Memory of the deportation of the Jews of Rome during the Second World War.
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Memory of the deportation of the Jews of Rome during the Second World War.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Revelation 6,1-8
Then, in my vision, I saw the Lamb break one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures shout in a voice like thunder, 'Come!'
Immediately I saw a white horse appear, and its rider was holding a bow; he was given a victor's crown and he went away, to go from victory to victory.
When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature shout, 'Come!'
And out came another horse, bright red, and its rider was given this duty: to take away peace from the earth and set people killing each other. He was given a huge sword.
When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature shout, 'Come!' Immediately I saw a black horse appear, and its rider was holding a pair of scales;
and I seemed to hear a voice shout from among the four living creatures and say, 'A day's wages for a quart of corn, and a day's wages for three quarts of barley, but do not tamper with the oil or the wine.'
When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature shout, 'Come!'
Immediately I saw another horse appear, deathly pale, and its rider was called Death, and Hades followed at its heels. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague and through wild beasts.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After the letters to the seven Churches, John now presents the other great set of seven: the opening of the seven seals. It is a sort of universal week in which the historical epochs are symbolically gathered together with Christ, who judges them. Everything happens within the framework of the great liturgy described in the preceding chapter. The first four seals are opened first. The opening of each seal is accompanied by the cry of one of the four "living creatures" who says: "Come." Each cry is followed by the appearance of a horse, each of a different colour. John uses these symbolic images to reveal to us the drama of the history of the Church and the world: the wars and catastrophes, the trials and the suffering that follow one after another through time. The first horse (white), ridden by an archer, indicates the predominance of the violent force that is incarnated in war. Next comes the shedding of blood, the red horse that symbolizes the causes and effects of war: it is as if the world has been struck by a great sword, which people wield one against the other until they "slaughter one another." This horse epitomizes the hatred, the rancour, and the vendettas that arise within different groups of people. The black horse, the third one, is the symbol of death by hunger. This horse still continues to roam over the entire world today, and no one seems to want to stop him, even if it would not require an excessively great effort. The dish of the rider’s scale that contains the poor is always terribly low. We could say that this horse makes a pair with the red one: war is, in fact, the mother of all poverty. The fourth horse is green, and the name of the one who rides it is "Death;" behind him comes Hades, the infernal life that men and women begin to build for themselves in the present every time they let evil prevail over good. The domination of these four horses over the world is not, however, as limitless as it seems: they only have power over a quarter of the earth. Only God holds everything in his hands. This is why Christians do not resign themselves to the strength of evil. They know that the Lord is stronger than the Evil One. And Jesus continues to give us the words to speak to God: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Lk 23:46). Prayer is the first work that believers have in their hands to rein in evil and spread goodness.
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
