20.01.2022
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022 marked in church and online
Worshipers gathered in church and on line on Tuesday evening (January 18) to mark the start of the 2022 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Dublin Council of Churches held their annual opening service in St Anthony’s Church in Clontarf.
The Church of Ireland was represented by Archbishop Michael Jackson who read the Gospel and Canon Lesley Robinson who was also representing the local ecumenical group. The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Archbishop Dermot Farrell, was in attendance along with most of the leaders of the 14 Dublin Council of Churches member churches. Their flocks tuned in via the parish webcam.
The theme of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022 is from the Epiphany story: “We have seen his star in the East”. This theme was chosen by the members of the Middle East Council of Churches. Archbishop Dermot Farrell welcomed the congregation. He said that they had come together as baptised members of different churches in a common prayer centred on the word of God. He said that the search for unity is a major challenge for all Christians. He added that the Magi challenge us to take new paths and that in Christ we find the source of unity. He asked that like the Magi we fix our eyes on the star and as restless seekers remain open to God’s surprises.
The preacher was former Presbyterian Moderator the Very Revd Dr Trevor Morrow. He said the service’s theme brought to mind the Nativity. The said the Magi did not seem to easily fit in to the Christmas story but to St Matthew they were of enormous importance. Most of the people in the Christmas story were Jewish but the Magi were gentiles, he pointed out. They came from the east – Iran/Persia.
Based on the prophecy from Isaiah Matthew felt that the hopes for the city of Jerusalem were realised in the birth of this child, Dr Morrow stated. It was also in Jerusalem that God’s presence was most real. It was where he met his people, where the tabernacle was built. For Matthew this was fulfilled with the birth of Jesus – he was the tabernacle and exercised God’s authority, he said.
Dr Morrow said that the implications for those who gathered at the ecumenical event were twofold. One was in the understanding of mission and how people were drawn to God. Those who had wisdom were brought to greater wisdom and those who had light were brought to the light of the world, he stated.
The second aspect was the hope that was before us. He stated that the description in Matthew’s gospel of the coming of the wise men from the east was the precursor of the ultimate establishment of the city of God, the new Jerusalem where all the nations of the world would bring their economic and cultural inheritance. “It is the ultimate ecumenical jamboree because it will express such diversity in unity in this new creation. People from every background from every nation, tribe and tongue, where the city of God is ultimately realised,” he said.
Thinking about what he, as an Irishman, would bring into the Holy City he suggested he would have Lambeg drum on his front, an Irish fiddle on his back, a pint of Guinness in his left hand and in his right the riches of the literature that this island has produced. He added that perhaps he would do the River Dance. “Whatever your background, you will bring your riches as we enter into harmony with Jesus Christ,” he explained.
The service concluded in prayer, including prayers for Ashling Murphy, whose funeral had taken place in Tullamore earlier that day, and her family and friends. It closed with the ecumenical leaders gathering in the sanctuary for the final blessing.
The service is available to watch on the St Anthony’s website: https://stanthonysclontarf.ie/live-feed/