Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Revelation 19,11-21
And now I saw heaven open, and a white horse appear; its rider was called Trustworthy and True; in uprightness he judges and makes war.
His eyes were flames of fire, and he was crowned with many coronets; the name written on him was known only to himself,
his cloak was soaked in blood. He is known by the name, The Word of God.
Behind him, dressed in linen of dazzling white, rode the armies of heaven on white horses.
From his mouth came a sharp sword with which to strike the unbelievers; he is the one who will rule them with an iron sceptre, and tread out the wine of Almighty God's fierce retribution.
On his cloak and on his thigh a name was written: King of kings and Lord of lords.
I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he shouted aloud to all the birds that were flying high overhead in the sky, 'Come here. Gather together at God's great feast.
You will eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of great generals and heroes, the flesh of horses and their riders and of all kinds of people, citizens and slaves, small and great alike.'
Then I saw the beast, with all the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to fight the Rider and his army.
But the beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had worked miracles on the beast's behalf and by them had deceived those who had accepted branding with the mark of the beast and those who had worshipped his statue. These two were hurled alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.
All the rest were killed by the sword of the Rider, which came out of his mouth, and all the birds glutted themselves with their flesh.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
We have arrived at the last set of seven that marks not only the end of the book of Revelation but also the end of the entirety of God’s revelation, from Abraham to the last day, passing through the central event of Jesus’ incarnation. It is a prophecy of consolation: the duel between Good and Evil, between the Word and the Beast, is won by the Word. The apostle certainly emphasizes the "agonic" dimension, that is, the dimension of struggle, inherent in Christianity and consequently in the existence of every disciple. It is not just an exterior struggle; rather it is a battle that needs to be fought above all in our own interior, in our own hearts. But we are not alone in this struggle against the enemy - that devil who "like a roaring ...prowls around, looking for someone to devour" (1 Pt 5:8) - because the heavenly Rider, called Faithful and True, the "Word," stands by our side. Yes the Word - the sword that comes out of his mouth - is given to us, too, so that we might defeat evil. Then there is an angel, standing like the glorious Christ and sharing his halo, the sun, who invites the birds to a macabre banquet similar to the one described by Ezekiel (39:1-20) that prefigures the enemy’s defeat. And finally John sees the Beast with his army arrayed against the divine Rider. The author does not stop to describe the conflict. Without any hesitation, he immediately communicates the defeat of the Beast and the false prophet, both of whom "were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur." Every believer has been warned by the apostle that victory is already decided, and thus no believer should be afraid. The clear message that we receive from this passage is that Christ fights and defeats the enemy with the sword that comes out of his mouth, his Word. This is the weapon he has left to his Church and to every believer. It is the only strength we have that can defeat Evil.
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
