Memory of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta Read more
Memory of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jude 1, 20-23
But you, my dear friends, must build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit;
keep yourselves within the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you eternal life.
To some you must be compassionate because they are wavering;
others you must save by snatching them from the fire; to others again you must be compassionate but wary, hating even the tunic stained by their bodies.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle contrasts the unity of the Christian community with the heresy of division. The unity of which the apostle speaks cannot be reduced to a matter of organizational unity. Rather, it is a unity that operates on the more profound level of the spiritual life that is born from God. The apostle employs the image of a house, illustrating to the believers the spiritual edifice whose foundation has already been laid and which they must continue to build upon. These words convey a profound conception of every believer’s responsibility-that is, that every believer is entrusted with the responsibility of building up the spiritual house. This is a very different concept from what we could define today as clerical.’ The community belongs to everyone and everyone is responsible for it. An "ethnic" belonging is not sufficient. Every believer will have to face God regarding his or her work in the Church. This is the Gospel love we are called to live. The apostle indicates some of the tasks that all believers should perform. First, there is prayer, which is a priestly task for the entire community; no one can exclude themselves from this essential "work" to build the Church. Through the practice of prayer we cut away at the root of an individualistic concept of faith and we begin to progress toward the next work that the author of the letter recommends. The next task is keeping ourselves "in the love of God." This means being open to participating in the synergy between God and believers in the establishment of love on earth. Not just any kind of love, but agape, the love of God effused in the hearts of believers. There is a peculiarity in the way that Christians live out love. Perhaps this is the greatest treasure we are able to show the world. No one else can do it. This is how Christians live and wait for the mercy of God, that is the fullness of the kingdom. It is a laborious waiting that requires great generosity from all. The apostle exhorts his readers to attentively care for their brothers and sisters. This is the Gospel love that we are called to live and by which we will be recognized as disciples of Jesus.
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
