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An
Ecumenical Prayer for Renewal and
Reconciliation
“God was reconciling the
world (kosmos) to himself, not
counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting the message of
reconciliation to us” (2
Corinthians 5:19). As a result of
God's action, the person who has been
reconciled in Christ is called in turn to
proclaim this reconciliation in word and
deed: “The love of Christ compels us” (2
Corinthians 5:14).
The fact that God in
Christ has reconciled the world to himself
is a reason to celebrate. But this must
also include our confession of sin before
we hear the Word proclaimed and draw from
the deep wellspring of God's forgiveness.
Only then are we able to testify to the
world that reconciliation is possible.
1989 saw the fall of the
Berlin Wall, that began with the Peace
Prayer Movement in the German Democratic
Republic (East Germany) in which people
placed candles in windows and doorways and
prayed for freedom. Horst Sindermann, a
member of the GDR Leadership until 1989,
noted “We had planned everything. We were
prepared for everything, just not for
candles and prayers.” This is why the
division of Christians and the
reconciliation we seek are represented by
the symbolic construction and dismantling
of a wall. This can become a symbol of
hope for any situation in which a division
seems insurmountable. Thus the
construction of a symbolic wall at the
confession of sin, the visible presence of
this wall during the proclamation of the
Word, and finally the dismantling of this
wall to form a cross as a sign of hope,
give us courage to name these terrible
divisions and to overcome them with the
help of God.
| L |
In the course of history, there have
been many renewal movements in the Church,
which is always in need of deeper
conversion to her head, Jesus Christ.
Sometimes these movements have led to
unintended divisions. This fact
contradicts what Jesus asks the Father in
John 17:23: “that they may become
completely one, so that the world may know
that you have sent me and have loved them
even as you have loved me.” Let us confess
our sins and pray for forgiveness and
healing for the wounds which have resulted
from our divisions. As we name these sins
we will see how they become a wall which
divides us. |
Silence
| L |
Let us pray: God and Father in heaven,
we come to you in Jesus' name. We
experience renewal through your Holy
Spirit, and yet we still construct walls
that divide us, walls which hinder
community and unity. We bring before you
now the stones with which we erect our
walls and pray for your forgiveness and
healing. |
| C |
Amen |
(As each sin is named the
corresponding stone is brought forward to
build the wall. Following a moment of silence,
the stone bearer [R] makes the plea for
forgiveness as the congregation responds
“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who
sin against us.”)
| L |
One stone in our wall is “lack of love”.
(The stone with the key term “lack of
love” is placed.) |
| R1 |
Gracious God, the love of Christ
compels us to ask forgiveness for
whenever we have failed to love. We
humbly pray:
|
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive
those who sin against us. |
| L |
One stone in our wall is “hate and
contempt”.
(The stone with the key term “hate and
contempt” is placed.) |
| R2 |
Gracious God, the love of Christ compels
us to ask forgiveness for our hate and
contempt for one another. We humbly pray:
|
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as
we forgive those who sin against us.
|
| L |
One stone in our wall is “false
accusation.”
(The stone with the key term “false
accusation” is placed.) |
| R3 |
Gracious God, the love of Christ compels
us to ask forgiveness for denouncing and
falsely accusing one another. We humbly
pray: |
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive
those who sin against us. |
| L |
One stone in our wall is
“discrimination.”
(The stone with the key term
“discrimination” is placed.) |
| R4 |
Gracious God, the love of Christ compels
us to ask forgiveness for all forms of
prejudice and discrimination against one
another. We humbly pray: |
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive
those who sin against us. |
Sung response: “Lord,
forgive us”. (Local committees
choose their own sung responses)
|
L
|
One stone in our wall is
“persecution”.
(The stone with the key term
“persecution” is placed.) |
|
R5
|
Gracious God, the love of
Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for
persecuting and torturing one another. We
humbly pray: |
|
C
|
Forgive us our sins, as
we forgive those who sin against us. |
|
L
|
One stone in our wall is
“broken communion.”
(The stone with the key term “broken
communion” is placed.) |
| R6 |
Gracious God, the love of
Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for
perpetuating broken communion among our
churches. We humbly pray: |
|
C
|
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us. |
|
L
|
One stone in our wall is
“intolerance”.
(The stone with the key term
“intolerance” is placed.) |
|
R7
|
Gracious God, the love of
Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for
banishing our brothers and sisters from
our common homeland in the past and for
acts of religious intolerance today. We
humbly pray: |
|
C
|
Forgive us our sins, as
we forgive those who sin against us. |
|
L
|
One stone in our wall is
“religious wars”.
(The stone with the key term “religious
wars” is placed.) |
|
R8
|
Gracious God, the love of
Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for
all wars that we have waged against one
another in your name. We humbly pray: |
|
C
|
Forgive us our sins, as
we forgive those who sin against us. |
Sung response: “Lord,
forgive us”.
| L |
One stone in our wall is “division.”
(The stone with the key term “division”
is placed.) |
| R9 |
Gracious God, the love of Christ compels
us to ask forgiveness for living our
Christian lives divided from one another
and astray from our common calling for the
healing of all creation. We humbly pray: |
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive
those who sin against us. |
| L |
One stone in our wall is “abuse of
power.”
(The stone with the key term “abuse of
power” is placed.) |
| R10 |
Gracious God, the love of Christ compels
us to ask forgiveness for our abuse of
power. We humbly pray: |
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive
those who sin against us. |
| L |
One stone in our wall is “isolation.”
(The stone with the key term
“isolation” is placed.) |
| R11 |
Gracious God, the love of Christ compels
us to ask forgiveness for the times when
we have isolated ourselves from our
Christian sisters and brothers and from
the communities in which we live. We
humbly pray: |
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive
those who sin against us. |
| L |
One stone in our wall is “pride”.
(The stone with the key term “pride” is
placed.) |
| R12 |
Gracious God, the love of
Christ compels us to ask forgiveness for
our pride. We humbly pray:
|
| C |
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive
those who sin against us. |
| L |
Let us pray: Lord, our God, look upon
this wall that we have built, which
separates us from you and from one
another. Forgive us our sins. Heal us.
Help us to overcome all walls of division
and make us one in you. |
| C. |
Amen. |
Excerpt
from the Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity 2017:
Document source can be downloaded at:
https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/faith-and-order/xi-week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity/2017/2017
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/weeks-prayer-doc/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20160531_week-prayer-2017_en.html
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