Memorial of Saint Ignatius, bishop of Antioch. He was condemned to death, brought to Rome where he died a martyr (107). Read more
Memorial of Saint Ignatius, bishop of Antioch. He was condemned to death, brought to Rome where he died a martyr (107).
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
Acts 16,27-40
When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, 'Do yourself no harm; we are all here.' He called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They told him, 'Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.' Then they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all his household. Late as it was, he took them to wash their wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he took them into his house and gave them a meal, and the whole household celebrated their conversion to belief in God. When it was daylight the magistrates sent the lictors with the order: 'Release those men.' The gaoler reported the message to Paul, 'The magistrates have sent an order for your release; you can go now and be on your way.' 'What!' Paul replied. 'Without trial they gave us a public flogging, though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison, and now they want to send us away on the quiet! Oh no! They must come and escort us out themselves.' The lictors reported this to the magistrates, who were terrified when they heard they were Roman citizens. They came and urged them to leave the town. From the prison they went to Lydia's house where they saw all the brothers and gave them some encouragement; then they left.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In the early times of Christianity, we often encounter prison. Every time the enemies of the Gospel wanted to silence preaching they would put Jesus’ disciples in jail. We could say that there is a strange connection between the Gospel and prison. And perhaps for this reason Matthew repeats the obligation for everybody, not just for the disciples, to visit the imprisoned. Imprisonment was an experience frequently met by the early Christians. But the same was true more recently, on a massive scale under the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century, in the gulags and extermination camps. It is therefore extremely meaningful that today’s Christians work to bring consolation into the prisons, particularly in the ones where life has been reduced to inhumane conditions. Paul and Silas had not only torn down the walls and undone their chains, but had thrown the heart of the prison guard into upheaval resulting ultimately in his and his family’s conversion to the Gospel. Love changes even the things that seem impossible. And every time we put the Gospel into practice we all become witnesses to miracles once unimaginable. This event that relates to the arrival of the Gospel in Europe reflects Jesus’ story. The Gospel, although it always finds opposition, continuously bears the fruit of liberation. Unamuno used to say that Christianity is always “agony”, in that it always requires a struggle that is above all in our inner self. It is the struggle that starts in everyone’s heart between the Gospel and pride, but then it continues outward. And we realize this link clearly as every time the Gospel wins in our heart, when there are always positive consequences for those who live at our side. Paul’s and Silas’ experience with their jailer and his family can be the experience of each of us.
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
