Memory of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr (258). He reorganized the service to the poor in Rome. Prayer for the poor and for those who serve them in the name of the Gospel. Read more
Memory of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr (258). He reorganized the service to the poor in Rome. Prayer for the poor and for those who serve them in the name of the Gospel.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 12, 24-26
In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.
Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me, must follow me, and my servant will be with me wherever I am. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Lawrence, a deacon who was martyred during the persecution of Valerian in the middle of the third century. The Gospel proclaimed today underlines the fact that this disciple followed his Teacher to the end, to the point of shedding his blood. In fact, Jesus had said, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” In truth, martyrdom is the normal condition for every Christian. Any one who gives his or her life for others is a “martyr.” Certainly it can happen that, some people, like Lawrence and many others, give their lives to the point of shedding their blood, but every disciple must give, that is, spend his or her life for the good of others and not just him or herself. Jesus says again, “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” These words mean that those who only love themselves lose themselves, while those who love others - this is the meaning of the word “hate” used by Jesus - will be saved. We could say that Lawrence was a martyr his entire life. He spent his life for the Church and in particular for the poor. Saint Ambrose writes that Lawrence was burned on a grate and then beheaded because he had violated the tax law that required him to hand over the supposed treasures of the Church to the emperor. Lawrence gathered the poor people whom he had helped as a deacon and brought them before the judge, saying, “Here are the treasures of the Church.” This testimony should resound more strongly in our Church and echo in each of our hearts. Those who love the poor and support them in their daily lives are living as “martyrs” in the sense that they spend their lives for these “brothers and sisters” of 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
