The Middle East Council of Churches Issues the Arabic version of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” Booklet 2023
“Do good; seek justice” (Isaiah 1:17)
Let us engage in the struggle for justice in our society
We all belong to Christ
The Middle East Council of Churches releases the Arabic version of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” booklet 2023, under the title “Do good; seek justice” (Isaiah 1:17). The title has been chosen at a time when the world and the Middle East are suffering from various crises, conflicts, injustice and divisions in various fields. Therefore, the booklet is centered around the biblical text from Isaiah 1:12-18, in which “Isaiah challenged God’s people in his day to learn to do good together; to seek justice together, to rescue the oppressed together, to defend the orphan and plead for the widow together. The prophet’s challenge applies equally to us today.”
Hence, the booklet calls us to engage in self-reflection. The Week of Prayer is, according to its introduction “the perfect time for Christians to recognize that the divisions between our churches and confessions cannot be separated from the divisions within the wider human family. Praying together for Christian unity allows us to reflect on what unites us and to commit ourselves to confront oppression and division amongst humanity.”
The introduction also stresses that “there can be no unity without justice.” Thus, we must “advocate for those whose voices have not been heard, dismantle structures that create and sustain injustice… Christians are called to go out and listen to the cries of all who are suffering, in order to better understand and respond to their stories of suffering and their trauma… Let us be open to God’s presence in all our encounters with each other as we seek to be transformed, to dismantle the systems of oppression, and to heal the sins of racism. Together, let us engage in the struggle for justice in our society. We all belong to Christ.”
Noting that the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” is in an eight-day prayer celebrated by Christians around the world between 18 and 25 January 2022. The booklet presents resources jointly prepared and published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. The resources are translated into Arabic by the middle East Council of Churches, as every year.
MECC chose the icon of the Good Samaritan as a cover image, to emphasize the necessity of serving and giving with love, and standing with the most vulnerable and neediest groups.