Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
1 Peter 2, 11-17
I urge you, my dear friends, as strangers and nomads, to keep yourselves free from the disordered natural inclinations that attack the soul.
Always behave honourably among gentiles so that they can see for themselves what moral lives you lead, and when the day of reckoning comes, give thanks to God for the things which now make them denounce you as criminals.
For the sake of the Lord, accept the authority of every human institution: the emperor, as the supreme authority,
and the governors as commissioned by him to punish criminals and praise those who do good.
It is God's will that by your good deeds you should silence the ignorant talk of fools.
You are slaves of no one except God, so behave like free people, and never use your freedom as a cover for wickedness.
Have respect for everyone and love for your fellow-believers; fear God and honour the emperor.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle with the title "beloved", generally unknown to the genre of epistles in antiquity, reveals his solicitous affection for the Christians scattered about in far-off Turkey and facing a harsh trial. This very love spurs him to call his children back to a life that follows the "law of holiness"; this life makes them a new people, a people that is foreign to the mentality of this world. This is why Peter underscores the behaviours of daily life. Sins (the "desires of the flesh") wage war on the soul, the apostle warns, weakening and separating it from the Lord. Peter certainly knew what the author of Genesis had written: "If you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it" (4:7). As Christians are foreigners to the world, they must show themselves worthy of belonging to a holy people. Only in this way they will be able to be an example to all. The hostility that they bear should push them even more to perform "honourable deeds", because these deeds will convince and lead their persecutors to repent and give glory to God. The good conduct of the Christians is the truest apologetic, the most efficient mission especially in today's world which is so full of words that do not reach the heart and in which all behaviour is allowed, thanks to a relativistic morality. The apostle also describes specific precepts and starts from the attitude the believers should have in public life. Believers, Peter says, must remain subject to the different levels of public authority, from the king to the local governor. They should also not be any less interested in civic life than other people; quite the contrary, they are urged to respect civic life and work with other people for the common good of the whole society. It is with exemplary lives that they will "silence the ignorance of the foolish." In these words of the apostle there is an exhortation to be model citizens who care about civil and public ethics. Peter asks Christians to obey the will of God, referring also to the realm of civic life, and adds that the liberty they have received should not be used as a pretext for their personal interests or worse, for their iniquities, but should be used to serve God and one’s neighbour. For this reason, believers fear God, love one’s brothers and sisters and honour everybody, including the authorities. It is a passage of the Letter that, removing all temptation of "idolatry" of the state, still asks of everyone greater attention and reflection so that righteous and wise behaviour may contribute to the good of all.
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
