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
Colossians 3, 12-17
As the chosen of God, then, the holy people whom he loves, you are to be clothed in heartfelt compassion, in generosity and humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with one another; forgive each other if one of you has a complaint against another. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same.
Over all these clothes, put on love, the perfect bond.
And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together in one body. Always be thankful.
Let the Word of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God;
and whatever you say or do, let it be in the name of the Lord Jesus, in thanksgiving to God the Father through him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Disciples, having become new beings, already live in the world initiated by the Risen Christ. However none of us should believe ourselves safe from the traps of sin, that is “lurking at the door” of our hearts, as is written in the book of Genesis. Being new creatures requires disciples to behave accordingly. Thus, Paul reminds the Colossians the necessity to mortify ourselves, to “put to death whatever in you is earthly”--that is the instincts that lead us to satisfy just ourselves. Paul lists some of them, from sexual disorders to the greed that is defined as idolatry. Indeed lust for possession absorbs human energies to the extent of subduing the heart. To be disciples demands a struggle against our sins and a commitment to master our instincts. This is a real battle, aimed at reducing our pride to make love grow. This is the way to achieve a real communion of love among the members of the community. Whilst, if we live focusing on ourselves, the wrath of God and his judgment will come upon us. God does not tolerate the threat of evil to divert people from their vocations. This is why the apostle reminds the Colossians of their past pagan behaviour (3:7) so that they understand the grace they have received when they were admitted into the community of the disciples. He reminds them the necessity of putting away every bad behaviour like removing clothes. Paul lists some vices: “Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language” which all arise from the intemperance of mouths, and which poison relationships in the Christian community. He recalls the Baptism once again: believers are “clothed with Christ” (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14) and belong to him, so that they can say: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). This belonging requires a renewal of the heart, to make the disciple more similar to Christ, who is the perfect image of God (Col 1:15). In the new self there is no division, either of culture, race, or social condition, as Paul writes to the Galatians: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:27-28). The union with Christ makes differences relative: what unites is much stronger than what divides.
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
