Memorial of Father Aleksandr Men', Orthodox priest from Moscow, barbarically murdered in 1990. Read more
Memorial of Father Aleksandr Men’, Orthodox priest from Moscow, barbarically murdered in 1990.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Acts 9,1-9
Meanwhile Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he might find. It happened that while he was travelling to Damascus and approaching the city, suddenly a light from heaven shone all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' he asked, and the answer came, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do.' The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the voice they could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. For three days he was without his sight and took neither food nor drink.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The conversion of Paul is one of the most well known episodes of the New Testament. The author of Acts, as if to underline its importance, on three occasions tells how Paul is “turned upside down” and made a witness of the risen Jesus. With a letter from the high priest in hand, Paul is determined to move against the Christians of Damascus with the utmost severity. As he draws near to the city, suddenly he is surrounded by a beam of light, blinded, and falls to the ground and hears a voice which twice calls him by name “Saul, Saul.” He does not see anyone; he only hears the voice calling him. Something similar happened to Moses at the burning bush. Sometimes being called by name can be a decisive and unforgettable experience. Bewildered by all that is happening, Saul asks: “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” “I am”: the same words that Moses heard. Jesus is alive. Paul gets up but he can see nothing; lead by one of his companions, he goes into Damascus just as Jesus’ voice had commanded. What happened to Paul? It was not a “conversion” from one religion to the other: the group of Christians was still entirely within Judaism and did not think of themselves as another religion. The apostle had lived through a deep experience, and it had changed him radically. It had been a true and total rebirth. This event is important for every believer: if a believer does not abandon his own pride and discover his own weakness it will be hard for him to understand what it means to believe. Only by discovering one’s poverty it is possible to know the path of evangelical wisdom. The way of pride leads towards ruin, conflict, and violence. The way of humility renews and leads to greater understanding and deeper solidarity with others. It is not an accident that the future apostle was “ led by hand” to Damascus where, led d by Ananias he was baptized after three days of darkness and began a new life.
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
