The "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” takes place from 18 to 25 January. The 2023 theme “Learn to Do Good, Seek Justice "(Is 1: 17) was chosen by a local group from the United States of America (USA) convened by the Minnesota Council of Churches, which also elaborated the material made available online.
The words of the prophet Isaiah proposed for the reflection of all Christians, "Do Good, Seek Justice" (Is 1: 17), are a warning to "a society that is experiencing a process of disintegration that affects every aspect of civil coexistence: a situation of ethical disintegration that starts from the political and religious sphere and affects every sphere of society".
Our brothers and sisters in Minnesota write, "Today's world presents, in many ways, the challenges of division that Isaiah faced in his preaching. Justice, righteousness and unity originate from God's deep love for each of us and reflect who God is and how God expects us to behave with one another". The Christian churches (Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox) have long been learning to reread those passages in which their respective paths separated, rediscovering new perspectives to renew together the ways through which to proclaim the Gospel and to experience the mystery of fraternity beyond confessional boundaries.
Photo credit: Giorgio Deganello – MSA
Subject: The Prophet Isaiah, fresco by Altichiero Da Zevio, 1374-78, Chapel of St. James; Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua