Isa 56:6-8         For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
Ps 24                Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
Acts 2:37-42    They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Jn 13:34-35      I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.

Commentary

The fellowship of Christian leaders shapes the visible expression of ecumenical life in Latvia. They gather regularly at Gaizins, Latvia’s highest hill, and other locations, for a 40-hour period of prayer and simple fellowship around shared meals. For the duration of these meetings they are supported in non-stop prayer and worship by the faithful. These encounters renew the leaders as fellow-workers in Christ. The experience of the founder of the Gaizins house of prayer inspired this reflection.

Jesus’ commandment to love one another is not theoretical. Our communion of love with one another becomes concrete when we gather together intentionally as Christ’s disciples, to share fellowship and prayer in the power of the Spirit.

The more that Christians, especially their leaders, encounter Christ together in humility and patience, the more prejudice diminishes, the more we discover Christ in one another, and the more we become authentic witnesses to the kingdom of God.

At times ecumenism can seem very complicated. Yet joyful fellowship, a shared meal and common prayer and praise are ways of apostolic simplicity. In these we obey the commandment to love one another, and proclaim our Amen to Christ’s prayer for unity.

Questions

What is our experience of encountering one another as brothers and sisters in Christ through Christian fellowship, shared meals and common prayer?
What are our expectations of bishops and other church leaders on the path towards the visible unity of the Church? How can we support and encourage them?

Prayer

Faithful God, may you give to all Christians, and especially to those entrusted with leadership in your Church, the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that with the eyes of our hearts we may see the hope to which you have called us: one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above and through all and in all. Amen.