Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Colossians 2, 1-5
I want you to know, then, what a struggle I am having on your behalf and on behalf of those in Laodicea, and on behalf of so many others who have never seen me face to face.
It is all to bind them together in love and to encourage their resolution until they are rich in the assurance of their complete understanding and have knowledge of the mystery of God
in which all the jewels of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
I say this to make sure that no one deceives you with specious arguments.
I may be absent in body, but in spirit I am there among you, delighted to find how well-ordered you are and to see how firm your faith in Christ is.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul continues to compare his pastoral ministry to the churches in the Lycus river valley to a “struggle.” He wants the Colossians to understand that for Christians, life is never banal or superficial, whether they are responsible for their community or just ordinary disciples. On the contrary, it calls for great responsibility: Christian life means listening to the Gospel constantly and communicating it to all, defending it from attacks, and promoting its growth in the hearts of those who have welcomed it. The apostle emphasises the fact that he is also committed to those who have never met him personally, and he urges them not to let themselves be deceived or allow strange thoughts and ideas to take root in the community. They need to remain faithful to the Gospel they have received. Paul knows that the unity of the community, lived out as an expression of fraternal love, is the only way to preserve the identity of the Church as the Body of Christ. In Christ, God has placed every treasure of wisdom and knowledge, that is, his entire plan of love for humanity. He is the origin, the purpose, and the reason for every person and every thing. Only in Christ is every human desire and wish fulfilled. Therefore, those who know Christ and choose him as the Lord of their lives need no other doctrine to find the meaning of their existence. The only thing they need is full knowledge of the “mystery” of God, that is, they must know Christ, the revelation of God’s secret. But knowledge of Christ is not given once and for all. It is a journey of growth that occurs through the communion of love between brothers and sisters and through listening to the Gospel. Communion with Christ introduces us into the knowledge of the Father’s plan of love for humanity. This is true knowledge. Paul puts the community on guard against speech that seems attractive but, in reality, deceives because it does not place the true knowledge, the Gospel of Christ, at the centre of life. And, seeing the “morale and the firmness of faith” of the community of Colossae, he expresses his joy, but also his concern that they persevere on the journey they have undertaken. His physical distance from the community does not keep his love from being full and responsible.
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
