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
John 12, 44-50
Jesus declared publicly: Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me.
I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person, since I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world:
anyone who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.
For I have not spoken of my own accord; but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and what to speak,
and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In this Gospel passage, we see Jesus continuing to preach openly in the temple about his mission. Actually, he is crying it aloud, recalling the authority of the prophets: "Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me." Jesus does not present himself only as one who is sent by the Father, but as one with Him. He leads us into the very heart of the Gospel message. He came as the true light into the world revealing the mystery of love hidden in God. The Son revealed it to us: "I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak." An exegete on God, Jesus explains to us the Father’s love. The Creator of heaven and earth wants the salvation of all people, because they are all his children. Whoever listens to the Son’s words is saved, while whoever does not listen to them or refuses them will be condemned. It is about listening to and cherishing the Gospel wordthat is, it is about accepting it and putting it into practice, as Jesus said at the conclusion of his sermon on the mount. Jesus speaks to save, not to condemn. He does not scorn the trembling wick about to go out at the slightest breeze or the strained reed about to snap in half. True condemnation does not come from the Word of God, but from the little faith that we put in it: we do not believe that it can change our hearts, that it can create new feelings and actions. "The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge:" this is more a statement of fact than a condemnation. Indeed, if we do not welcome the Word of God and live it, how will it be able to guide us, heal us, and make us happy? We will be condemned to listening only to ourselves and remaining prisoners within our narrow horizon. However, if we listen to the Gospel of Christ, we will be introduced into the very mystery of God: "What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me." There is a sort of chain of love: the Father speaks to the Son the truth about his love, and the Son in turn communicates it to us. Every time we listen to the word of God and partake in the Eucharist, we are gathered in the mystery of communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Lord lowers himself all the way down to where we are so that we may be like Him.
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
