Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day 2 - Together... we give thanks for God’s grace in one another

                                         

Deuteronomy 26:1-11  

The Lord brought us out of Egypt

Psalm 100                      

Give thanks to God, bless God’s name

Philippians 1:3-11        

I thank God every time I remember you

John 1:1-18                   

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ

Three points for reflection

Gratitude, in Deuteronomy, is a way of living life with a deep awareness of God’s presence within us and around us. It is the ability to recognize God’s grace active and alive in one another and in all people everywhere and to give God thanks. The joy that flows from this grace is so great that it embraces even "the aliens who reside among you".

Gratitude, in the ecumenical context, means being able to rejoice in the gifts of God’s grace present in other Christian communities, an attitude that opens the door to ecumenical sharing of gifts and to learning from one another.

All of life is a gift from God: from the moment of creation to the moment God became flesh in the life and work of Jesus, to this moment in which we are living. Let us thank God for the gifts of grace and truth given in Jesus Christ, and manifest in one another and our churches.

Questions

What are the gifts of God’s grace that we already experience from other church traditions in our own communities?

In what ways might Christians of different traditions better receive and share the varied gifts that God has given to each of us?

Prayer

Most loving and gracious God, we give thanks for the gifts of your grace that we experience in our own tradition and in the traditions of other churches. By the grace of your Holy Spirit, may our gratitude continue to grow as we encounter one another and experience your gift of unity in new ways. This we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.