Theme for 2027 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Announced
By Fr. James Loughran, SA, Spiritual Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute
The theme for the 2027 celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity comes from the Christian churches of Ireland, a place with a long history of division and a newer history of peace leading towards reconciliation.
The theme is taken from the Gospel of Luke, a gospel that focuses on Jesus’ healing and acts of reconciliation, as well as his call to all who would believe in him to trust his promise of inclusion in the Kingdom of God. While John’s gospel emphasizes the Good Shepherd sayings of Jesus, this image is also present in Luke, Chapter 12. In fact, the Good Shepherd image is raised throughout all of scriptures as an image of the relationship between God and Israel. As David is the shepherd who becomes a king for a particular people, Jesus as the Good Shepherd is king of all things visible and invisible. Thus, he can assure his little flock that they have been given the Kingdom of God.
In early Western Christian iconography, after the symbol of the fish, Jesus was depicted as a beardless, David-like young shepherd, carrying a lamb over his shoulders. This was centuries before his being depicted in crucifixion as a bearded man in his thirties. But why imagine the Christian community as a flock of lambs? Lambs, after all, are easily frightened, and a bit simple minded. They can easily wander. They can easily trust strangers. They even go harmoniously into a slaughterhouse without worry. They are utterly dependent on the care of a shepherd. This metaphor for humans is not meant to insult or infantilize. Humans do that quite easily on their own. It acts as a parable to remind us that without God at our center, we could easily slip into the way of destruction and pain. God does not want that to happen to any of us. “Little flock” is a loving and even doting figure of speech evoking feelings of trust, calm and protection.
The whole Gospel passage chosen for reflection for 2027 is Luke 12:22-34. The fear that Jesus tells his little flock not to carry in their hearts is spoken of in the context of worry and anxiety about life. He raises the specter of fear of growing hungry or of going without clothing and other necessities of life. But Jesus says that worry is useless because it has no power to extend life. All power over life belongs solely to God, especially the eternal life promised in God’s kingdom.
This way of looking at things counters the expectations of our material world. In the materialist vision of life that is bereft of trust in God’s love and care for us, we have no choice but to compete for the resources of our Earth and for power to protect our chosen destinies. Such a way of living, Jesus indicates, is not restorative but destructive.
Naturally, Jesus does not call for us to just be lazy and wait around for something miraculous to happen. The exercise of responsibility for ourselves and our fellow human beings recognizes human dignity, but too often in human history what may be interpreted as self-reliance can lead to greed, hoarding, building walls to keep others out, selfishness, and self-centeredness. Such self-reliance dismisses the desire for being the flock of God and therefore the need for being part of God’s eternal kingdom. In fact, this extreme self-reliance is fed well by fear, the fear that Jesus calls upon his little flock to avoid.
Mutual reliance is modeled on the relationship between God and humanity. Not that God needs to rely on us, but that we can accept and support each other in the way that God keeps the flock alive and well. God demonstrates a responsibility for us and our well-being. We should do the same for one another. This requires conversion of heart, the bedrock foundation of reconciliation and the first step on the way to visible Christian unity. Jesus chooses his flock. As the Good Shepherd he says, “I know mine and mine know me” (John 10:14). The sheep do not get to choose who is in the flock.
The way of Christian unity may be potholed with moments of mutual exclusivity, but it is a way that takes the sheep to the good pasture of peace. Many fear this way because of the struggle. Jesus reminds us that we are not lone wandering sheep. He wants the strays to come back to the flock. He is determined to keep the flock together. Our hope is in seeing this as much as an invitation to the pasture of the Kingdom as it is a challenge to our instincts for self-survival. May they all be one.
Materials and resources are available through the GEII website here.