Ecumenical Prayer Service emphasized Christian Unity is ‘our common  responsibility’

By Carissa Krautscheid 
  
For over one hundred years, people of faith around the world have gathered to pray for unity among Christians. To celebrate the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Catholic Diocese of Tucson collaborated with Christian leaders across the city in hosting an Ecumenical Prayer Service on January 18, 2023.  
  
The celebration began with a meet and greet of the ecumenical leaders including Episcopalian, Mormon, Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, Saguaro Christian Church, and the Roman Catholic Church.   
  
Following was the prayer service with the theme, “Do Good, Seek Justice” and an emphasis on caring for God’s creation. Participants sang hymns such as “Canticle of the Sun” and “For the Beauty of the Earth.” Christian leaders broke open the Word of God, reflecting on Scripture together. 
  
Roman Catholic Bishop, Edward Weisenburger, shared a reflection on the readings and themes of creation and Christian unity. Then, Ignacio Franko offered a prayer in O’odham to the four directions, in appreciation for our Creator’s many gifts. 
  
The prayer service featured two keynote speakers who shared thoughts and reflections on caring for God’s creation. Dr. Katie Hirschboeck, PhD, is an Associate Professor Emerita of Climatology at the University of Arizona, a Catholic parishioner at Our Mother of Sorrows Church, and a national Catholic Climate Ambassador. Rev. Karen McDonald, M.Div., is the Creation Care Coordinator at Rincon Congregational United Church of Christ. 
 
Catholic priest, Fr. Miguel Mariano is the pastor of St. Odilia Catholic Church in Tucson and the diocesan Ecumenism and Interreligious Director. He collaborates with leaders of other faith traditions to “establish, collaborate, and deepen the advancement of Christian unity; and to build an understanding and deeper relationships with other religious traditions,” states the ministry’s mission statement.  
 
Fr. Miguel appreciated that the prayer service built “camaraderie and relationships between the Christian ministers.” He enjoyed “hearing how each faith community is caring for God’s creation, which is a form of ‘doing good and furthering the work of justice.’" 
 
Gathering together with other faiths and Christian traditions is important. “This full and visible Christian Unity that we long for,” said Fr. Miguel, “demands that we let ourselves be transformed and that we conform ever more perfectly to the image of Christ, who himself has prayed, ‘That they may be one.’ This unity requires a transformation and inner conversion that is both common, personal, communal, and collective. It is not merely tokenism, cordiality, or cooperation, but it is rooted in our common baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, who has made himself one of us. 
 
“The work of ecumenism is our common responsibility of all the baptized,” Fr. Miguel emphasized, “making it grow into full communion in truth and charity.”