing an ecological spirituality, we can discern both the sweetness and, the bitter cry of our mother Earth, like the cry of our brothers and sisters, in situations of vulnerability.
(Intercessory Chorus)
2/. Synodality holds an important place in the Orthodox Church and the Reformation Churches. The Catholic Church is herself committed to a synodal journey. On this journey of transformation, we need the contribution of different Christian traditions. On October 13th at the Centre Sèvres, in Paris, a meeting is planned with the theme: “Synodality: what challenges for the communion of the Churches?”
Let us pray to be always more docile to the Holy Spirit, and that together we walk towards the Communion of Churches.
(Intercessory Chorus)
3/ In the parish of Notre Dame des Peuples de Lucé, welcoming different cultures, different generations, making up the Parish Community requires everyone to seek and find, how to welcome and let themselves be welcomed. This year, new initiatives are proposed for families, as well as a course for the elders.
May the Holy Spirit open a new way in order to announce the Good News, to those closest and to those most distant. May he inspire us to communicate the joy of the Gospel.