The Annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity ends on this Monday, 25th January.
The theme this year 2021 is ‘Abide in My Love …you shall bear much fruit’. It was discerned by the Monastic Community in Grandchamp in Switzerland and finds it origin in John (cf.Jn.15::5-9.): ‘I am the vine and you are the branches.Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified in this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.’
The Monastic Community of Grandchamp has close ties with the Community in Taize and Abbe Paul Couturier, a seminal figure in the history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Today the community comprises of fifty sisters from different generations, churches, countries, and continents, called in vocation to prayer, reconciliation and unity in the church, the human family and the whole of creation.
In choosing the 2021 theme, the Community of Grandchamp desired to share the experience and wisdom of their contemplative life abiding in the love of God and keeping his commandment of ‘loving one another as he has loved us’. They remind Christians worldwide about the importance of praying for the fruits of closer communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ and greater solidarity with the whole of creation.
(Cf. Liturgical Calendar 2021)
