Day 2 Theme: Witness through
Sharing Stories
Text - What are you discussing with each other while
you walk along?
(Luke 24:17)
Readings
Jeremiah 1:4-8 Go to all to
whom I send you
Psalm 98 Sing to the Lord a new song
Acts 14:21-23 They
strengthened the souls of the disciples
Luke 24:13-17a What are you
discussing with each other while you walk along?
Commentary
Sharing our stories is a powerful way in which we
give witness to our faith in God. Listening to
one another with respect and
consideration allows us to encounter God in the very person with
whom we are sharing.
The reading from Jeremiah offers us a powerful
witness of God’s call to the prophet. He is to
share what he has received, and so
allow God’s Word to be heard and lived out.
This call to proclaim God’s Word is also experienced
by the disciples in the early Church, as
witnessed to in the reading from Acts.
Our psalm allows us to sing to God with a spirit of
praise and thanksgiving.
Today’s gospel passage presents a Jesus who
enlightens our blindness and dispels our
disillusionment. He helps us to understand our
stories within the one unfolding plan of God.
During this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we
listen to the faith stories of other Christians in
order to encounter God in the variety
of ways God’s very self is revealed to us. We are aware also
that we can share with others through
the virtual reality of technology. Modern means of
communication can help us share more widely,
and so create a community that is broader and
more extensive than the purely
physical.
In listening with attentiveness we grow in faith and
love. In spite of the diversity of our personal
and collective witness, we find
ourselves intertwined in the one story of God’s love for us
revealed in Jesus Christ.
Prayer
God of history, we thank you for all who have shared
their story of faith with us and so have
given witness to your presence in
their lives. We praise you for the variety of our stories both as
individuals and churches. In these stories
we see the unfolding of the one story of Jesus Christ.
We pray for the courage and the conviction to share
our faith with those with whom we come into
contact, and so allow the message of
your Word to spread to all.
Reflection Questions
1. Are you “gossiping the Gospel” or just gossiping?
2. How open are you or your church to be drawn into
the stories of others?
3. How open are you to share with others your
stories of faith, and so give witness to God’s
presence in your personal experiences of
life and of death?
4. Are you aware of the enormous potential for good
that modern means of communication
offer the Church today?