Vigil of Pentecost Read more
Vigil of Pentecost
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 21, 20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them -- the one who had leant back close to his chest at the supper and had said to him, 'Lord, who is it that will betray you?'
Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, 'What about him, Lord?'
Jesus answered, 'If I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.'
The rumour then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, 'He will not die,' but, 'If I want him to stay behind till I come.'
This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true.
There was much else that Jesus did; if it were written down in detail, I do not suppose the world itself would hold all the books that would be written.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This passage concludes John’s Gospel. As we heard yesterday, Jesus has appeared to his disciples for the third time on the shores of the lake of Tiberias. After having answered Jesus’ three questions about love with three affirmations of his pastoral responsibility and having heard Jesus’ words about his old age, Peter turns and sees the disciple whom Jesus loved. He therefore asks Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” This question is perhaps born of curiosity or even the desire to make a comparison. But the answer is dry, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” Jesus reminds Peter that he has to make a personal decision to follow him, without distractions. This is the most important thing for him to think about, as it is for everyone who wants to follow Jesus. With their aura of mystery, the words about the disciple that follow caused some members of the first community to maintain that that disciple would never die. One thing is clear: John is in the Lord’s thoughts, not abandoned to himself. The particular memory made in this final passage of the fourth Gospel draws our attention to the word “remain,” which with Jesus describes the place of this disciple in the life of the Church. He is called to “remain” in love, that is, to bear witness not only to his love for the Lord, but even more to the love the Lord has for him. John remains the disciple who loved Jesus, but overall the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is why we remember the extraordinarily tender scene at the last supper when this disciple was able to rest his head on Jesus’ breast, showing an uncommon degree of intimacy between him and his Teacher. Only the one who had “rested his head on Jesus’ breast” was able to understand the mystery of the Son of God. Guided by the Spirit, he discovered the Lord’s love and lived and bore witness to it in the community. The last few lines of the Gospel, which form a new conclusion, emphasize this witness. The author writes: “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.” The author is trying to link the writing of his gospel to the life of the community of the disciple whom Jesus loved. The relationship that links the writing of the Gospel to the life of the community is clear from the very beginning, to the point that we can say that it is only in the context of this relationship that we can understand the profundity of what is written in the text. The author then makes sure to point out that we are reading an unfinished work: “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” It is a hyperbole that contains a profound truth: the revelation of Jesus is such a great and profound mystery that it escapes human comprehension. If anything, every disciple who reads these pages knows that he can only understand them if - like their author - he or she rests his or her head on Jesus’ breast. It is in an atmosphere of prayer and love that we can grasp the deeper meaning of what is written in this book.
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
