Will We Take This Week Seriously?
January 21, 2026
Fr. John Riccardo
There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling (Ephesians 4:4).
Here in the United States, this week is often dominated, at least in the Church, by the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. For those who have never attended the March, it’s really quite extraordinary. Some years, hundreds of thousands of men, women and young people — often from grade schools, high school and college campuses — gather together in our Nation’s capital. Despite the crowds, the day is remarkably peaceful, calm, and intensely prayerful, as people ask the Lord and Giver of life to help us all grow in our ability to see the dignity of every single human being, starting with the moment of conception.
That said, there is also another theme this week of extraordinary importance, and one that I find gets scant attention unfortunately. The week of January 18-25 has been known for almost two hundred years now as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Ending on the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul, Christians around the world are urged to make Jesus’ prayer for unity amongst His believers their own.
I wonder: will we — will I — actually do that?
The above text from Ephesians 4:4 is the theme of this year’s week of prayer, and the various documents were put together by the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Department of Interchurch Relations. Addressing the theme, Pope Leo called on Catholics around the world to take seriously their commitment “to deepen their prayers for full, visible unity of all Christians.”
Speaking of Pope Leo, an event of historic proportions took place between him and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in Nicea, Turkey this past November. It received almost no coverage in most places. There, Leo urged all Christians to overcome the scandal of divisions and urged believers to nurture “the desire for unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed.”
I wonder: do we — do I — actually nurture that desire, or do we resign ourselves to things being as they are, and even at times furthering the divisions that exist between Christians?
I was recently blessed to take part in a small gathering of Catholic and Protestant disciples from across the country and the world for two days of conversation and prayer. It was an incredible time of grace and left an indelible mark on me and I imagine all those present. It reminded me of a delightful season in my life when a parish I was fortunate to pastor engaged in more than a handful of gatherings with a Protestant congregation down the street. The pastor there became a dear brother and friend, and we came together for everything from evenings of worship to honest and respectful discussions on some of the issues that keep us from gathering as one at the Eucharistic table to feed on the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Jesus’ prayer for the unity of all those who believe in Him is one that I fear many of us — myself very much included — do not usually take anywhere seriously enough. In His farewell discourses in John, the Lord’s motive for this unity is twofold: that the world will believe the Father sent Him and that the world may know that God loves them even as He does His Son (cf. John 17:11-23). Is the Lord’s desire ours? How often do we pray for this? How good are we at having loving conversations with those who love Jesus but happen to go to church someplace different than us? Tragically, scandalously, in the world’s eyes, believers in Jesus often look no different from the various political contentions that plague our country and world. Is it any wonder people aren’t running to our churches?
Let us heed Pope Leo’s plea this week. Let us join with believers across the world and ask the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do. Let us beg the Lord’s forgiveness for any ways we have furthered division instead of brought unity. And let us ask Him to make us all one, that the world may believe that the Father sent Jesus to defeat the powers of Sin and Death, and that they may know that He loves them even as He does Jesus.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
January 2026
For our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV and his intentions, that he may be for God’s people a visible source and foundation of unity of faith and communion.
For our mission in the Diocese of Reno, that God would bless our time with the priests with every grace and blessing He knows to be most needed.
For our mission with the Diocese of Orange, that our time with the presbyterate would be a source of refreshment and the renewal of our minds and hearts.
For those traveling from across the country to join us in a Leadership Immersive, that God would give us His heart and mind so as to rescue, renew and transform the human family into the family of God.
For all those going through The Rescue Project, that they would be overwhelmed by the gospel, surrender their lives to Jesus and be mobilized for mission.
For the planning of The Jesus Conference: Mobilizing the Church for the World He Loves, that the Holy Spirit would lead, direct, and inspire every decision, so that this gathering may become a catalyst for renewal and transformation.
For our Episcopal Advisory Council, Board of Directors, and faithful partners in mission, that God would bless them with an outpouring of His love, reminding them of their part in helping get God’s world back.