Memory of the apostle Bartholomew from Cana in Galilee. His body is kept in the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Tiberine Island in Rome; this church has become a memorial of the "new martyrs." Memory of Jerry Essan Masslo, a South African refugee who came to Italy and was welcomed by the Community of Sant'Egidio. He was killed by robbers. With him, we remember all refugees. Read more
Memory of the apostle Bartholomew from Cana in Galilee. His body is kept in the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Tiberine Island in Rome; this church has become a memorial of the "new martyrs." Memory of Jerry Essan Masslo, a South African refugee who came to Italy and was welcomed by the Community of Sant’Egidio. He was killed by robbers. With him, we remember all refugees.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 1, 45-51
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.'
Nathanael said to him, 'From Nazareth? Can anything good come from that place?' Philip replied, 'Come and see.'
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, 'There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.'
Nathanael asked, 'How do you know me?' Jesus replied, 'Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.'
Nathanael answered, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.'
Jesus replied, 'You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You are going to see greater things than that.'
And then he added, 'In all truth I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of man.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the Church celebrates the apostle Saint Bartholomew. Originally from Cana in Galilee, the fourth Gospel identifies him with the name Nathanael (gift of God). His friend Philip calls him and brings him to Jesus, who sees in him an "Israelite in whom there is no deceit." The encounter with Jesus is decisive for him. He changes his life, leaves his house and family, and begins to follow Jesus, who will call him to be one of the Twelve. Tradition says that after Pentecost he went to preach the Gospel in India and Armenia, where he died a martyr, skinned alive. His body lies in the Roman Basilica of Saint Bartholomew on the Tiberine Island, which has become the sanctuary of the New Martyrs of the twentieth century. The Gospel passage which we heard tells us of Nathanael’s encounter with Jesus. Phillip, who had already met the young prophet from Nazareth, tells Nathanael about this prophet’s extraordinary force. Nathanael objects with the typical realism of an honest man: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nathanael’s honesty, which is even praised by Jesus, is not enough to save him. Only the encounter with the prophet of Nazareth illuminates the heart of this just man and makes him feel that he has been deeply understood. Jesus promises him that he will see much greater things than what he just saw. That is his ambition for his little group of followers. They may not even realize it, but the Lord has entrusted to them his very mission. This is why he will later tell Peter and all those who follow him that they will receive one hundred times more than what they left behind.
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
