Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Africa Read more
Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Africa
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Hebrews 7,1-3.15-17
Melchizedek, king of Salem, a priest of God Most High, came to meet Abraham when he returned from defeating the kings, and blessed him; and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. By the interpretation of his name, he is, first, 'king of saving justice' and also king of Salem, that is, 'king of peace'; he has no father, mother or ancestry, and his life has no beginning or ending; he is like the Son of God. He remains a priest for ever. This becomes even more clearly evident if another priest, of the type of Melchizedek, arises who is a priest not in virtue of a law of physical descent, but in virtue of the power of an indestructible life. For he is attested by the prophecy: You are a priest for ever of the order of Melchizedek.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Working from the text of Genesis, the author argues that Melchizedek, because of his priestly dignity, is superior to Abraham, so much so that the later had to pay tithes, "one-tenth of everything," to the priest. And so Melchizedek is seen as a foreshadowing of Jesus, whose priesthood follows in his line. The author wants to underline the fact that Jesus' priesthood is the "perfect" priesthood, the one which we needed. Christ is "holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens"; neither the Mosaic law nor the Levitical line had been able to bring men and women to such "perfection." That is why today we no longer need to find multiple priests and mediators to reach God: the new "priest," Jesus Christ, brings us directly to God. The ancient pact has been replaced by a new and "better" covenant, the one established with Jesus. And there is no need to multiply sacrifices, as the Levitical priesthood was obliged to do. Jesus offered his sacrifice once and for all: "Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself." It is a real priesthood, with substance, not a ritual one, because Jesus became a priest through his personal sacrifice: he offered himself as victim and was brought to heaven, becoming simultaneously altar, victim, and priest, as is sung in the liturgy of the Church. By joining in the "sacrifice" of Christ, that is, becoming ourselves altars, victims, and priests, we Christians enter into direct relationship with God. This is the holy people, the people of priests, of which the New Testament speaks, which offers God the spiritual worship that is pleasing to him.
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
