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
John 14,27-31
Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say: I am going away and shall return. If you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.
I shall not talk to you much longer, because the prince of this world is on his way. He has no power over me,
but the world must recognise that I love the Father and that I act just as the Father commanded. Come now, let us go.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This gospel passage opens with Jesus’ gift of peace to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you." Jesus understands that after three years of intense friendship it will be difficult and painful for the disciples to be separated from him. He has already promised them the gift of the Spirit, who "will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you." And now he gives them his peace, the messianic peace that contains within itself all of God’s blessings. It is not just any ordinary peace, but the one Jesus himself lives, which is born from intimacy with the Father, from the certainty that we are not alone, and from the confidence that God’s support and consolation will never fail. It is an inheritance that only the disciples have and that they need to testify to the world. Jesus urges them not to be afraid, not to be troubled. He repeats the words that he has already spoken to them: "I am going away, and I am coming to you." And he adds that they should even be happy that he is going to the Father. These words seem difficult to understand. How can they be happy knowing that their dearest friend, the one who saved them from a meaningless life, is going away? In truth, Jesus wants to prepare them for the mystery of his Easter and his ascension into heaven. Being at the "right hand of the Father" does not mean being far away; indeed the Lord will be closer to them, wherever they will be, and will never leave anyone alone. The disciples will scatter to communicate the Gospel along the roads of the world, but He will accompany them everywhere. The prince of Evil, the devil, will certainly work to break the bond of love that exists between Jesus and his friends. But even if Jesus’ death is a work of Evil, it is more a choice made by the Son, who gives his life to save everyone because of love. Jesus’ physical departure is not the result of a betrayal, like the departures to which we are accustomed. How many bonds break, how many separations occur among men and women! Jesus’ "departure" to go the Father is a sign of a greater love, the Son’s love for the Father in heaven: "I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father." It is on this path of obedience to God that the disciples will discover the permanence of love.
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
