Vatican City, Italy
Opening Prayer
“O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want You; I long to be filled with longings; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Lift me up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” -A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) (Silent reflection) Prayer of the Bible Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. -Psalms 133: 1-3 (Free expression of praise and thanksgiving to God) Confession of Sin Those whom You love, You rebuke and discipline. Therefore may I be zealous and repent. -Revelation 3:19 (Time of silence for confession of sin) The Words of Jesus “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. -John 17: 20-23 (Think deeply on these life-giving words of Jesus) Prayers for Ourselves and Others When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. -Matthew 18:19 (Time to bring before God our own needs and the needs of others) Closing Prayer O God the Father of all, you ask every one of us to spread love and reconciliation where people are divided. You open this way for us, so that the wounded body of Jesus Christ, your church, may be leaven of communion for the poor of the earth and in the whole human family. -Brother Roger (1915-2005) 
John 17 Gathering: Phoenix, Arizona
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