Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Protestant Churches and Ecclesial Communities (Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, and Evangelical). Read more
Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Protestant Churches and Ecclesial Communities (Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, and Evangelical).
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Hebrews 6,10-20
God would not be so unjust as to forget all you have done, the love that you have for his name or the services you have done, and are still doing, for the holy people of God. Our desire is that every one of you should go on showing the same enthusiasm till the ultimate fulfilment of your hope, never growing careless, but taking as your model those who by their faith and perseverance are heirs of the promises. When God made the promise to Abraham, he swore by his own self, since there was no one greater he could swear by: I will shower blessings on you and give you many descendants. Because of that, Abraham persevered and received fulfilment of the promise. Human beings, of course, swear an oath by something greater than themselves, and between them, confirmation by an oath puts an end to all dispute. In the same way, when God wanted to show the heirs of the promise even more clearly how unalterable his plan was, he conveyed it by an oath so that through two unalterable factors in which God could not be lying, we who have fled to him might have a vigorous encouragement to grasp the hope held out to us. This is the anchor our souls have, reaching right through inside the curtain where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever, of the order of Melchizedek.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In this passage, the author of the letter is trying to exhort Christians to grow in comprehension of the mystery of Christ. Despite their sluggishness in listening, the author pushes them to be nourished by more substantial food. He does not spend time on the "basic teaching about Christ, which he identifies with "repentance from dead works." There is a need for a deeper, more perfect understanding. The author then addresses Christians with the severity of a pastor. He asks them how, having tasted the gift of God and the wisdom of the Word, they could now run the risk of rejecting everything. It seems impossible to him that they would turn back to their past lives, before they converted to the Gospel. This would mean denying Christ and crucifying him again. The author is trying to urge them not to stop on the path to perfection, but to keep listening to the Word of God. Disciples can never excuse themselves from listening to the Gospel and making an effort to change their heart. The author hopes that all believers, even the laziest, might become like ground that "drinks up" abundant rain and bears plentiful fruits of holiness. Those who instead harden their hearts become cursed ground that only produces "thorns and thistles." For them all that is left is the destroying fire of terrible justice. In order to reinforce the Christians' hope, the author also notes the works of faith and love that they have performed: "For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do." He will not fail to give his help. Believers have Abraham before their eyes, who believed in the Lord's promise, made with a solemn vow, and became its heir, even if only after he persevered through a long period of waiting. And Jesus is even more than Abraham, he entered "the inner shrine behind the curtain," becoming for us a high priest "according to the order of Melchizedek."
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
