Memory of the saint archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel. The Ethiopian Church, one of the first among the African churches, venerates St. Gabriel as its protector. Read more
Memory of the saint archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel. The Ethiopian Church, one of the first among the African churches, venerates St. Gabriel as its protector.
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 1, 47-51
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, 'There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.'
Nathanael asked, 'How do you know me?' Jesus replied, 'Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.'
Nathanael answered, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.'
Jesus replied, 'You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You are going to see greater things than that.'
And then he added, 'In all truth I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of man.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the liturgy remembers the angels and messengers of the Lord. In the biblical tradition angels are, as the Letter to the Hebrews sums up, "spirits sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation" (1:14). God entrusts them with the task of transmitting his will. It is true that Paul reminds us that there is only "one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5); however, the Churches declare the role of these messengers in the history of salvation. Through them we are ensured of God’s constant presence by each of us. The Gospel sheds some light on their presence in front of God’s heavenly throne while they celebrate an uninterrupted celestial liturgy. We join this divine liturgy every time we celebrate the Eucharist and proclaim God three times holy. The Gospel passage we heard is one in which the angels, with their "ascending and descending," witness to God’s constant presence in our lives. Thus, believers should not fear the dark forces that invade the world and human hearts. Through his angels, the Lord does not abandon us, but rather does not cease protecting us. Every believer, every Christian community has his or her own angel that keeps watch so that evil does not prevail. The Lord, with the host of angels, surrounds us so that nothing may remove us from him. They fight against the Prince of Evil and sustain us in doing good. Let us join the prayer that the Ambrosian liturgy says in their feast day: "If the rebellious spirits were precipitated in the infernal abyss, the immense host of angels and archangels sing to you the hymn of faithfulness and love in an endless way. And we, hoping to share their blessed existence, join from now this eternal choir of worship and gladness, raising to you, O Father, our praise."
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
