Memorial of the Saints Addai and Mari, founders of the Chaldean church. Prayer for Christians in Iraq. Többet
Memorial of the Saints Addai and Mari, founders of the Chaldean church. Prayer for Christians in Iraq.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Acts 18,23-28
where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers. An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual fervour and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had experienced only the baptism of John. He began to teach fearlessly in the synagogue and, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they attached themselves to him and gave him more detailed instruction about the Way. When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by God's grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the only time in Acts that Apollos is mentioned. Paul speaks of him in his first letter to the Corinthians, which was written in Ephesus during his third voyage, after the time Apollos spent among the Christians in Corinth. The judgment Paul gives of him in the Letter goes along the same lines as what is affirmed in this passage Acts: Apollos is "an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures," and his apostolic efforts are accomplished "through grace." Nonetheless, we know that Apollos gave the Apostle cause for concern because of the two factions that had been formed among the Christians in Corinth, of which one sided with Paul and the other Apollos. It is important to notice Paul's passion for the unity of the Christian community. In his letter he even praises Apollos' preaching, but he warns Christians that pride, which is always lurking in the hearts of believers, becomes a poison that divides the community and can even destroy it. The actions of Priscilla and Aquila, who welcome Apollos into their home and help him better understand the Gospel message, are important. The quarrels, the divisions that arise within the Christian community must find a solution within communion, in the horizon of fraternity, having the primary objective of the unity of the community. Perseverance in the life of the community, even with the inevitable misunderstandings and tensions, and the preservation of unity is the condition for understanding the profound truth of the Gospel. Mere doctrine or dialectical skill is not enough to be truly evangelical. It is significant that Luke, in this passage, mentions Priscilla, before Aquila, as if to underline the pastoral action that women carried out in the Pauline communities. This is a precious indication also for today's Christian communities, which require a greater presence of women in the life of the Church.
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!
