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
1 Thessalonians 2, 13-16
Another reason why we continually thank God for you is that as soon as you heard the word that we brought you as God's message, you welcomed it for what it really is, not the word of any human being, but God's word, a power that is working among you believers.
For you, my brothers, have modelled yourselves on the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judaea, in that you have suffered the same treatment from your own countrymen as they have had from the Jews,
who put the Lord Jesus to death, and the prophets too, and persecuted us also. Their conduct does not please God, and makes them the enemies of the whole human race,
because they are hindering us from preaching to gentiles to save them. Thus all the time they are reaching the full extent of their iniquity, but retribution has finally overtaken them.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul calls to mind the missionary activity and the abundant fruits it has borne. He "constantly" thanks God for it. It is He who has wrought it through the preaching. The conversion of the Thessalonians has in fact come about when they recognized that the word of the apostle was the word of God. Paul, in an almost awkward manner, writes: "the word of God that you heard from us." And in order to demonstrate the power inherent in this Word, he presents it as a person who acts on his own: the Word accomplishes its work almost independently of the preacher; it in fact continues to work even when the preacher is long gone. The Word of God is different from the word of human beings precisely because it has its own efficacy: "Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword" (Heb 4:12). The Word of God shows its efficacy by making the one who suffers strong, empowering for witness and martyrdom. The Word of God, indeed, has an intimate orientation towards the cross. That which befalls the Master happens also to the Church and the Thessalonians share in this common destiny. They too now suffer the persecution which has taken place in the Jewish -Christian communities from the beginning. The Church will always be a Church of martyrs. Just as in the beginning it was some Jews who persecuted the community in that land, now the pagans do exactly the same. And history shows us that, from time to time, evil comes upon Christians, and at times to the point of persecution. Opposition, however, does not stop the proclamation of the Gospel. Paul writes that one could think that the measure of the sin of those who killed the prophets (Mt 23:32) would have reached its fullness with the killing of the "Son." But the same fate as the Lord’s is in store for the disciples. As far as the people of Israel, God, in his infinite mercy, grants a period of time for conversion. As the apostle writes to the Romans, "What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction" (Rom 9:22). Only when Israel shall have killed and persecuted even "prophets and apostles" of the Lord (Lk 11:49ff.) will the measure of their sin be full, and an accounting will be required of all the blood spilled. It is precisely this final act of the tragedy which Paul constantly and painfully experiences in his body: the definitive hardening of Israel. But the apostle knows that God does not definitively withdraw his mercy from Israel, and that he has left open to them the way of salvation.
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
