Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Welcome to Day Four of our ecumenical prayer for Christian Unity. The theme for this week is “Light from Light for Light.”
Each day this week we are highlighting leaders in the ecumenical movement from whom we can learn and apply actions in our own lives. Today, we reflect on the life of St. Francis of Assisi.
Together, let us pray. (pause)
Philippians 2:5-11
Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Today, we reflect on St. Francis of Assisi and how he crossed the artificial border between Christians and Muslims.
Eight centuries ago, St. Francis of Assisi took a risk when he crossed the battlefield between Crusader and Muslim forces near Damietta, Egypt, desiring to meet Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil and preach his faith in Jesus Christ.
At the time, 1219, Christian forces were in the midst of the Fifth Crusade, which was eventually repelled by the sultan’s superior army near the town that was a center of trade and commerce on the Nile River where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
The future saint readily put his life on the line so he could witness his faith to the famed Muslim sultan, and in doing so, both men came away with a new respect for the faith of the other.
Early retellings of the meeting describe al-Kamil as willingly listening to St. Francis as he preached and being a gracious host. Francis witnessed his faith peacefully, and his subsequent writings reveal the meeting had a profound impact on his life.
While the sultan did not relinquish his Islamic faith, he asked his Italian visitor to pray for him so that he would follow God more closely.
Undertaking such an encounter, it’s unlikely St. Francis could have predicted his visit would have been so inspirational to the people of today. St. Francis’ mission was a sacred mission for every Muslim, every Christian, every human being, religious or nonreligious. It is a story of reaching out to “the other” for the sake of peace, reconciliation, and harmony.
St. Francis’ example is an invitation to people today to leave their “comfort zone and accept the challenges” presented in life, to move beyond hatred and violence to achieve peace.
St. Francis’s meeting with the sultan was so important and significant for him and for us that in his writings after 1220, we find everywhere echoes and traces of the journey.
Francis reminds the faithful that we are not to make quarrels or disputes, but to be subjects and subject to every human creature for the love of God, confessing to be Christians. He said, “We must be at the service of all for the love of God, and it is essential to have a very clear Christian identity.”
With such practices in mind, the Custody of the Holy Land continues ongoing collaboration through schools in which thousands of Christian and Muslim children are enrolled, cooperative programs for peace and service to migrants and refugees. Such endeavors keep alive the memory of the historic encounter of cultures.
Pope Francis repeatedly recalled the meeting himself. The dialogue that emerged between a poor Christian and a Muslim leader can serve as an example of the fraternity of humanity.
St. Francis of Assisi went across the war zone in an attempt to encounter the other and Pope Francis invited the faithful to encounter others unlike them in the same spirit.
Take a minute of silence now, and reflect:
• “God lets himself be pushed out of the world onto the cross. He is weak and powerless in the world, and that is precisely the way, the only way in which he is with us and helps us.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
• As the Risen One, Jesus is with us until the end of all time. In what ways does his companionship encourage you in your daily life?
Then pray:
God of everlasting life,
glorifying your Son Jesus, you have freed us from death.
Through his resurrection,
awaken our slumbering hearts,
enlighten all who seek you
and make the morning star shine upon us,
Jesus Christ, the Living One,
who is Lord for ever and ever. AMEN.
Thank you for praying with us today. Please join us again tomorrow.
This octave of prayers is sponsored by three Catholic spirituality centers: the Marillac Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, the Sophia Center in Atchison, Kansas, and Precious Blood Renewal Center in Liberty, Missouri.
We encourage you to share these prayers with members of your family and circle of acquaintances, including those who belong to another faith tradition.
Learn more about these Catholic Spirituality Centers:
The Marillac Center, the retreat and spirituality center of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, in Leavenworth, Kansas.
The Sophia Center is a ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas.
Precious Blood Renewal Center, in Liberty, Missouri, is a ministry of the United States Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, a Catholic religious order.
