Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Ephesians 2, 11-22
Do not forget, then, that there was a time when you who were gentiles by physical descent, termed the uncircumcised by those who speak of themselves as the circumcised by reason of a physical operation,
do not forget, I say, that you were at that time separate from Christ and excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants of the Promise, limited to this world, without hope and without God.
But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far off have been brought close, by the blood of Christ.
For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one entity and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, by destroying in his own person the hostility,
that is, the Law of commandments with its decrees. His purpose in this was, by restoring peace, to create a single New Man out of the two of them,
and through the cross, to reconcile them both to God in one Body; in his own person he killed the hostility.
He came to bring the good news of peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
Through him, then, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father.
So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow-citizens with the holy people of God and part of God's household.
You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.
Every structure knit together in him grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
and you too, in him, are being built up into a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle is worried about the community’s unity, which has been jeopardized by the tensions between the former Jews and the former pagans. This passage has three parts: the first recalls the distance between Jews and pagans in order to underscore Jesus’ work, which breaks down the wall to build unity. Paul reminds the pagans of their former condition, precisely, the fact that they were far from God, away from His revelation. This reflection is specific to the time in which the apostle writes; nonetheless, each one of us can refer it to him or herself by thinking of the time when he or she was far from God, away from communion with Him. These words also make us think about the Church today: how many divisions there are among Christians! And if we widen the scope: how many conflicts there are among peoples! As believers, we cannot give up and accept such divisions as this would make us accomplices. We are called to work to restore fraternity among all people, the fraternity that God desires. Therefore, the apostle presents Jesus as our peace, as he who has united Jews and Gentiles in one body. We can also add that he works for the unity of those who are separated or dispersed so that everyone may be gathered in unity. Christ makes peace because he is peace. For this reason, he works for full communion among all people. Peace is neither a feeling of well-being nor the simple absence of war. Peace is, in fact, fullness of communion, the supreme messianic good. In order to make it possible, Jesus entered into the depths of conflict and suffered death. With his cross, he broke down the wall of selfishness that divides people, and reunited all in his love; he created a "new humanity," the man and woman in whose hearts all humankind lives. In the heart of the believer, in fact, every division, barrier and boundary is overcome; for Jesus’ disciples there are no enemies to fight against, but only brothers and sisters to love. From this "crucified" love the Church is born as a communion of brothers and sisters. Jesus took away the enmity that divides people by taking enmity, hate and division upon himself, without reacting to it or using violence against it, but by forgiving. In this way, he nailed the enmity upon the cross along with himself and made love flow instead. A new fraternity on earth is born from the cross: the communion of believers. To this community is given the task of bringing reconciliation wherever there are division and separation. Together with Isaiah we can sing, to this day: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news" (Is 52:7). By welcoming the love of the cross, the disciples are no longer strangers and foreigners: they have become "citizens with the saints," members of God’s family who enjoy the good things of heaven, while still here on earth.
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
