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
John 13, 16-20
'In all truth I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the one who sent him.
'Now that you know this, blessed are you if you behave accordingly.
I am not speaking about all of you: I know the ones I have chosen; but what scripture says must be fulfilled: 'He who shares my table takes advantage of me.
I tell you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He.
In all truth I tell you, whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel we have heard puts us back into the upper room. Jesus had just finished washing his disciples’ feet. He wanted to offer to the apostles a teaching that showed how far his love for them could go. The intent of the master was clear: he wanted this kind of love to reign among his disciples then and forever. Bending down to wash one another’s feet should be the highest qualification of those who want to become his disciple. With solemnity, Jesus says to them, “Servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.” The disciples of Jesus are called to always behave according to the logic of washing one another’s feet. We could say that was it was the clearest way to show concretely how to love others. It is in this effort to give one’s life for others that the joy of believers is hidden: “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” The phrase that the Apostle Paul reports to the elders of Ephesus confirms this perspective: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It is the presentation of a Christianity that finds its joy in loving others, in spending one’s life for the Gospel. It is not that this does not cost effort and does not entail sacrifice. But the communication of the Gospel of mutual love gives us an even greater joy, because it makes us participate in the great plan of love of God for the world. Unfortunately, the disciples of Jesus do not always live in this spirit. We let ourselves be overwhelmed easily by a self-centred and lazy lifestyle, which is slow in love and ready to preserve ourselves. In this way, we risk distorting the Gospel, and in any case, decrease its strength to change. Judah is the tragic example of this drift. He, who had been with Jesus in an intimate manner, so as to “eat the bread” in the same dish, reaches the point to sell him for a few pennies. Knowing the weakness of the disciples, Jesus warns them of the difficulties that will come. At that moment, they will have to stand against the wiles of the evil that wants to pull them from the good hands of the Master. It is crucial to remain bound to the Lord Jesus in every way. The problem is not to be without sin, but to put our hope in Jesus, even the hope of being forgiven when we turn away from him. The evangelist seems to suggest the solemnity of the epiphany of Jesus: “I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he.” The formula “I Am” recalls the voice that Moses heard from the burning bush. In fact, by listening to Jesus, we listen to the Father himself who is in heaven. Whoever receives Jesus as Lord also receives the Father who is in heaven.
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
