Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 10, 22-30
It was the time of the feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter,
and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon.
The Jews gathered round him and said, 'How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly.'
Jesus replied: I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name are my witness;
but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine.
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand.
The Father, for what he has given me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything from the Father's hand.
The Father and I are one.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The feast of the Dedication of the temple was celebrated every year in winter. John the Evangelist tells us that on the day of the celebration, Jesus was in Solomon’s porch, one of the arcades that surrounded the square from the inside of the temple. It will be the place where the first Christian community, after the resurrection, will gather for its meetings, as if to continue to go to the places that Jesus attended and to recreate what he did and said. Many gathered in the porch to listen to Jesus. Some ask him to say clearly whether or not he is the Messiah. They do not want to remain in uncertainty and doubt. The requests appear legitimate: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” In truth, more than seeking Jesus, more than understanding his heart and his thoughts and subsequently getting involved with his mission, those Jews were seeking their security, their peace of mind. Their search which still is somehow present - is far from that of John the Baptist who, unlike them, left his certainties and the stingy tranquilities that prevent us from seriously looking for God. The Baptist’s desire to seek God was so deep that not even the prison succeeded in suffocating him. Our attitude is much duller: rather than seeking the truth and the good, we want to have a quiet conscience, without anxiety and responsibility. But the search for God demands the abandonment of our certainties and of our habits in order to get involved through a word that comes from outside and asks to be welcomed with availability. Jesus responded to their requests for clarification by saying that the works he had completed bore witness to him: “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” Yet their eyes were clouded by selfishness and their loneliness. This is why Jesus says to them, “But you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.” Without familiarity with the Gospel, we cannot get close to the mystery of God. Those who are available in their hearts to hear the Gospel will hear how great the love of Jesus is and will understand that no one can snatch it from his hands. For the Lord is stronger than evil and death.
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
