Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 1, 29-34
The next day, he saw Jesus coming towards him and said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
It was of him that I said, "Behind me comes one who has passed ahead of me because he existed before me."
I did not know him myself, and yet my purpose in coming to baptise with water was so that he might be revealed to Israel.'
And John declared, 'I saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven and rest on him.
I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is to baptise with the Holy Spirit."
I have seen and I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel continues to accompany our path in Jesus’ footsteps. He is no longer a child. He is now at the start of his public ministry. The evangelist John begins this new period in Jesus’ life with the narrative of his baptism. John the Baptist sees him coming toward him and his heart leaps: he recognizes in him the Messiah. Even without having ever met him, though he had been preparing for him the way with his words and penitential baptism, he guesses who is in front of him. He hoped to meet him and the moment had arrived. It had been this way for the elderly Simeon, of whom we read in Luke a few days ago. In truth, and in this Gospel passage, it appears very clearly: it is Jesus who comes to meet him, just as he comes to meet each of us. John, declares: "I myself did not know him." His affirmation could seem unlikely, given that the Gospels portray them as relatives of virtually the same age. In reality, John did not know the true face of Jesus, that of the Messiah, of the Saviour. Now, after having completed his interior journey by practicing penitence and listening, he recognizes him and bears witness to him: "Here is the Lamb of God." This is the religious experience of every believer. There is a moment in each of our lives, no matter how poor or rich, in which the Lord, whom we did not know, becomes known and loved. This moment, in which our eyes are opened, is the result, of an interior journey that entails, on one hand, a struggle against one’s own pride and sense of self-sufficiency, and on the other hand, listening to Scripture, common and personal prayer, practicing love for the poor and welcoming a brother or sister who authoritatively witnesses to us the Lord’s paternity. Whoever perseveres on this path of seeking the Lord will reach the moment when the eyes of the heart will open and will recognize Jesus as the Lord of his or her life. And that person, just like John the Baptist, will bear witness to Jesus before all peoples.
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
