Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches and ecclesial protestant communities (Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal and Evangelic). Read more
Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches and ecclesial protestant communities (Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal and Evangelic).
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
Mark 3,22-30
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, 'Beelzebul is in him,' and, 'It is through the prince of devils that he drives devils out.' So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, 'How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never last. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot last either -- it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man's house and plunder his property unless he has first tied up the strong man. Only then can he plunder his house. 'In truth I tell you, all human sins will be forgiven, and all the blasphemies ever uttered; but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin.' This was because they were saying, 'There is an unclean spirit in him.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This Gospel passage is preceded by two verses that show the negative judgment that Jesus' family had of him. For the family members, Jesus has gone out of his mind; for the scribes, he is possessed by the devil. This last accusation, of course, is far more serious than the first because it puts Jesus on the side of the enemy of God and implies that he is acting under the influence of evil forces. But what neither the family nor the scribes understand is why so many people flock to Jesus. Everyone is happy, glad, and full of hope every time they listen to him. But this is precisely what annoys the scribes, the Pharisees, and finally, the very family. Good always creates envy; it breaks unlawful balances, or even merely poses questions, stirs unrest, and asks for a comparison. The Pharisees of any time, or even the family members, cannot stand that Jesus, who is the Gospel, upsets the balance established by one's egocentrism. They cannot accept that life is outside their control. So, they try every way to discredit Jesus in front of the people. They would like that no one came to him anymore. How many times even today do people try to discredit the Church, or individual believers, with absolute lies and accusations! Jesus, however, rebuts the scribes, after ridiculing them with the example of the house divided against itself. He invites us not to place our trust solely in our own strength and to be totally self-confident because we risk underestimating the power of evil and succumbing to it. Only Jesus is able to bind the strong man (evil) and, therefore, not to be mocked by it. The poor, the sick, and the sinners realized this and thus sought him out, trusting in his compassion and power. It is a great lesson for us who are so often tempted by self-sufficiency and unable to invoke the help of God.
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
