Prayer for the unity of the Churches. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican Communion. Read more
Prayer for the unity of the Churches. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican Communion.
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, 13-19
He now went up onto the mountain and summoned those he wanted. So they came to him
and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to proclaim the message,
with power to drive out devils.
And so he appointed the Twelve, Simon to whom he gave the name Peter,
James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or 'Sons of Thunder';
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot
and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
With this passage, we hear the beginning of a new section of the Gospel of Mark. It opens, like in a general synthesis, with the image of the community of the disciples around Jesus. The Teacher, surrounded by the Twelve on the mountain, represents the universality of the Christian community. For indeed, this is what it is: men and women gathered around Jesus as their Saviour. It is the Lord Jesus and nothing else that keeps them together. The reason of the Christian community is only Jesus; it is certainly not nationality, common interests, cultural links, shared condition, or belongings that unite them. What unites them all is to be disciples of the one Teacher. However, the Christian community is not anonymous; it is not composed of people who do not have other links with each another and do not know each other. The Lord edifies his community, calling each by name, one by one. It is like this that the Christian community was born, and in the same way, it will continue to grow today and tomorrow. In the Christian community, each one has his or her name and story; to each one, as for the twelve, is entrusted the mission to proclaim the Gospel and heal every illness. And yet, there is a precondition to the mission: the apostle must, first of all, "be with Jesus." We could say that the apostle is primarily a disciple, that is, one who stays with Jesus, who listens to and follows him. The tight link with Jesus’ life and words is the foundation of the apostolicity of the disciples. If they are with Jesus, they will go with him among the crowds and will continue his work. Later, according to what the evangelist John reports, Jesus will tell them: "because apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5).
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
