The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity presented the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022, which, as every year, will be celebrated on January 18-25.

The topics for reflection for this year were elaborated by the Council of Churches of the Middle East, based in Lebanon, with the subject: "I saw his star at sunrise and I came to worship him" (Mt 2: 2).

The reasons that led to the choice of the text of the Evangelist Matthew as the theme of the year are as follows. The "star" is an image of the Christian vocation. The star was the sign that guided the Magi from distant places and different cultures to the Baby Jesus, and today it is a picture of how Christians unite in communion as they approach Christ. Christians must be a star-like symbol, leading all nations to Christ. They must be the means by which God leads all peoples to unity. When Christians stand before the Lord and pray together, they are like magicians who have knelt down, paid homage to him, and opened their treasures.

This week, the Church urges its children to pray for the visible unity of Christians. It is a very strong urge, especially at a time when divisions and conflicts arise in the different realities of social and political life. This cannot happen among the believers of Christ, who must find in him the power of unity.

In the Diocese of Chisinau, the parishes will be engaged in prayer and will also carry out concrete actions of meeting and dialogue with Orthodox confreres and other Christian denominations present in Moldova. The ecclesial communities are called, as the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity urges, "to work together to build a future in the heart of God, a future in which all human beings can experience life, peace, justice, and love."

Text source: Roman Catholic Episcopate of Chisinau

Available resources: https://www.weekofprayer.ca/