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
Galatians 3,1-5
You stupid people in Galatia! After you have had a clear picture of Jesus Christ crucified, right in front of your eyes, who has put a spell on you? There is only one thing I should like you to tell me: How was it that you received the Spirit -- was it by the practice of the Law, or by believing in the message you heard? Having begun in the Spirit, can you be so stupid as to end in the flesh? Can all the favours you have received have had no effect at all -- if there really has been no effect? Would you say, then, that he who so lavishly sends the Spirit to you, and causes the miracles among you, is doing this through your practice of the Law or because you believed the message you heard?
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In the first two chapters of the Letter, Paul defended his apostolic authority undermined by the insinuations of false teachers. After proving that both the apostolate and the Gospel were given to him directly by Christ, he defends the content of his message. And it does so by showing the fruits the Galatians have experienced in their own lives through the action of the Holy Spirit. What happened in them is not by works of the Law, but by the proclamation of the gospel. It is faith that allowed them to "experience so much" (3:4). For the Gospel is an effective word: it frees from sin and gives new life. Scriptures attest this incredible power of the Gospel. The apostle starts from the story of Abraham who was not justified by his deeds but by faith. Paul criticizes Christians harshly: "You foolish Galatians!" He really cares for the Galatians. He wants to defend them against foolishness; and he tells them that the Gospel has only one truth: the crucified Christ. Those who look at the Crucifix are preserved from foolishness because they understand the distance that separates them from such an extraordinary love as that of Jesus, a love so boundless that it urges him to die for us. In front of the mystery of this death, how can we think that our works save us? It is as though we could compare our petty deeds, with Jesus’ love for us. Who among us has loved to the point of dying on the cross? Paul warns that if we forget the preaching of Jesus Christ crucified, pride, and with it blindness, will prevail: we will see our works more than God’s overflowing love. The proclamation of the Gospel has made the deeds of Christians possible. The Holy Spirit poured into our hearts works in us and allows us to do "miracles." Jesus himself told his disciples: "The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these" (Jn 14:12). We should not be surprised at Jesus’ ambition for us. What is asked of us is to be guided by the Spirit so that in site of our smallness we will do great things. While he was led to Rome to receive martyrdom, St. Ignatius of Antioch said: "Christianity is not a matter of persuasion, but of greatness", precisely the "greater works" of love.
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
