The prayer for peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Remembrance of the dedication of the Roman basilicas of Saint Peter's in the Vatican and Saint Paul's outside the walls
Többet
The prayer for peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Remembrance of the dedication of the Roman basilicas of Saint Peter's in the Vatican and Saint Paul's outside the walls
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
1 Maccabees 1,10-15.41-43.54-57.62-64
From these there grew a wicked offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the 107th year of the kingdom of the Greeks. It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. 'Come,' they said, 'let us ally ourselves with the gentiles surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.' This proposal proved acceptable, and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the gentiles' observances. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the gentiles have, disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to gentile rule as willing slaves of impiety. The king then issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each nation renouncing its particular customs. All the gentiles conformed to the king's decree, and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath. On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year 145 the king built the appalling abomination on top of the altar of burnt offering; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets. Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king's decree sentenced him to death. Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food. They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed. It was a truly dreadful retribution that visited Israel.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The first book of Maccabees, which includes Israel's history from 167 B.C. to 134 B.C., opens with a very brief historical summary on Alexander the Macedonian (Alexander the Great) who had his empire stretching throughout the East, "until the ends of the Earth." In order to combine the diverse peoples into one civilization, Alexander made Greek the official language of his empire and ordered that centres of Hellenist civilization be built everywhere, both by building new cities and reconfiguring the existing ones to conform to the Greek model. Hellenism used theatres and gymnasiums, as well as temples, to spread Greek divinities. As a way to show the hegemonic strength and cultural influence of Alexander, the author observes, "the earth became quiet before him." Yet pride for such enormous power took possession of the Emperor's heart and divine justice would check him: Alexander fell sick and died. Beforehand, however, he divided up his kingdom between his officials; one of them was Antiochus Epiphanes "a sinful root," who, among his deeds, would eventually sack Jerusalem. During the reign of Antiochus, a few renegade men of Israel (literally "transgressors of the Law") seduced other Jews into accepting the Hellenist attitude and lifestyle. Defending their connection with God above everything else was the people of Israel's reason for living. Only on the solid basis of their alliance with God could they have relationships with other peoples, otherwise they would jeopardize their very reason for being as a people of Israel. This is a lesson that speaks to us today when we adapt worldly attitudes that only seem to suit ourselves. As believers, we are called to stay faithful to God and friends to men and women, especially to the poor.
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!
