Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
1 Timothy 2, 1-7
I urge then, first of all that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be offered for everyone,
for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live peaceful and quiet lives with all devotion and propriety.
To do this is right, and acceptable to God our Saviour:
he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth.
For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus,
who offered himself as a ransom for all. This was the witness given at the appointed time,
of which I was appointed herald and apostle and -- I am telling the truth and no lie -- a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
After the brief look at his own vocation (1:12-17), Paul again exhorts Timothy. He calls him "son" because he begot him to the faith. And in this spirit of communion he exhorts him to teach the Gospel of love and mercy of which he has just spoken, recalling his conversion (1:3-11). The apostle reminds the young disciple that the extraordinary judgments ("prophecies") pronounced in his favour on the occasion of his apostolic induction, and his energetic activity in defence of the Gospel, have led him to entrust him with the responsibility for the Ephesians’ community. Here the apostle uses the Greek word "paratìthemai" (i.e. entrust to someone’s care) in order to indicate the entrusting of something that does not belong either to the one who entrusts it or the one who receives it. For indeed Paul entrusts To Timothy the community, which is of Christ. We could say that the Spirit of God, who watches over the Churches, makes use also of the consensus of brothers and sisters to indicate who should assume the task of being responsible for the community. Also through this "succession" in pastoral guidance, what the Lord promised the disciples is fulfilled: "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Mt 28:20). The bond with Christ, which the "succession" emphasizes in front of all, makes Timothy ready to maintain the responsibility of a shepherd and fight the good fight against falsifiers of the Gospel. The apostle gladly compares the life of the disciple with military service, especially when one is called to positions of responsibility in the Church. In the second letter Paul writes to him: "Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer" (2:3-4). The minister, as a partisan of Jesus Christ in the "good battle," should be trained to fight and suffer. It is not a matter of reaching any perfection but to be trained to fight against evil and build the community of the disciples of the Lord. This requires attention and passion, commitment and sacrifice, just like in a battle. His most effective armour is faith and a good conscience. That is to say, listening continually to the Word of god strengthens our faith and enlightens our conscience. Whoever goes to battle with a weak and uncertain faith, with an unquiet and unclean conscience, is inexorably overpowered by evil. It is essential to keep and nourish the light that comes from the Word of God and the apostolic preaching. Two men, Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom Paul names, were probably his collaborators in Ephesus. Hymenaeus is mentioned (2 Tim 2:17) as a liar regarding the resurrection and a certain Alexander (2 Tim 4:14) the smith against whom Paul is warning Timothy. Both are "delivered to Satan" by the apostle, since they threatened the existence of the community by their life and doctrine. This exclusion from the community that the apostle has decided is an act of discipline born out of love for the community that it may be protected from all division and grow in love. The unity of the community is a precious treasure that must be defended in all cases.
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
