Opening Prayer
Lord you are my lover, the object of my desire; you are like a stream flowing through my body, a sun shining on my face. Let me be your reflection. Amen.
—Mechtild of Magdeburg, 1210-1280
TEXT
John 17:20-26 TNIV
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Prayer of Confession
Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed that all your children might be one in you; we pray for the restoration of visible unity to your church. Forgive the pride and the lack of love, which have driven us apart. Take away our narrow-mindedness, our bitterness, our prejudice. May we never consider as normal the disunity, which is a scandal to the world and an offence to your love. Teach us to recognize the gifts of your grace in all those who call upon you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Author Unknown (French Reformed)