An Ecumenical Prayer Uniting Christians in the Region

HE Bishop Joseph Mouawad: Love makes us accept different people as a gift from God… and unity must be founded on truth and love!

In the course of the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity", the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations in the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops organized, in partnership with the Middle East Council of Churches, a virtual meeting and an Ecumenical prayer in the evening of Sunday January 24, 2021. This prayer was broadcasted on Zoom, the MECC and CEROE Facebook pages, Noursat social media pages and many other media outlets.

The prayer was presided by HE Bishop Paul Sayah, representing His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, Maronite patriarch of Antioch. Many Church representatives participated in the meeting along with a group of priests, deacons and believers from different Middle Eastern countries and members of the Episcopal Committee.

President of the National Evangelical Union in Lebanon and president of the Council on behalf of the Evangelical family Rev. Habib Bader represented the Evangelical family in the meeting; HE Bishop Issam Darwish represented the Catholic family (Greek Catholic Church), HE Bishop Cesar Assayan (Latin Church), Mgr. Raphael Traboulsi (Chaldean Church), HE Metropolitan Antonios Al Souri represented the Greek Orthodox family (Greek Orthodox Church), Father Sarkis Ibrahim represented the Eastern Orthodox family (Armenian Orthodox Church), Father Sibou Karabidian (Armenian Catholic Church), Father Georges Youkhana (Eastern Assyrian Church), Father Timon Al Souryani (Coptic Orthodox Church), Father Jack Hanna (Syriac Orthodox Church), and Secretary General of the Bible Society Dr. Mike Basous…

MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs participated in the prayer along with both Associate Secretaries General Rev. Refaat Fekri (Evangelical Church of Egypt) and Adel Syryany (Syriac Orthodox Church) and Director of the Communication and Public Relations Department Mrs. Huguette Salameh.

The meeting started with an opening speech delivered by the Secretary of the Episcopal Committee Father Tanios Khalil who prayed for “sick people and families who are suffering and who lost loved ones” due to the Coronavirus pandemic. He also said “we would like to mention in our prayer the Vice President of the Committee Bishop Charles Mourad, wishing him a speedy recovery and better health”. Father Khalil then expressed everyone's joy with the participation of MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs and both Associate Secretaries General from Egypt and Lebanon "wishing them a blessed service".

The group prayer began with the hymn “Come, O Spirit of the Lord,” and many other hymns from different Church families chanted by Roukoz Mazraani, Mireille Koutoukijian and Rita Maria Youssef. The meeting included prayers from the "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" booklet translated into Arabic by the Middle East Council of Churches. They ended the meeting by saying the prayer dedicated for Christian unity.

On this occasion, President of the Episcopal Committee for Ecumenical Relations HE Bishop Joseph Mouawad addressed the celebration speech and contemplation. He mentioned the Grandchamp community in Switzerland who prepared the topic and draft of "The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" booklet. He stressed on this week's title “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (John: 15, 1-17). Bishop Mouawad explained that “abiding in the love of the Lord Christ” means “to be like the branch that abides in the vine, and therefore it would bear fruit”. He then asked: "how do we abide in the Lord Jesus Christ?", and said "true, there are many spiritual and sacramental ways, but I focus in particular on the silent and sincere prayer and meditation on God’s Word... and abiding in the Lord like that makes us bear fruit".

He continued his speech saying: "we seek unity because Christ’s will is for the Church to be one. Love allows me to accept different people as a gift from God, appreciating the richness they have in their personal and collective life, in their traditions, heritage and legacy, it enriches me from their richness. Love enables us to have a sincere dialogue with others about unresolved pending issues avoiding peaceful lies because unity must be founded on truth and love…”