Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
This Sunday afternoon there is our Annual Joint Choral Evening Prayer for the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This year it will take place at Liverpool Cathedral at 3pm. Archbishop Malcolm will be the guest preacher who will share some pearls of wisdom about his experience of Ecumenism as he looks forward to retirement within the near future. At the heart of the reflections for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is the question posed by Jesus to Martha: ‘Do you believe this?’ (John 11:26). This same question resonated throughout the deliberations of the first Ecumenical Council, meeting in Nicaea in 325, which gathered Christian communities from around the world to strengthen their relationships as the Church of Jesus Christ. Read in isolation the question might appear as a stark challenge, but from the Gospel story it is clear that the words of Jesus are spoken in love and experienced as invitation as well as challenge. Similarly, while the Council of Nicaea was not without its challenges as a wounded and scattered Church sought to discern the truth of the Gospel message, there was an obvious desire to deepen connection and belonging and to live faithfully as disciples of Christ.
Reflecting on these moments we are reminded that the gift of our faith brings both support and challenge. The 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea this year has been embraced with a hopeful enthusiasm in the global Church and in ecumenical bodies, inspiring a wide range of events and dialogues. It is valued as a significant moment of shared history across the different Christian traditions, despite the many ways in which our paths may have diverged in the years since. Some have remained closer to the Church envisaged at Nicaea with the Nicene Creed continuing to be of central importance as a statement of faith, while others have adopted non-Credal models of Church placing greater emphasis on other forms of expression of shared Christian faith. Looking back together from our different perspectives presents an opportunity to deepen understanding and relationships, strengthening our unity in diversity.
The Chapter of Canons are meeting at the Cathedral this Thursday. At the Chapter Mass which will be celebrated in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at 12.15pm, Archbishop Malcolm will install a new Honorary Canon of the Diocese – Fr Sean Riley. Quite some years ago as a teenager Father Sean was a young server here in the Cathedral, he is now the Chancellor for the Diocese.
Next Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation/Candlemas a day when candles are blessed and Christ is honoured as the light to enlighten all nations. It is also the Chinese New Year and members of the Cantonese community will be greeting people after Mass with an oriental flavour to the reception after Mass. Later that afternoon at 3pm Archbishop Malcolm will preside at Choral Evening Prayer with the Men and Women Religious working within the Diocese.
Monsignor Anthony O’Brien
Cathedral Dean
