Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Hebrews 2,14-18
Since all the children share the same human nature, he too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could set aside him who held the power of death, namely the devil, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself the line of Abraham. It was essential that he should in this way be made completely like his brothers so that he could become a compassionate and trustworthy high priest for their relationship to God, able to expiate the sins of the people. For the suffering he himself passed through while being put to the test enables him to help others when they are being put to the test.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
For Christians at that time who lived under the nightmare of persecution and suffering, the announcement of having a merciful high priest was great consolation. The passion and death of Jesus has defeated the power of the "devil" and reduced it to impotence. The power of evil could not destroy the Lord's community of "brothers". Jesus had taken upon himself the care of his brothers and sisters: "He does not take care of the angels, but takes care of the race of Abraham" (v. 16). And he does not do it remotely. Instead, he made himself similar in everything to his brothers in order to care for them until the end. And it is for this radical fraternity that he was constituted by the Father as "the merciful high priest". This is the first time that this title is used for Jesus in the New Testament. The author, however, describes Jesus this way not to communicate some kind of distance from people, but describes him in terms of a direct relationship with the Father (Jesus being His son) and of a fellowship with all people. It is in this communion, paid by Jesus with his own death, that renders him the "high priest" full of mercy for Christians and for all humanity. The author writes: "Precisely because he was put to the test and suffered personally, he is able to come to the aid of those who undergo the trial" (v18). He is the "high priest" precisely because of the bond of fraternity he established with the "race of Abraham", that is, with the disciples and all of humanity. In this communion that binds the Father, the Son and the community of disciples we can glimpse the very mystery of the Church understood precisely as a community that prays and is admitted to the presence of God's throne by his high priest, Jesus Christ.
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
