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Memory of the Church
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Memory of the Church

Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican communion. Többet

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Church
Thursday, January 21

Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican communion.


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

Mark 3,7-12

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea and Transjordan and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, 'You are the Son of God!' But he warned them strongly not to make him known.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The crowds know well that they will find in Jesus a good and compassionate man who will never reject them. Obviously Jesus' availability does not mean giving up on his ministry. Quite the opposite. Jesus wanted to help people to be happy and glad and this is why he invited them to change their hearts. He was not flattering them and even less an accomplice to their instincts in order to have their consensus. He decides to board a boat to get off a shoreline and be able to see everyone and speak to all from the Gospel. And he starts talking to that crowd. It is a scene that is striking for its strength. That boat becomes a new pulpit for Jesus. And how can we not see in it the image of the Church? Maybe we must seriously ask ourselves: where today's crowds, more numerous than those of then, can "touch" Jesus? Where can the many who carry the luggage of their pain and hopes be healed and consoled? Shouldn't our Christian communities today be like that boat where the crowds can get close and receive the Gospel of love? Today's crowds need a Church that becomes neighbouring, close, loving, good, and compassionate. In a world where the barriers that divide the poor and the sick from those who are well, either individuals or nations, grow the Church I called to show even more mercy and welcome to the poor and the weak. Barriers - sometimes made of bricks and often prejudices - are inspired by those "impure spirits" spoken by the evangelist, who want to prevent Jesus' words from reaching the heart of those who listen to it. The Gospel shows us how much Jesus' power is stronger than that of such spirits. The Lord gives the disciples the same power so that they can continue his mission of salvation everywhere.

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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!

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