Memorial of Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (present day in Algeria) and a Doctor of the Church. Read more
Memorial of Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (present day in Algeria) and a Doctor of the Church.
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
1 Thessalonians 4, 1-8
Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus; we instructed you how to live in the way that pleases God, and you are so living; but make more progress still.
You are well aware of the instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.
God wills you all to be holy. He wants you to keep away from sexual immorality,
and each one of you to know how to control his body in a way that is holy and honourable,
not giving way to selfish lust like the nations who do not acknowledge God.
He wants nobody at all ever to sin by taking advantage of a brother in these matters; the Lord always pays back sins of that sort, as we told you before emphatically.
God called us to be holy, not to be immoral;
in other words, anyone who rejects this is rejecting not human authority, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul begins this part of the letter with a reference to the authority of Jesus. And in his name he reveals what “please[s] God” (4:1) and “the will God” (4:3, 5:18). He is so convinced of its importance that he formulates his exhortation as a prayer. The Thessalonians already know how to behave to please God; the apostle himself had taught them when he was with them, both by example and by teaching. They must persevere on this path; indeed, they must distinguish themselves even more in following it, until they achieve sanctity. The will of God is our sanctification, that is, for us to belong to God completely, far from the world and completely freed from its bonds. God already demanded holiness in the Old Testament: “For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy”(Lev 11:44-45). What God wants from us was never stated more clearly. But in the New Testament, holiness no longer consists of offering sacrifices or observing the law, as the Jews thought, but in welcoming the Holy Spirit into our hearts. In this way, believers are transformed into new creatures who live and behave according to the Spirit. Paul urges the Thessalonians to behave in ways that respect the dignity of their hearts and the holiness of marriage. It is vital to abandon the pagan-like mind-set that makes us slaves of ourselves and our instincts. He then warns against the thirst for profit and the cupidity that lead people to overpower and humiliate others. “God,” the apostle writes, “did not call us to impurity but in holiness” (4:7), that is, to abandon our selfish and violent behaviour in order to turn to God. Consequently, those who scorn these teachings scorn God himself, while those who remain in “holiness” abide in love. This is why the apostle writes, “Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more” (4:9-10). If love is the Spirit poured out in the hearts of believers, the Spirit himself is the inner teacher who guides every disciple. Indeed, the love of brothers and sisters is not a human teaching, but the new commandment that Jesus gave to the disciples of all ages, making it the distinctive sign of his bond with them. It is a gift that should be lived with an ever-wider scope. No one can become comfortable with the love he or she already has. It is love itself that demands to grow and spread. Finally, the apostle exhorts the Thessalonians to live serene lives, that is, to trust in God’s will, and to distinguish themselves by behaving “properly” towards outsiders. This reminds us of the statement recorded in the Acts of the Apostles concerning the first Christians in Jerusalem, who had “the goodwill of all the people” (Acts 2:47). And to this we can add Paul’s advice to the Corinthians, “Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many? so that they may be saved”(1 Cor 10:32-33). ?
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
