Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 15,1-8
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.
You are clean already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, as I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, unless it remains part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a branch -- and withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire and are burnt.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get it.
It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit and be my disciples.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The second part of Jesus’ farewell speech to the disciples begins with today’s Gospel. He has already spoken of the communion with his followers that is made real through love and the Holy Spirit. He is now using the image of God as a vine-grower, the Son as the vine, and the disciples as branches to try to describe the circle of love that unites the disciple to him and to the Father. The image of the vine (and the vineyard) is used several times in Scripture to describe the relationship between the Lord and his people. This time, however, the vine is not the people of Israel, but Jesus himself. He is the "true vine" that produces good fruit and gives life. The communion between Jesus and the Father is the source of Jesus’ very life and the origin of all that he does. He came down from heaven to earth to do the will of the Father. And the will of the Father is for Jesus to unite the disciples to himself so that they might participate in the love that he shares with the Father. Jesus begins by saying: "I am the vine, you are the branches." He uses this image because he wants the disciples to understand the kind of relationship he is establishing with them: their relationship is so close that they make one thing with him. Indeed the branch can live and bear fruit only if it is united to the vine, otherwise it would dry and die. That is how essential it is for the branches to be joined to the vine. This is why Jesus continues: "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." There is no other path for the disciple besides strong communion with the Teacher. And the way to preserve this communion is explained by Jesus himself when he says: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." The term "abide," which is used twelve times in the Gospel passage we have heard today and will hear over the next two days, is followed by the expression, "bear fruit", which is used eight times. Disciples who listen to the Word of God with an attentive heart will naturally bear fruit. This is the way to give glory to God. In fact, Jesus says: "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." The disciple is not so much someone who accepts a doctrine, but someone who remains bound to Jesus with love, just like a branch to a vine.
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
