Based on an initiative by the team at the University of Deusto, regional hub for Southern Europe, and led from Germany in February and from Colombia in March, teachers and students from a dozen countries on five continents met virtually to reflect and pray together.
The “Universitate World Prayer” takes place every first Thursday of the month and for twenty minutes the participants reflect and pray under the guidance of a different university each time. The first instance was coordinated by the team from the University of Deusto, in February the Uniservitate team of the Eichstätt-Ingolstadt University (KU) was responsible for the preparation and leading of the prayer, and in March the Pontifical Javeriana University of Bogota (Colombia) took over the responsibility.
In the case of the last two meetings, the reflections of both were based on the parable of the Good Samaritan and focused on different aspects: the call for peace and the invitation to service.
In the case of the last two meetings, the reflections of both were based on the parable of the Good Samaritan and focused on different aspects: the request for peace and the invitation to service.
The community prayer for peace was based on a prayer held a few days earlier on the main square in Eichstätt by students of Religious Education at KU in the presence of teachers, priests and local authorities. Kristoff, one of the students, explained that this prayer on the square has been held every week since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and is being continued because there is a great need for peace and justice all over the world. On that occasion they had taken the motto of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – “You shall love your God and your neighbour as yourself” – and acted it out in a short dramatisation accompanied by a choir of seminarians repeating the canon: “God, give us your peace”.
The re-enactment of the parable of the Good Samaritan emphasised that “we can all do something” for peace and unity and that “we are not alone” and “we can seek help” for the difficult situations we face.
Tras la proyección del video todos los participantes del encuentro virtual de Uniservitate rezaron juntos una oración por la paz.
The March prayer service was inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Adriana Aldana, from the Javeriana University of Colombia, led the meditation on the Gospel scene and the characters involved in it, focusing on attitudes of service. This was followed by a song by the Jesuit group Acústico, which expressed gratitude for the existence of people who give themselves to others. Finally, there was a prayer, also for peace, with one voice.
The “Uniservitate World Prayer” moment is open to the participation of all higher education institutions that wish to take part and fill in a form with contact details.
Until September the schedule of World Prayer moments is:
● 4th April: Tangaza University College (Kenya)
● 2nd May: Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
● 6th June: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador
● 4th July: De La Salle University (Philippines)
● 1st August: CLAYSS
● 5th September: Australian Catholic University