Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Colossians 1, 15-20
He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation,
for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers -- all things were created through him and for him.
He exists before all things and in him all things hold together,
and he is the Head of the Body, that is, the Church. He is the Beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that he should be supreme in every way;
because God wanted all fullness to be found in him
and through him to reconcile all things to him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, by making peace through his death on the cross.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In order to warn the Colossians not to resign themselves to the dark powers of the world, Paul composes the Christological hymn. He first speaks of Christ’s pre-existence and his superiority over all of creation, including the ranks of cosmic, immaterial powers. They no longer have the strength to compete with Christ, who is the only true response to the uneasiness of men and women. Affirming that the Son is the “image of the invisible God” and the “the firstborn of all creation,” the apostle does not just mean that he is the first and most important creature, but that he has pre-eminence over all of creation. In the Son, all of creation including the invisible things, which the apostle lists one by one finds consistency, rationale, and meaning. The Son is the origin and the end of history, which culminates in the resurrection of Jesus, the central event that makes all things new. Indeed, the “new creation” begins with the resurrection of Christ. And the Risen One, who has become the universal reconciler (1:20), is the centre of unity towards which all things converge. And he carries out his plan for reconciliation through the Church, of which he is the head (this is the first time in the New Testament that Christ is presented as the Head of the body, which is the Church). Thus the apostle clarifies what it means for Christians to belong to the Church: as a community, they become a sacrament of Christ in the world. But he adds that Christ is also the “firstborn.” With his resurrection, Christ inaugurates the universal resurrection of the dead. He is the first to rise, the one who opens the road, “the firstborn within a large family” (Romans 8:29), who brought to fulfilment humanity’s deepest vocation: to enter into communion with God. Paul never turns his gaze away from Christ, and he never tires of exalting his primacy: indeed, in Him “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” And evil, which still works in the world, was nonetheless definitively weakened by Jesus. In Him God has already made real peace between all creatures, cosmic peace.
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
