Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 6, 22-29
Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves.
Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten.
When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?'
Jesus answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.
Then they said to him, 'What must we do if we are to carry out God's work?'
Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is carrying out God's work: you must believe in the one he has sent.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After the multiplication of the loaves, the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea, seeing that Jesus and his disciples had departed, took other boats from Tiberias, located near the place where they ate the miraculously multiplied bread, and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. They found him “on the other side of the sea,” the evangelist notes. In fact, Jesus was not where they were looking for him. It was not the “king” that they wanted in order to meet their perhaps legitimate and understandable aspirations. The prophet Isaiah reported the words of the Lord to his people: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (55:8). The search for the Lord always requires us to go beyond ourselves and beyond our habits, even our religious ones. The crowd must, therefore, go further, much further, really “on the other side of the sea,” beyond what they had originally thought. They had not understood the profound meaning of the multiplication of the loaves. In fact, when they come to Jesus, feeling resentful as if he had abandoned them, they ask, “When did you come here?” And he responds by exposing their self-centred understanding of the miracle of the loaves: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” In fact, they did not understand the “sign,” that is the spiritual significance of the miracle that Jesus did. The miracles were not simply the manifestation of Jesus’ power; rather, they were “signs” indicating the new kingdom that he had come to establish on Earth. Those signs called for the conversion of heart for those who received them and for those who saw them, that is, the choice to be with Jesus, to follow him, and to join him in the work of transforming the world that those “signs” already indicated. Jesus, as the good shepherd who leads his flock, tells the crowd the meaning of the miracle they had witnessed. And he says to them, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you;” in other words, “Overcome the narrow horizon of having enough for yourself and look for the food that does not perish,” the food that satisfies forever. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says to his disciples, “And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well” (Luke 12:29-31). The bread that comes from heaven is Jesus himself; he is the kingdom, justice, and the boundless love that the Father has given to men and women. The gospel according to Thomas reports a sentence by Jesus: “The one who is close to me is close to fire. The one who is far from me is far from the Kingdom” (82). Accepting this gift with all our heart, and making of it our daily food is the “work” that believers are called to accomplish. It is not a vague sentiment; it is a real “work”, which requires choice, decision, commitment, work, effort, and above all, passionate and total involvement. From this, there is a great joy. No one can delegate to others this “work.” To become a follower of Christ means to let the Gospel shape our lives, our minds, our hearts, so that we become spiritual men and women. As we listen to the Word of God and we commit ourselves to follow it, our eyes become sharper, and we see Jesus as the true bread descended from heaven who nourishes our hearts and sustains us in life.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
