Collect

Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal; grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Pray and Fast for Christian Unity

Today was observed, in many Protestant churches, as Reformation Sunday -- i.e., the Sunday closest to October 31, the anniversary of the nailing up of Luther's Ninety-Five Theses. From this event, by a highly circuitous path with many twists and forks that no one foresaw (save the Holy Ghost Himself), has come the great and bitterly saddening ripping up of western Christianity. I'd like to invite all of my believing readers, whether Protestant or Catholic (or neither), to take this October 31 and join me in prayer for Christian unity and peace, causes that have long been very dear to my heart. As a symbol and aid to that prayer, I would invite you to join me also in fasting for six hours, from 9 am until 3 pm, in commemoration of the Crucifixion, when Christ's own Body was torn, as it was torn again five hundred years ago. There has been a text in my mind about this: "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men to Myself."
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 30, 2013 at 10:11 AM

    My only correction to this excellent post is to point out that the Church herself is not torn. Perhaps she is so outwardly, and that is still a very great tragedy, but nothing can change the reality of the una sancta, since she is established by God and not by us. Even if we have to live as separated brethren, we are still, at the end of the day, brethren, and members of one Body, so long as we cling to the Gospel and the salvation given to us at Baptism. Let that fact be a comfort to us.

    "Also [our churches] teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered" (AC VII).

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  2. DanOctober 31, 2013 at 9:53 AM

    Thank you Gabriel for this post. I am joining you today in fasting and prayer. I also brought the intention to Holy Mass today at SSPJ! God bless,

    Dan

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