The Middle East Council of Churches Launches the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” Booklet 2022 to the World
The Arabic version of The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity booklet is released this year with great joy! The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity entrusted the Middle East Council of Churches with the task of selecting the theme of the Week of Prayer for the year 2022 and preparing drafts of its texts. The Ecumenical Committee appointed by the Theological and Ecumenical Department of the Council, tasked with this project, chose as a subject the appearance of the star in the sky of Judea as a sign of hope for God’s loving presence for humanity under the title: “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage” (Matthew 2:2). This choice was made, as the committee that prepared the booklet wrote, amidst difficult times when we need a light to shine in the darkness more than ever, and this light, as Christians believe, has appeared in Jesus Christ.
The introduction to the preparation of the material says: “In a region of the world where human rights are habitually trampled underfoot by unjust political and economic interests, in the face of an unprecedented international health crisis and bearing the human and material consequences of the serious explosion that devastated Beirut on August 4, 2020, the local ecumenical group nevertheless made every effort to present the results of its work by participating in the online meetings. We thank them wholeheartedly and pray that greater unity among Christians in the Middle East and around the world may contribute to a more dignified, just and peaceful life for all men and women in our time and in the times to come.”
Christians around the world celebrate the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” from January 18 to 25 of each year in an eight-day prayer. On the same date, Christians will pray the Unity Prayer for the year 2022 under the title “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage” (Matthew 2:2), the star that guided the Magi and the people of Earth to the place where their true King and Savior appeared to raise humanity to the light and grace of the Father.
Cover photo of the mosaic of the Visit of the Magi, from the Sacred Art section at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon.