January 29, 2025 at 9:59 a.m.
CALLED TO UNITY
On Jan. 22, residents of Avila Retirement Community hosted their annual Christian Unity Service in honor of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which ran from Jan. 18-25.
The Week of Prayer, which began over 100 years ago, calls Christians from around the world to participate in seven days of prayer for visible Christian unity and a hope of coming closer together.
Father Leo O’Brien, retired diocesan priest and resident at Avila, has been helping to host the event for years, stating how important it is that Christians remember their bonds.
“It’s so important because we, as Christians and followers of Jesus Christ, believe in his importance,” Father O’Brien told The Evangelist. “He’s asked us to be his followers and bring his mercy and justice to the world. … Because of our baptism, we are one, so it’s important that we remind ourselves as followers of Christ, who is Christ and what does he mean to us and to the world.”
Father Robert Longobucco, Vicar General for the Albany Diocese and pastor of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Schenectady, echoed this call for unity in his homily at the prayer service.
“Unity seems to be a pretty big issue in our world and in our country right now,” he said, “and especially when I think about Christian unity. Some people are saying this is what the Bible calls us to do, and then there’s another side saying, no, this is what the Bible calls us to do. … We don’t seem to agree on what it means to be Christian. And these have really important outcomes because when we don’t agree, it’s not just policy shift, but what people think about the Christian moment. One people swear it means one thing and other people swear it means another.”
To achieve this, Father Longobucco said all Christians need to return to the roots of their faith that we all share: the love and compassion of Jesus Christ that we are called to emulate.
“This is who we believe in, and this is what it looks like to believe in him,” he said. “It looks like compassion … it looks like love, it looks like a kindness that is meant for all. And we have his spirit within us. This is something all Christians believe; we believe his spirit is within us.”
During the prayer service, selected readers sat in a circle at the front of the gathering space and took turns reading various biblical passages. Attendees were also distributed battery tea lights during the service as a reminder that all Christians are bearers of the risen light of Christ and that light is received through one another.
Added Father O’Brien: “I hope people will take (away) a greater sense of community here at Avila, and I hope that we bring out that sense of working together with one another, with Jesus, and we bring his love and justice to the world.”
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