Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Hebrews 13, 7-17
Remember your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of their lives, take their faith as your model.
Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever.
Do not be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines: it is better to rely on grace for inner strength than on food, which has done no good to those who concentrate on it.
We have our own altar from which those who serve the Tent have no right to eat.
The bodies of the animals whose blood is taken into the sanctuary by the high priest for the rite of expiation are burnt outside the camp,
and so Jesus too suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood.
Let us go to him, then, outside the camp, and bear his humiliation.
There is no permanent city for us here; we are looking for the one which is yet to be.
Through him, let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise, the fruit of the lips of those who acknowledge his name.
Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for these are the kinds of sacrifice that please God.
Obey your leaders and give way to them; they watch over your souls because they must give an account of them; make this a joy for them to do, and not a grief -- you yourselves would be the losers.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
These verses reflect the author’s concern for those responsible for the community. Conscious that the unity of the community also depends on the one who is in charge of guiding it, the author exhorts Christians to “remember” who has the task of “proclaiming the word of God.” The apostle Paul writes that faith depends on hearing. This is why Christians are called to listen to the preacher and to receive and welcome his words in their hearts. If those who preach are responsible before God for how they exercise this ministry, believers are responsible for how they listen. For this reason the exhortation to “remember” the leaders of the community is never more opportune: it is to treasure their preaching, because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” It is also an exhortation to imitate them in faith and to accompany them with prayer, help, and support, so that with care they can carry out their ministry. In the Christian community, for that matter, authority represents not itself, but the Lord, who is the “head” of the body, the Church. Obedience, therefore, remains key in the lives of believers: this obedience frees from the slavery of opinions, one’s own or others. The author then turns to clarify certain provisions related to forbidden “food.” Perhaps there were rituals to indicate certain foods that were to be excluded lest they contaminate the spirit with evil matter (see 1 Tim 4:3). To other foods, however, was attributed a heavenly nature, endowed with special powers. The Letter strongly disagrees with these opinions. The Christian gains “a heart strengthened” not with food, but with listening to the Gospel. So no one should think that they can attain salvation by savouring “holy” food: whoever wants to enter into the “city that is to come” must take part in the “abuse” of Christ, in his passion. In fact, living the Christian life is not based on a set of rules, including rituals, but on abandoning the logic of sin and accepting the love of Christ. Thus we enter the promised Kingdom. And alms-giving becomes part of this logic of love. It may appear to be a small way of helping, but it is a concrete gesture to go out from oneself and to remove oneself from the logic of the world: you start by opening your hands and continue by opening your heart to those who need help and love.
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
