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
James 5, 7-11
Now be patient, brothers, until the Lord's coming. Think of a farmer: how patiently he waits for the precious fruit of the ground until it has had the autumn rains and the spring rains!
You too must be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord's coming will be soon.
Do not make complaints against one another, brothers, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates.
For your example, brothers, in patiently putting up with persecution, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name;
remember it is those who had perseverance that we say are the blessed ones. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and understood the Lord's purpose, realising that the Lord is kind and compassionate.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
James is well aware of the fact that Christians need to prepare themselves to welcome the coming Lord and that they need to do it carefully. No one knows when or how the Lord is going to come. Two things are certain: the time of his coming is near, and it will be a decisive time for the salvation of every man and woman. Endurance and patience do not mean hopelessness, lost time and powerlessness. Rather they are the true strength of Christians, of those who face the world trusting a power that is greater than our small world and that fulfils our hope. James compares our impatience at the Lord's delay to the impatience that arises in the heart of a farmer when he fails to see the fruits of his labour. The disciples of Jesus should not let themselves be caught in their thoughts, and should patiently wait for the coming of the Lord by praying, working, serving the poor, and listening to the Word of the Lord every day, "until [they] receive the early and the late rain." Impatience, which ultimately comes from our search for personal satisfaction, causes grumbling and bickering in the community of disciples. When we are impatient we easily blame others or complain as if others were guilty of lacking fruit. But the disciples are patient because they put their trust in the Lord, even in the difficult moments of life. James invites his readers to look to the long line of prophets that have given witness to the love of God among men and women. He explicitly cites Job, who was tested severely but who, by putting all of his trust in God, not only had the grace of encountering God but also was rewarded with double of what he had lost (Job 42:11ff.). The Lord gives recompense both in the present and in the future life, as Jesus himself said to Peter when he asked him what would happen to him and the others who had left everything. They would receive a hundredfold in this life, together with persecutions and eternal life in the future. The believers know that this is possible because, "The Lord is compassionate and merciful."
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
