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
1 John 1, 8-2,11
If we say, 'We have no sin,' we are deceiving ourselves, and truth has no place in us;
if we acknowledge our sins, he is trustworthy and upright, so that he will forgive our sins and will cleanse us from all evil.
If we say, 'We have never sinned,' we make him a liar, and his word has no place in us.
My children, I am writing this to prevent you from sinning; but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the upright.
He is the sacrifice to expiate our sins, and not only ours, but also those of the whole world.
In this way we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
Whoever says, 'I know him' without keeping his commandments, is a liar, and truth has no place in him.
But anyone who does keep his word, in such a one God's love truly reaches its perfection. This is the proof that we are in God.
Whoever claims to remain in him must act as he acted.
My dear friends, this is not a new commandment I am writing for you, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message you have heard.
Yet in another way, I am writing a new commandment for you -- and this is true for you, just as much as for him -- for darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
Whoever claims to be in light but hates his brother is still in darkness.
Anyone who loves his brother remains in light and there is in him nothing to make him fall away.
But whoever hates his brother is in darkness and is walking about in darkness not knowing where he is going, because darkness has blinded him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle knows well that communion with the Lord does not come from adhering to some abstract truth; it comes when the believers "do the truth," that is, when they put the Gospel into practice. In order to live in communion with God we need first of all to acknowledge our sin and not believe ourselves to be righteous. "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." The awareness of being sinners is indispensable and it is possible if every day we humbly put ourselves before the Word of God that helps our inner examination. However, sin is not a condemnation. Instead it opens the doors to the forgiveness of the only Just One, Christ, who died in expiation of our sins and of the sins of the whole world. From this John emphasizes that to know Jesus is to observe his commandments, to live according to his word and not according to ourselves. "Knowledge" for the Bible is not so much an intellectual understanding but rather a way to live and love. This is why the disciples are called to behave like Christ. The apostle then introduces the theme of love. The power of love loosens us from the slavery of sin. Love is an "old" commandment, but it is also the true new thing that clearly illuminates the disciples’ path. Whoever does not welcome it, that is, whoever does not love his or her brothers and sisters, "is in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness." It is a clear distinction: whoever loves his or her brothers and sisters is in the light, and whoever hates them is in the darkness. Here John restates the image of living in the light that in the previous passage consisted in living in communion with God and consequently in the love for brothers and sisters. That is why John reminds his readers that love is the only real thing that saves the world from destruction and death.
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
