th
1. Opening Prayer
Leader: In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
All:
Leader:
Christ.
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles:
I leave you peace, my peace I give you.
Look not on our sins, our divisions and our confusions but grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live for ever and ever.
All: Amen
2. A group process for hearing Jesus word to us
St Iraneus is remembered once saying:
"God will always have more to teach us and we will always have more to learn from God."
As we gather to pray together, let us be open to all God may have to give us.
Scripture
Luke 6:37-38
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Prepare
Take some time to come fully into the present.
Sit comfortably alert, close your eyes, and centre yourself with breathing.

-2-

Hear the word
First reading (twice). Listen for a word or phrase from the passage that attracts you.
Repeat it over softly to yourself during a one minute silence. When the leader gives the signal, say aloud only that word or phrase (without elaboration)

Ask, “How is my life touched?”
Or, “Where does this passage touch my life today?”
Second-stage reading. Listen to discover how this passage touches your life today.
Consider possibilities or receive a sensory impression during the two minutes of silence.
When the leader gives the signal, share as appropriate, just a sentence or two. Use I statements, such as I here, I see, I s ense…..
or you may pass.

Ask “Is there an invitation here?”
Or, “How does God invite me to change?”
Third-stage reading. Listen to discover a possible invitation relevant to our life in Christ.
Ponder it during a time of silence. When the leader signals, you may choose to share: I wonder, I am thinking that…… or you may pass.

Pray for each other
Pray, aloud or silently, for God to help the person on your right respond to the invitation received. You may like to continue your prayers for that person until the group meets again.
(Adapted from Norvene Vest, Gathered in the Word: Praying the Scripture in Small
Groups. Nashville TN, Upper Room Books, 1996)
3. A story from around 1270:
There is a story to do with the great theologian St Thomas Aquinas. One day in around
1270, way before the Reformation, he was celebrating Holy Communion in the Chapel of
St Nicholas in Naples. Something happened which profoundly affected and altered him.
After Holy Communion he changed his normal behaviour. Instead of writing or dictating he put away his writing materials. At this stage he was in the third part of his quite wonderful
“Summa Theologica”.
One of those who shared his community saw that he wasn’t writing and asked him “are you going to give up this great work y ou have been doing for the glory of God?”
Thomas replied “I am afraid that I can’t go on.” He asked his friend to keep it to himself but conveyed “I cannot go on because all that I have written seems to be so much straw, so much straw compared to what ha s now been revealed to me.”

-3-
Evidently during Holy Communion Thomas Aquinas had been graced with a profound experience of the divine glory. It was a transfiguring experience, such that all his earlier writing, insightful as we might find it, seemed so much straw.
The story is a salutary reminder that, as Paul conveyed long ago, “now we see through a glass darkly, then we shall see face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13)
If we really take in a story like this, it can change the way we see things.
This stor y reminds us, in a very positive sense, that we really don’t know a whole lot about what is going on. “Tis mystery all,” as the old hymn affirms.
Given that we know we don’t know all that much, our temper should be benign towards others. As Jesus teaches: “Love your enemies. Do for others as you would them do for you.”
Isn’t this enough for now?……..Especially if we have faith in the “One in whom all things hold together” (Colossians 1)
A final thought: St Thomas was just going on with things when grace came……He was just saying his prayers; honouring the tradition; doing what Jesus had asked: “Do this in remembrance of me…..” He had no reason to expect the heavens would open that day.
He probably had other plans…Perhaps a 1270 version of cappachino with a friend! He didn’t expect to be sitting there stunned and radiant!
Isn’t this finally what is irresistible about the spiritual life? God gave to St Thomas “all that he could hold”…….even more. So it is, can be, will be for us.
A time to reflect together: How can we be more open to all God would give us?
4. God’s generosity to us, our generosity to others – a time of intercession.
Leader: Let us pray to God for all Christian churches and communities: may we not be satisfied with the division and separation of our churches.
All:
Leader:
Lord, gather us together
Leader: Help us to lay aside our pride and acknowledge where we have been narrow-minded: may we give up our prejudice and easy judgement of others.
All: Lord, gather us together.
Take down, at last, the barriers and walls which divide us: help us to seek out our brothers and sisters and accept them as they have become in grace.
All: Lord, gather us together.

-4-
Leader: As we listen together to your word, may we sleep no more but awaken to reject our divisions, with a new purpose for our human race and a fresh longing for your reign of peace, made known to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
All: Lord, gather us together
Along with local concerns, please include prayers for ARCIC, AUSTARC, and the new
International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission. IARCCUM meet again in Malta this November
Our prayers may be gathered in the words Jesus taught us: The Lord’s Prayer
5. Concluding thanks to hosts and friends:
Say together: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. AMEN.
[This order of service has been prepared by members of AUSTARC some of the prayers are from the Communion in Prayer service at the first meeting of IARCCUM in 2000]
The Anglican Church of Australia General Synod in 2001 resolved that the 4 th of
November each year be a day of prayer for Anglican Roman Catholic Reconciliation. The
Australia Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference had already assented to this.
[Possible hymns: The Church’s one foundation; For the Beauty of the Earth; All Creatures of our God and King]