EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Church
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Church
Thursday, April 26


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

John 13,16-20

'In all truth I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the one who sent him. 'Now that you know this, blessed are you if you behave accordingly. I am not speaking about all of you: I know the ones I have chosen; but what scripture says must be fulfilled: 'He who shares my table takes advantage of me. I tell you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He. In all truth I tell you, whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Gospel passage we heard brings us into the upper room. Jesus had just finished washing his disciples' feet. He wanted that it be a teaching that showed how far his love for them went. His aim was clear: he wanted this type of love to exist between his disciples of then and of always. Bending to wash one another's feet must be the highest possible qualification for whoever wanted to be his disciple. Solemnly he tells them: "Servants* are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them." Jesus' disciples are called to behave according to the logic of washing one another's feet. It was the most evident way to show concretely how to love others. And in this responsibility of giving one's life is hidden the joy of the faithful: "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them." The sentence that the apostle Paul reported to the elders of Ephesus confirms this perspective: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). It is a Christianity that finds its joy in loving others, in spending its life for the Gospel. Not that this comes without labour and sacrifice, but communicating the Gospel gives us the greatest joy because we are participating in God's great plan of love for the world. Jesus, knowing the weakness of his disciples, warns them of the difficulties they will face: In that moment, they will have to resist the snares of evil that wants to pull them from the good hands of the Master. It is decisive to remain connected to Jesus in every way. The problem is not to be without sin, but to put our hope in Jesus and also the hope to allow ourselves to be forgiven when we distance ourselves from him. The evangelist seems to suggest the solemnity of Jesus' epiphany: "I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he." The phrase "I am he" harkens to the voice Moses heard from the burning bush. Essentially, by listening to Jesus, we are listening to the very voice of the Father in heaven. Whoever welcomes Jesus as the Lord, welcomes the Father who is in heaven.

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!