Memorial of the first martyrs of the Roman Church during persecution of Nero. Read more
Memorial of the first martyrs of the Roman Church during persecution of Nero.
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
Matthew 24,4-13
And Jesus answered them, 'Take care that no one deceives you, because many will come using my name and saying, "I am the Christ," and they will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for this is something that must happen, but the end will not be yet. For nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All this is only the beginning of the birthpangs. 'Then you will be handed over to be tortured and put to death; and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name. And then many will fall away; people will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise; they will deceive many, and with the increase of lawlessness, love in most people will grow cold; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Immediately following the memorial of Peter and Paul, the Roman Church remembers its first martyrs, the Christians who died in 64 in the fire that burned Rome at the hands of Nero. They were thrown to wild beasts as food or burned alive. It is a memorial that reminds us how the very beginning the Church has grown mostly through the witness of the holy martyrs. Recalling the martyrs of the early Church, John Paul II wanted to remember the “new martyrs” of the twentieth century, an incredible number of men and women of all Christian traditions who gave their lives for the faith. The martyrs of yesterday and those of today, they all remind us that following the Gospel comes at a high price. It always demands that we renounce ourselves and offer our lives for the Lord and other people. The Gospel passage that we heard is part of Jesus’ eschatological speech. He reminds the disciples to be vigilant and to preserve in the faith. The exhortation to beware of false messiahs resounds with even greater immediacy at the beginning of this century. It is easy for individuals or groups to clothe themselves in a sort of messiah-like identity that leads them to exalt themselves or their own interests, crushing those who are different from them. Jesus sadly affirms, “the love of many will grow cold.” And indeed today, love for the poor has grown cold. Love for Africa has grown cold, as has the willingness to help the poorer countries. Conflict between peoples and opposition between nations has grown. And more than a few witnesses of the Gospel, who preach love and harmony, are driven away and excluded to the point of being hated and killed. But the disciples are urged by Jesus not to lessen their witness. On the contrary, disciples need to intensify their commitment to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This is the first and most effective way for Christians to love the world.
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
