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
1 Corinthians 1,1-9
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be God's holy people, with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am continually thanking God about you, for the grace of God which you have been given in Christ Jesus; in him you have been richly endowed in every kind of utterance and knowledge; so firmly has witness to Christ taken root in you. And so you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; he will continue to give you strength till the very end, so that you will be irreproachable on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can rely on God, who has called you to be partners with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
As if to obey Jesus’ command to go "two by two," Paul, an apostle, sends a letter to "the church of God that is in Corinth" together with Sostenes. The word "ecclesia" was certainly well known in Corinth. It referred to the meeting of the inhabitants of the city who enjoyed the full rights of citizenship. By calling the Christians of Corinth "the church of God," he wanted to help them understand that they were an assembly, a community, gathered by God in the city of Corinth. There is a deep bond between the Church and the city. Beyond their numbers, believers have the horizon of the city before them, not their own interests or their own limited horizons. Believers are sent to the entire city, because it is to the city that they must testify to the Gospel of love and resurrection. Christians are not a secluded island, a self-sufficient group turned in on itself. They are called to be leavening of love for the entire city. And the Christian communities in various cities are linked together to make them all places of peace and mercy. God has chosen them and made them "saints," that is, "separated," not because they are indifferent to what surrounds them, but because they are a leavening of love for it. The various communities are then united with the other communities spread throughout the various cities of world. The local community therefore cannot do without the others, wherever they may be. Before Paul’s eyes appears the great mystery of the people of the Lord, that has been gathered from every part of the earth. This sense of universality - today we would say globalization - is an original element of the Christian faith. This does not diminish Paul’s attention to the community of Corinth. Indeed, Paul thanks the Lord for the progress they have made. His words make them understand that Lord’s generosity in giving them gifts corresponds to the Corinthians generosity in responding to the Gospel: "The testimony of Christ has been strengthened among youso that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift." The community of Corinth did not appear tired or lukewarm, but "rich" with love. The reason for this is confirmed by the apostle: they have been "strengthened" in "the fellowship" of Christ. Jesus had said to the disciples: "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit."
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
