Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
1 Corinthians 12, 12-31
For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts -- all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body -- so it is with Christ.
We were baptised into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink.
And indeed the body consists not of one member but of many.
If the foot were to say, 'I am not a hand and so I do not belong to the body,' it does not belong to the body any the less for that.
Or if the ear were to say, 'I am not an eye, and so I do not belong to the body,' that would not stop its belonging to the body.
If the whole body were just an eye, how would there be any hearing? If the whole body were hearing, how would there be any smelling?
As it is, God has put all the separate parts into the body as he chose.
If they were all the same part, how could it be a body?
As it is, the parts are many but the body is one.
The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' and nor can the head say to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'
What is more, it is precisely the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest which are the indispensable ones.
It is the parts of the body which we consider least dignified that we surround with the greatest dignity; and our less presentable parts are given greater presentability
which our presentable parts do not need. God has composed the body so that greater dignity is given to the parts which were without it,
and so that there may not be disagreements inside the body but each part may be equally concerned for all the others.
If one part is hurt, all the parts share its pain. And if one part is honoured, all the parts share its joy.
Now Christ's body is yourselves, each of you with a part to play in the whole.
And those whom God has appointed in the Church are, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers; after them, miraculous powers, then gifts of healing, helpful acts, guidance, various kinds of tongues.
Are all of them apostles? Or all prophets? Or all teachers? Or all miracle-workers?
Do all have the gifts of healing? Do all of them speak in tongues and all interpret them?
Set your mind on the higher gifts. And now I am going to put before you the best way of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Paul uses the example of one body with many members to clarify the necessary variety of charisms, which are all given to the Church to build up the unity of the body. The image that Paul uses is an effective one, and it allows us to see the Church as the “body of Christ,” animated by the one Spirit. The apostle will develop this theme better in the letter to the Ephesians. Here, he emphasizes unity by referring to the one baptism: “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (v. 13). And, Paul adds, “Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many” (v. 14); its unity, however, is given by the Spirit. This image helps us to understand better that the Christian community is not the sum of individual people - it is not the fruit of the juxtaposition of so many individuals next to each other. The Church is not born from individual people or from one person’s efforts; rather, it is an organic body made and animated by the one Spirit. Consequently, we have to say that the Church is born from on High from God. And it is the Lord who arranges the different parts in an orderly manner so that they form one body. Consequently every single part, every single disciple, has his or her own task and his or her own functions, which cannot be done by anyone else. These parts are not absolute and unique, but they are all indispensible, each with its own function. Indeed, if there is any preference to be given, it should be given to the “inferior” parts. In these pages written by the apostle, we once again find the preferential love for the weak that is attested to in all of Scripture. And in any case, “the members,” the apostle emphasizes, “have the same care for one another.”
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
