Feast of the Trinity Read more
Homily
By bringing this great and holy mystery to our attention once again, the Holy Liturgy takes the first step towards our smallness and our deep-rooted distraction. We are right to say that the liturgy brings this mystery to our attention "again" because in reality it is already present in and accompanies Jesus’ entire life, beginning with Christmas. Indeed, this mystery accompanies all of history, beginning with creation. This is the meaning of the extraordinarily beautiful passage of the Scriptures taken from the book of Proverbs. The text shows us God’s wisdom as a person and it says: "When there were no depths I was brought forth
when [God] had not yet made earth and fields
when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race" (Prov 8:24-31). Christian tradition has seen in Wisdom the "Word" that "was in the beginning" and through whom all things were made. This means that the moment of creation is radically marked by the dialogue between God and Wisdom, between the Father and the Son. The Gospel of John writes: "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being that has come into being" (Jn 1:2-3). The "foundations of the earth," that is, the heart of all human reality, bear the imprint of the unique relationship that exists between the Father and the Son. We could say that everything bears the imprint of the communion between the Father and the Son. Not without reason and with great profundity did some of the Fathers of the ancient Church speak of the semina verbi, the imprint of the Word present in the whole of creation, in every person, every faith, and every culture. Nothing is foreign to the Trinity, because everything was made in God’s image.
The letter to the Romans speaks of God’s love poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:1-5). The Holy Spirit is the energy that makes us into God’s temple, house, and family. The Gospel of John (16:12-15) tells us some of the words Jesus spoke to his disciples on the evening of the last supper. How many things did he still have to say before leaving them! Not only did he not have enough time, but - more importantly - the disciples were not yet able to understand the things he wanted to communicate to them. That is why Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." The Spirit draws the disciples towards God’s heart, towards God’s world, and towards God’s life, which is a communion of love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God, the Christian God (and we have to wonder whether many Christians believe in "the God of Jesus!") is not a single entity, no matter how powerful and majestic. The God of Jesus is a "family" of three persons; and we could say that their unity springs from love: they love each other so much that they are one thing. This incredible family came into history so that all could be part of it. Yes! Everyone is called to be part of this very special "family of God." At the beginning and the end of history there is this communion between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinitarian horizon encompasses us all. Communion is the name of God and the truth of creation. This horizon is the most burning challenge made to the Church, or rather, to all of the Christian Churches; I would add to all religions and all people. It is the challenge of living in love. We are certain that wherever there is love, God is there.
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
