Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican Communion Read more
Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican Communion
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Psalm 47, 2-3.6-9
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
5 God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.
8 God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This psalm describes a solemn liturgy that probably took place on a day of festival when the people celebrated their king: the procession began in the Cedron Valley and went up to Jerusalem, all the way to the Temple Mount. When they reached the gates of the Temple, the enthusiasm of the faithful exploded with elation, clapping hands, shouts of joy, and sounding trumpet. Christian tradition interprets this song in the context of the feast the Ascension of Jesus, who rises to heaven and enters into God’s glory. Jesus is exalted, “For the Lord, the Most High is awesome, a great king over all the earth” (v. 3); “God is the king of all the earth” (v. 8); “The shields of the earth belong to God” (v.10). The reason for all of this is God’s royalty. The Lord is king of all the earth and of all peoples: “The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham” (v. 10). The psalmist unites the election of Abraham to the universality of salvation. God did not choose Abraham to separate him from the nations but to unite them all in one unique destiny. The election of Israel, and consequently the election of the Church, is a function of the universality of salvation. God is the great king, the Most High, and all the nations belong to Him; all kings and princes will come and give Him homage. He is above everyone and everything, and His kingdom is universal. It is in this context that we should understand the diverse Islamic people who recognize Abraham as the “father of believers.” The universality of salvation is the good news that needs to be brought to all the nations, especially now, when people are talking more and more about conflict among peoples and among civilizations. Faith in the one God is the root of the dignity of every human being and the fraternity of all people. God is the Lord of all, and even the powerful of the earth belong to him (v. 10). No one besides God can set him or herself up above the people, not even Egypt or Babylon, the great. The Lord chose Israel, the smallest of nations, to trust in Him and announce all the strength and power of the one God. This faith that the people of Israel were called to live and testify to was brought to fulfilment in Jesus. Whoever listens to the prophet of Nazareth and follows his word recognizes God as his or her only Lord and so is freed from slavery to idols of money, power, strength, personal interest, and selfish love. All these idols close people and nations in on themselves and set them against one another. But by drawing people out of their selfishness and fear, and by overcoming every barrier and boundary the Lord makes them free to love one another.
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
