Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
1 Timothy 3, 8-13
Similarly, deacons must be respectable, not double-tongued, moderate in the amount of wine they drink and with no squalid greed for money.
They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
They are first to be examined, and admitted to serve as deacons only if there is nothing against them.
Similarly, women must be respectable, not gossips, but sober and wholly reliable.
Deacons must be husbands of one wife and must be people who manage their children and households well.
Those of them who carry out their duties well as deacons will earn a high standing for themselves and an authoritative voice in matters concerning faith in Christ Jesus.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Alongside the office of "bishop", Paul mentions that of the deacon. It is a very important ministry in the life of the first Christian communities. The Acts of the Apostles report their election and the task that was entrusted to them for the care of harmony in the life of brothers and sisters. Paul requires that they be tested prior to being chosen, because the entrusted task demands responsibility, since their service is closely tied to the life of the community. The Apostles instituted them to solve the serious crisis of the first apostolic community regarding the issue of the Hellenistic widows who were neglected in comparison to these of Jerusalem. (Acts 6:1-7). Only after being certain of their conduct can they be chosen for this service. And once chosen and ordained they should keep "the mystery of faith with a clear conscience," because they help the poor, preach and baptize. Nothing harms the faith so much as pride and the protagonism which belies with deeds the truth of being "servants" which is written into the very term "deacon." They show the bishop and all the believers that the life of the disciple should always be "diaconal," that is, a service to the Gospel, to the community and to the poor. Paul also mentions women here, perhaps the wives of the deacons or those who held some office in the community, "deaconesses," of which he speaks a bit later (5:9-16) and among which is named Phoebe, "deacon of the church at Cenchrea" (Rom 16:1). These women, since they carry out a significant activity in the community, should be "serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things." As for the bishops, also for the deacons, it is asked that they have been married only once. Paul holds the diaconate in great honour, and writes to Timothy that "serving well" makes one achieve "good standing", obviously not in the worldly sense of a social position which is acquired, but in that of the gospel law which entrusts the "servant" the "deacon," with primacy in the Church.
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
