Franciscan Friars of Atonement at Graymoor Plan Week-Long Worship Schedule for 2015 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement at Graymoor have planned a week-long schedule of interfaith events in Garrison and Peekskill this year to mark this ecumenical effort for healing of divisions, and they invite Hudson Valley residents to participate with them.

“When Christians pray together for unity, we see Christ in one another. We are challenged to ask why are we still separated?” explains Fr. James Loughran, Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII), a ministry of the Atonement Friars. The theme for 2015, Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (John 4:7), is based on the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. “We are encouraged to try water from a different well and also to offer a little of our own. In diversity, we enrich each other,” said Fr. Loughran. “To drink water from someone else’s well is the first step towards experiencing another’s way of being. This leads to an exchange of gifts that enriches. Refusing the gifts of the other damages is society and the Church.”

The 2015 Week of Prayer theme was prepared by the representatives from the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (CONIC) member churches and affiliated ecumenical organizations. The texts were then approved at a meeting held in São Paulo, Brazil of the International Committee composed of members of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting of Christian Unity.

From January 18-25, 1908, Fr. Paul Wattson, SA, and Mother Lurana White, SA, co-founders of the Society of the Atonement at Graymoor in Garrison, NY, celebrated the first Church Unity Octave, an eight-day period of prayers and seminars focusing on the cause of Christian unity. They wrote letters and articles encouraging others to pray with them “that all may be one … that the world may believe” (John 17:21). In the late 1960s, the Octave was joined with other prayer movements to form what is now observed worldwide as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. On November 11, 2014, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops endorsed the cause for canonization of Father Paul Wattson, SA, Servant of God, and Apostle of Christian Unity and Charity.

The Friars of the Atonement work continuously for reconciliation and healing through “at-one-ment” — the unity of men and women with God and with one another — so that the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” might be fulfilled.

In fellowship, people of all faiths are invited to join in this week of worship services at Graymoor Sunday through Saturday during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and at Assumption Church in Peekskill on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday, January 18, 7:00 pm, St. Francis Convent
Chaplain Sondra Treadwell, Croton Universalist Unitarian Church and volunteer Chaplain at NYS Veterans’ Home, will preside & speak.

Monday, January 19, 7:00 pm, St. Christopher’s Inn
Rev. Dr. Ronald Pankey, Pastor, Church of the Nazarene, Yorktown Heights will preside & speak.

Tuesday, January 20, 7:00 pm, Graymoor St. Pius X 3rd Fl. Chapel
Fr. Peter Taran, Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, will preside and speak.

Wednesday, January 21, 7:00 pm, Graymoor St. Pius X 3rd Fl. Chapel
Sister Roberta Southwick, SA, Franciscan Sister of the Atonement, will preside & speak.

Thursday, January 22, 7:00 pm, Graymoor, St. Pius X 3rd Fl. Chapel
Dr. Janet Foy will preside and speak.

Friday, January 23, 4:00 pm, Graymoor, St. Pius X 3rd Fl. Chapel
Rev. Jeannette Phillips, Director, Hudson River Health Center, Peekskill, will preside and speak.

Saturday, January 24, 7:00 pm, Graymoor, St. Pius X 3rd Fl. Chapel
The Reverend Tim Dunn, Chaplain, Christian Health Center, Wyckoff, NJ, will preside and speak.

Sunday, January 25, 3:00 pm, Assumption Church, Peekskill, NY
Rev. James Loughran, SA, Director, Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII), New York, NY, will preside and speak.

For more information about Week of Prayer for Christian Unity events, contact the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, by calling Rev. John Keane, SA, at (845) 424-3549 or email jkeane@atonementfriars.org.

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement is a Catholic order of brothers and priests founded at Graymoor in Garrison, New York in 1898 by Father Paul Wattson. Their worldwide ministries include Christian unity; interreligious dialogue among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists; serving the homeless and those suffering from alcoholism, drug addictions, and HIV/AIDS; preaching the gospel in parishes around the world; and offering respite and hope to those in need of spiritual renewal.