Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Christ is risen from the dead
and will die no more.
He awaits us in Galilee!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Acts 2,36-41
'For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that the Lord and Christ whom God has made is this Jesus whom you crucified.' Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'What are we to do, brothers?' 'You must repent,' Peter answered, 'and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God is calling to himself.' He spoke to them for a long time using many other arguments, and he urged them, 'Save yourselves from this perverse generation.' They accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Christ is risen from the dead
and will die no more.
He awaits us in Galilee!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
"Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified" This is one of Peter’s first statements to the crowd that had gathered in the upper room after Pentecost. As penetrating as the tongues of fire that had come down on the apostles’ heads, these words strike the hearts of those who were listening. Acts notes that "they were cut to the heart." This should be the goal of preaching, all preaching: to reach the hearts of those who are listening and cut them, that is, question them, move them, correct them, and upset them. Later the apostle Paul will say that the Word of God is like a double-edged sword that penetrates to the depths of the heart. In fact, cut to the heart, those who are listening immediately asked Peter a simple but fundamental question: "What should we do?" The apostle’s answer was equally clear: "Believe in the Gospel and save yourselves from this corrupt generation." The apostle is not echoing the typical, tired condemnation of the present, perhaps with some nostalgia for the good old days. Nor is he reciting an abstract formula from the catechism. Peter is proposing the Gospel as a force that can change the heart. Indeed, the Gospel is like the leavening of love that transforms society, like an energy that allows people to conceive of and live out their relationships with others in a new way. The Gospel does not claim to lay out a political program or a plan for reorganizing society, perhaps one that would lead to a Christian society. The Gospel’s claim is on one hand much simpler and on the other much deeper: it asks for conversion of the heart. Changing the world starts with changing the hearts of every man and woman. A new community of men and women is born of the Gospel, men and women who are no longer slaves of loneliness and selfishness, but participants in the victory of love over hatred and of life over death. This is the meaning of Peter’s words when he urges: "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." In fact, it is a matter of living in a new way, illuminated by the light of the Gospel. The features of the new evangelic community are clearly outlined by the author of Acts later: listening to the teaching of the apostles, fraternal union, the breaking of bread and prayer, and the sharing of goods. Four rules that should still be followed today.
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
