Please join the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement for a

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Service

in observation of the 2025 Week of Prayer

Saturday, January 18, 2025
7 PM Eastern

St. Francis Convent Chapel
41 Old Highland Turnpike
Garrison, NY 10524

Fr. Dennis Polanco, SA – Preacher

The 2025 theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is “Do you believe?” (John 11:26): the theme honors the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, at which the question of common belief was upheld as a paramount pillar for church integrity, while also drawing us into the gospel episode of the resurrection of Lazarus, offering a promise of hope in times of communal fragmentation and death-dealing power. For more information about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the 2025 theme, or materials to aid in observing the WPCU in your home community, visit geii.org/week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity.

“It is my hope that you will join us for these opportunities to pray, in the spirit of our Founders, that Christ’s prayer ‘That all may be one’ will be realized.” – V. Rev. Fr. Emil Tomaskovic

Daily Scripture and Prayer Guide

DAY 1 – THE FATHERHOOD AND CARE OF GOD WHO RULES THE UNIVERSE

Scripture Readings
Isaiah 63:15-17
Psalm 139:1-3, 13, 23, 24b
1 Corinthians 8:5-6

Meditation
Behold the mysteries of love, and then you will contemplate the bosom of the Father, which the only-begotten Son of God has revealed. God himself is love, and through love he is contemplated by us. And while in his ineffable reality he is Father, in his compassion he has become for us a mother. – Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215), Which rich man will be saved? 37:1-2.
How have you experienced God’s fatherly care and motherly compassion in your own life? What hinders us from recognizing each person as a child of God? How does acknowledging God as Father of all affect our perception of and relationship with others?

Prayer
Father of compassion, renew our faith in you and bind us together through your love, so that we can recognize each other as your children, and come together as one. We praise you through Jesus Christ, your only-begotten Son, in the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

For more daily prayers visit the Daily Scripture and Prayer Guide at geii.org.