Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
John 7, 40-53
Some of the crowd who had been listening said, 'He is indeed the prophet,'
and some said, 'He is the Christ,' but others said, 'Would the Christ come from Galilee?
Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from Bethlehem, the village where David was?'
So the people could not agree about him.
Some wanted to arrest him, but no one actually laid a hand on him.
The guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, 'Why haven't you brought him?'
The guards replied, 'No one has ever spoken like this man.'
'So,' the Pharisees answered, 'you, too, have been led astray?
Have any of the authorities come to believe in him? Any of the Pharisees?
This rabble knows nothing about the Law -- they are damned.'
One of them, Nicodemus -- the same man who had come to Jesus earlier -- said to them,
'But surely our Law does not allow us to pass judgement on anyone without first giving him a hearing and discovering what he is doing?'
To this they answered, 'Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not arise in Galilee.'
They all went home,
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This Gospel passage once again has us stop in the temple in Jerusalem, during the festival of Booths, while Jesus debates with his opponents about his mission. In this passage, the evangelist reports the different reactions the people have to Jesus’ words. Some admire and recognize him as a prophet, and others even believe he is the Messiah. Indeed, a debate arises among them. In fact, the Gospel always leads to such questions. It is not just a book like any other. It often urges us to decide whether we will be with those who follow it or with those who do not. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the Gospel to cause divisions within the heart of each of us. How many times have we felt the attraction of these words and let ourselves be changed by them? But how many other times have we pushed them away out of laziness, pride, or because they demand too much? That day in the temple a debate of this very kind arose. But Jesus’ words carried so much authority that no one dared to lay hand on him. Guards were even sent to arrest him, but after hearing him speak they did not have the courage to do so. They let him go. When the Pharisees rebuked them for not arresting Jesus, they responded with a frankness that irritated them all the more: Never has anyone spoken like this. The Word of God is powerful, and it never leaves those who hear it indifferent. Even when people are only partially open to them, these words are not without effect. This is what happened to the guards. Even though they did not follow Jesus, as his disciples did, they were still amazed by him. Of course, the power of the Gospel is a weak force, but it is stronger than human weapons. It is in this sense that the Apostle Paul, in chains, can write to Timothy that the Word of God is not chained (2 Tm 2:9). The power of the Gospel is the power that comes from freely offering a sublime love that knows no boundaries: the Gospel teaches us to love others before ourselves. It evens asks us to love our enemies. Indeed, words like these had never been heard on earth. And their depth and breadth still have never been surpassed. Even today, no one teaches that the truly blessed are the poor, the non-violent, the meek, and those who work for peace and justice. The entire Gospel is marked by this love. Among those Pharisees only Nicodemus, who had met and spoken with Jesus at length, objects to his colleagues’ blindness and speaks in Jesus’ defence, Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it? But the Pharisees rebuked him too. Their eyes were totally blinded and their hearts had become hardened. They do not even yield to facts, but remain trapped in their stubbornness. That is what the last words of the passage suggest: each of them went home, back to their ordinary lives. Only by listening continuously to Jesus’ Word, as Nicodemus had done, can we open our eyes and heart to this extraordinary Teacher and be welcomed into his house and his community, the new house that he came to build among men and women.
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
