Memory of Nunzia, a mentally disabled woman who died in Naples; with her we remember all the mentally disabled people who have fallen asleep in the Lord. Read more
Memory of Nunzia, a mentally disabled woman who died in Naples; with her we remember all the mentally disabled people who have fallen asleep in the Lord.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
2 Peter 1, 16-21
When we told you about the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not slavishly repeating cleverly invented myths; no, we had seen his majesty with our own eyes.
He was honoured and glorified by God the Father, when a voice came to him from the transcendent Glory, This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour.
We ourselves heard this voice from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have confirmation of the words of the prophets; and you will be right to pay attention to it as to a lamp for lighting a way through the dark, until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds.
At the same time, we must recognise that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual.
For no prophecy ever came from human initiative. When people spoke for God it was the Holy Spirit that moved them.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Peter assures the Christians that Christ will come with power and defeat evil once and for all. The Gospel is not a vain doctrine; it is not a deception. The apostle writes that he himself witnessed with his own eyes the power of the Gospel victorious over evil. Certainly he is referring to the numerous miracles and healings performed by Jesus through which the coming of the new kingdom of God’s love was made manifest. But, among the many wondrous deeds that he has witnessed by Jesus, the apostle recalls a particular memory that profoundly marked his life: the transfiguration on Mount Tabor. At that moment the glory and honour that Jesus received from the Father had appeared in an extraordinary manner and with the confirmation that came from a voice from on high: "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased". The mystery hidden for centuries was finally revealed in its fullness to Peter, James and John. They understood that they would have to cherish this mystery in their heart and hand it down to future generations. In effect, the Church, since the apostles and up to today, has done no other than hand down from generation to generation this mystery of salvation that is the love of God made visible in Jesus of Nazareth. And Peter, recalling that "no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation," underlines that the entire Bible, including the First Testament, must be read and understood within the life of the Church. The Bible is not a private book that each person reads and interprets on one’s own. It is within the Christian community that the Bible is a living book. This is why we always need the Church, a community that helps to understand it deeply, not only to the letter but in spirit. The apostle compares Scripture to "a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." Psalm 119 sings it well: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (v. 105). In every moment of life, whether difficult or joyful, the Word of god proclaimed in the Christian community enlightens and orients us towards the Lord so that we are not abandoned to the darkness of uncertainty and love of ourselves.
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
