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
Romans 15, 1-13
It is for us who are strong to bear with the susceptibilities of the weaker ones, and not please ourselves.
Each of us must consider his neighbour's good, so that we support one another.
Christ did not indulge his own feelings, either; indeed, as scripture says: The insults of those who insult you fall on me.
And all these things which were written so long ago were written so that we, learning perseverance and the encouragement which the scriptures give, should have hope.
Now the God of perseverance and encouragement give you all the same purpose, following the example of Christ Jesus,
so that you may together give glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one heart.
Accept one another, then, for the sake of God's glory, as Christ accepted you.
I tell you that Christ's work was to serve the circumcised, fulfilling the truthfulness of God by carrying out the promises made to the fathers,
and his work was also for the gentiles, so that they should give glory to God for his faithful love; as scripture says: For this I shall praise you among the nations and sing praise to your name.
And in another place it says: Nations, rejoice, with his people,
and in another place again: Praise the Lord, all nations, extol him, all peoples.
And in Isaiah, it says: The root of Jesse will appear, he who rises up to rule the nations, and in him the nations will put their hope.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, so that in the power of the Holy Spirit you may be rich in hope.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul continues his exhortation about the primacy of communion. Even though he includes himself among the “strong”, that is, among those who live free from the law, he is still writing about the primacy of building up the Christian community. He still wants his readers to be free from their love for themselves and their desire only to satisfy themselves. Jesus himself, Paul writes, “did not please himself.” The temptation to be self-referential is always at hand, and it takes on all different forms, including feeling like we are one of the just. In truth, the disciple is only called to walk on one path, the path of the Teacher. And indeed we know how many times Jesus repeated, “I did not come to be served but to serve and to give my life.” Not only did Jesus not save his life, He came down from heaven to become the servant of all. This attitude is what qualifies someone as a Christian, a disciple of Jesus. This is the source of a willingness to welcome each other, as the apostle writes. This “service” of reciprocal welcoming was first lived out and practiced by Jesus. In a society like ours, where everyone wants to affirm his or her ego at all cost, where selfishness, self-satisfaction, and the attainment of every desire have become an irresistible law, the example of Christians who welcome each other, who do not know how to live without each other, and who cannot imagine their lives without welcoming the poor as brothers and sisters, becomes more and more urgent. The Christian community that lives out the communion that it receives from God, “saves” human society from the barbarism of selfishness.
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
