Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Hebrews 12, 12-17
So steady all weary hands and trembling knees
and make your crooked paths straight; then the injured limb will not be maimed, it will get better instead.
Seek peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one can ever see the Lord.
Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this can poison a large number.
And be careful that there is no immoral person, or anyone worldly minded like Esau, who sold his birthright for one single meal.
As you know, when he wanted to obtain the blessing afterwards, he was rejected and, though he pleaded for it with tears, he could find no way of reversing the decision.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The author calls on the Christian community, which was risking a weakening in their faith, to take up again the vigour of the Gospel: “Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed” (12:12-13). The exhortation recalls the indispensability of education in the lives of the disciples. Following the Lord, in fact, requires that disciples change their heart, mute their thoughts, in short, allow themselves to be guided by the Gospel more than by their own pride, or by their own instincts or by their own habits. Only in obeying the Gospel and its pedagogy are we able to grow in wisdom and love. A great concern is the art of being pastoral, as the Church Fathers called it. It is a matter of priority that “shepherds,” those responsible for the community, commit themselves to the interior growth of believers. In truth, all disciples are called to correct themselves and to help others to grow in faith and holiness. The author asks all Christians to be vigilant so that “no one fails to obtain the grace of God.” We could say that the entire community is called to be vigilant, that is, to exercise the episcopal’ task (the episcopos’ is one who oversees literally one who looks from above and cares): to be attentive to the faith of one’s brothers and one’s sisters. Attentiveness not to cultivate “poisonous roots”, that is, self-centred attitudes which disturb the life of the community and impede its growth, is also part of this vigilance. For this reason the author again exhorts: “See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birth right for a single meal.” Enslavement to our instincts and desires leads to thinking only of ourselves, without concern for others. This attitude leads inexorably to the loss of that which really counts, as with Esau who, for a plate of lentils, lost his birth right. And his repentance later was not enough.
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
