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
1 Thessalonians 2, 9-13
You remember, brothers, with what unsparing energy we used to work, slaving night and day so as not to be a burden on any one of you while we were proclaiming the gospel of God to you.
You are witnesses, and so is God, that our treatment of you, since you believed, has been impeccably fair and upright.
As you know, we treated every one of you as a father treats his children,
urging you, encouraging you and appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and his glory.
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.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle carries on his defence in this passage. If in the previous text he explained what he had failed to do (1Th 2:1-8), now the apostle wants to highlight the good that he had done. He had decided to act in an irreproachable way, consistent with the words he preached: “You are witnesses [of] how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was towards you believers.” The apostle is well aware of the fact that the Gospel is God’s, not his own nor any other person’s, but he knows that the more his life corresponds to his words the more effective his preaching will be. The Gospel is not a doctrine to be learned and communicated; indeed, it is a strong and effective word that can change the hearts and the lives of those who preach it and therefore also of those who listen to it. The apostle did come before them as the transmitter of new knowledge or as a teacher of new doctrines. He presented himself as a father who tries with all of his effort to generate new children in the faith. He reminds the Thessalonians: “As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you should lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” The apostle knows that he will touch the Thessalonians’ hearts with these words and help them continue to listen to the Gospel and live together as brothers and sisters. He gives thanks to God for this: “That when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word.” We may say this is the joy of the shepherd who sees his preaching of the Gospel fulfilled. The apostle knows well that this is the heart of the Christian experience, faith that the Word of God “is now at work in you who believe” (v. 13). ?
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
