VANCOUVER (CCN) — As candlelight spread across the John Paul II Pastoral Centre hall, the flames became a living symbol of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity event.
Christian leaders, clergy, Catholic staff, and members of Vancouver’s many Christian churches gathered for an ecumenical prayer service entitled Light from Light for Light.
The gathering brought together representatives of different Christian traditions, with Archbishop Richard Smith present alongside Anglican Archbishop John Stephens to begin the lighting of the candles, the passing flames becoming a symbol of the unity the attendees were praying for.
Father Keghart Garabedian of St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church in Vancouver reflected on the challenge and necessity of unity in the Church, drawing on St. Paul’s words from Ephesians: “There is one body and one Spirit.” He acknowledged that unity is difficult to achieve, yet essential to Christian witness in a fragmented world.
He noted that despite the abundance of religious education, media, and technology, Christians still struggle to transmit moral values and faith to younger generations. “If what we’re doing is not wrong,” he suggested, “perhaps there is something we are missing.” True renewal, he argued, requires a deeper integration of faith with every dimension of life, rather than a separation between faith, society, and human knowledge.
Drawing on the image of the body, he emphasized that diversity within the Church is not a weakness but a gift. Unity, he stressed, does not mean uniformity, but harmony rooted in love — the greatest of all gifts. Christians, he said, are called to be both salt and light in the world, illuminating society through faith and love.
He concluded with a prayer that God would strengthen the unity of all Christians, so that, as one body and one Spirit, they might bear witness to Christ, “light from light,” in a world longing for truth and reconciliation.
