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Local retreat centers team up for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Leaders from Sophia Spirituality Center in Atchison, Marillac Retreat & Spirituality Center in Leavenworth and Precious Blood Renewal Center in Liberty, Missouri, will offer videos about Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and others during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 18-25.

by John Sorce
john.sorce@theleaven.org

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Three local retreat centers will be teaming up to promote the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year.

This special week of prayer has been celebrated for over 100 years and this year will be commemorated from Jan. 18 through Jan. 25. Its goal is to unite Christians of all denominations as a reminder of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples during the Last Supper “that they may be one so that the world may believe” (cf. Jn 17:21).

Leaders from Sophia Spirituality Center in Atchison, Marillac Retreat & Spirituality Center in Leavenworth and Precious Blood Renewal Center in Liberty, Missouri, have been meeting for about 18 months to brainstorm ideas on how to support each other.

According to Father Ron Will, CPPS, a spiritual director at the Precious Blood Renewal Center, the center has offered prayer services during Thanksgiving week in affiliation with the Liberty-area Ministerial Alliance.

But the center also wanted to add another time for people of different denominations to join together in prayer, and that’s how their tradition surrounding the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity came about three years ago.

The idea grew to include surrounding retreat centers at one of their meetings in early December.

“When we met as regional retreat centers, I brought [a team approach] up as an option and the other two centers thought it was a good idea,” Father Ron said. “It’s a way of reaching a bigger audience and making people aware of the desire to work together and focus on what we have in common rather than our differences.”

“This is such a divisive time in our country and around the world that we thought this was an ideal time for something like this,” added Marillac director Sue Robb.

Father Ron worked with Robb and Mary Kay Whitacre of Sophia on a video that will be sent out the week before by each retreat center through its mailing list as an invitation to pray with them.

Each day throughout the week of prayer will consist of a prayer and a person to highlight. The list consists of: Brother Roger Schutz; Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; St. Francis of Assisi; Dorothy Day; Mother Teresa; Glenmary Brother Craig Digmann; and Howard Thurman.

The trio wanted to stress diversity when it came to selecting the persons to include.

“We tried to be in different religions and ethnicities and represent both male and female,” Whitacre said. “We largely wanted to pick people who were voices for healing, peace and unity.”

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is all about what we have in common as Christians rather than our differences. While the Precious Blood order largely serves the Missouri side, Father Ron wants to encourage people to check if their local center is participating.

“Jesus prayed for unity at the Last Supper and it’s his desire that we all love and respect one another,” Father Ron said. “I think the focus of the week of prayer is to highlight what we already have in common. And we can pray together even if we have different doctrinal beliefs because we have the same God in Jesus Christ as our savior.”

Robb agreed and noted that Jesus is the way for people of all Christian backgrounds to come together and make a difference.

“For us to fully live the Gospel, we need to find ways to come together, and Jesus is that way,” Robb said. “I think if we can focus on what we share rather than our differences, that’s what’s going to be the catalyst for us to truly make a difference in our communities.

“We all believe in one God. Most of us believe in the Trinity, and this is an opportunity to come together and reinforce that belief. We want to remind ourselves that we are working from the same Gospel, and I am curious to see what the fruits will be.”

For more information, or to sign up for one of the newsletters, go online to:

• Precious Blood Renewal Center at: pbrenewalcenter.org/contact-us
• Sophia Center at: mountosb.org/sophia-spirituality-center/contact-sophia-center
• Marillac: scls.org/prayer-spirituality/marillac-center/contact-us

About the author

John Sorce

John comes to The Leaven after spending two and a half years as the Sports Editor at The Emporia Gazette. Born in Staten Island, New York, and raised in Central New Jersey, John felt a pull to the Midwest after becoming a Royals fan at a young age and always had his sights set on settling down in the Kansas City area. He majored in Communication at Monmouth University and wrote for numerous publications in the Garden State, including the Asbury Park Press and NJ Advance Media. He has been to over 20 current and past MLB stadiums, with his favorites being Kauffman Stadium and PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

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