Memory of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest who died as a martyr for love. He accepted death in the concentration camp of Auschwitz to save the life of another man. Read more
Memory of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest who died as a martyr for love. He accepted death in the concentration camp of Auschwitz to save the life of another man.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
1 John 3, 11-18
This is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we must love one another,
not to be like Cain, who was from the Evil One and murdered his brother. And why did he murder his brother? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's upright.
Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.
We are well aware that we have passed over from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love, remains in death.
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you are well aware that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
This is the proof of love, that he laid down his life for us, and we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If anyone is well-off in worldly possessions and sees his brother in need but closes his heart to him, how can the love of God be remaining in him?
Children, our love must be not just words or mere talk, but something active and genuine.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Referring back to what he had just written about the love for one’s brothers and sisters, the apostle reaffirms the primacy of fraternal love and reminds Christians that the first words they heard - the apostle has been proclaiming them from the beginning - were "love one another." Only in fraternal love can men and women be saved from homicidal violence. The example of Cain ("who was from evil") offers a powerful example of the homicidal force that is hidden in selfishness and pride. The Christian is the exact opposite of Cain. Not only should we "not hate" the other, but rather we should love the other. Jesus said as much in the Sermon on the Mountain, "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, You shall not murder’; and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or a sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, You fool,’ you will be liable to hell" (Mt5:21-22). Love becomes the primary inspiration for the whole life of the disciple of Jesus. Love for the enemy is the definite test of universal love that goes beyond human ideas and understanding. This is why it comes from God and it is a paradox to regular human understanding. Whoever does not love falls into the coils of the devil, who pushes people from indifference to the abyss of complicity with evil. There are no middle terms [or places] between love and hatred: either we choose the former or we are slaves of the latter. This radical irreconcilability is what makes the world so opposed to Christians: love is violently blocked by those who are distant from love and want to banish it from life. That is what happened to Jesus and what continues to happen to his disciples every time they give witness to the commandment of love. But whoever loves his or her brothers or sisters is already in life, and death has no more power over him or her. The Christian is called to give witness to love in deed and not in words; that is, in concrete service to the poorest. That is where the Lord’s love is revealed.
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
