2020 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

The story of St. Paul’s shipwreck on Malta from Acts 27:18 – 28:10 leads this year’s Prayer for Christian Unity. The diverse group of passengers on the boat were at the mercy of the force of the sea and the violent storm around them. They had lost of hope of being saved but an angel of God had come to St. Paul and assured him that God would grant them safety. Through his faith in God, St. Paul encouraged the group. When they ran aground, the people on the island embraced them with “unusual kindness” (Acts 28:2).
 
Hospitality
 The question to ask during this week of Christian unity is whether we show “unusual kindness” and become witnesses of God’s loving providence to all people.
 
Hospitality is a much needed virtue in our search for Christian unity. It is a practice that calls us to a greater generosity to those in need. Our own Christian unity will be discovered not only through showing hospitality to one another, important though this is, but also through loving encounters with those who do not share our language, culture or faith.
 
Prayer

The Week of prayer for Christian Unity takes place January 18 – 25.

• Each day prayerfully read a short portion of this Scriptural story.
• Consider what images strike you, what the text is saying to you.
• Respond to God’s word by praying for Christian Unity.
• Rest in God’s presence.
• Determine how you can turn your prayer into action as a missionary disciple.

 
January 18
Acts 27:18-19, 21
 
January 19
Acts 27:20
 
January 20
Acts 27:22, 34
 
January 21
Acts 27:23-26
 
January 22
Acts 27:33-36
 
January 23
Acts 28:1-27
 
January 24
Acts 28:3-6
 
January 25
Acts 28:8-10

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