Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Hebrews 12, 1-4
With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then, should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely, and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us.
Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right of God's throne.
Think of the way he persevered against such opposition from sinners and then you will not lose heart and come to grief.
In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of bloodshed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After narrating a long story of the witnesses of faith, the Letter exhorts and encourages the community directly so that its members do not feel alone: they are a part of a long story of faith. Indeed, they are “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” that sustain, exhort and encourage them to persevere in the faith and discipleship of Jesus. Using an image dear to Paul, the author of this letter uses the image of a race, so that Christians may generously persist in the struggle of faith. As with any race, one must set aside every burden and impediment of sin that weights one down, and must keep one’s eyes fixed on the goal, Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Christians are called to imitate Christ. In this sense, they always remain disciples, that is, believers who listen and follow the Master in every season of their lives. Disciples understand the urgency of time and do not wait, hesitate or procrastinate. They know that every season has its own opportune moment that is not to be lost. Thus perseverance is needed. The Letter, which speaks about joy and the cross, can sound like a contradiction. In truth Christian joy cannot but pass through the wounds of pain and suffering; it cannot avoid touching in some way Jesus’ wounds. The author explains that to be a follower of Christ means to accept his cross, that is to withstand opposition and threats in order to reach our home in Heaven. This is why believers should not take their eyes off Jesus: “Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart” (Heb 12:3). The Gospel becomes a mirror Christians should face everyday; being different from the world always involves opposition. The disciple is not less than his/her Master. Nevertheless, we have not “resisted to the point of shedding [our] blood” as Jesus did and as the innumerable martyrs in the faith have. In the strains and struggles of life it is easy to give up, to adapt to the surrounding mentality, seeking a balance and some well being, forgetting that joy comes from “giving more than receiving.” The martyrs and witnesses to the faith whom John Paul II wanted to commemorate during the great Jubilee of 2000 remain for us a sign of Christian life, of men and women who even in sufferings and tribulations have lived the joy of the Gospel.
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
