Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 16, 16-20
In a short time you will no longer see me, and then a short time later you will see me again.
Then some of his disciples said to one another, 'What does he mean, "In a short time you will no longer see me, and then a short time later you will see me again," and, "I am going to the Father"?
What is this "short time"? We don't know what he means.'
Jesus knew that they wanted to question him, so he said, 'You are asking one another what I meant by saying, "In a short time you will no longer see me, and then a short time later you will see me again."
'In all truth I tell you, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus continues to speak to his disciples and tells them about his imminent departure and forthcoming return. Earlier he had told them that he would return to the Father and send them the Paraclete. Now, he lifts their spirits from sadness by promising them that he is absence will be short and that they will see him soon: "A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me." The disciples are a bit disorientated by these words, but Jesus, in reality, wants to tell them about his death and resurrection. This is what he means by saying that his being distant will be transformed into closeness. Jesus is talking about his death and resurrection, but before the disciples are overcome with disappointment and discouragement, Jesus wants to explain to them that the painful, wrenching absence that they will experience at his departure from earth to return to the Father is not, in reality, a separation. After his death will come his resurrection. And his victory over death will allow all to overcome every distance. What matters for the disciples of then and of today, is to continue to look for him and want to be near him. The disciples are upset by what seems to be a paradox: how can physical distance become even closer proximity? Jesus does not leave this troubling question without an answer. He tells his disciples that the pain and sadness they feel at his departure will become a prayer of invocation, capable of transforming the sadness of distance into the joy of rediscovered proximity. In effect, after Jesus’ ascension to the Father, all men and women, in every part of the world, can have the Lord at their side if they call on him in prayer: the Lord will speak to their hearts through his Word, through the Eucharist, and through the love of the community.
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
