Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Titus 1, 1-4
From Paul, servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion,
and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie
and so, in due time, he made known his message by a proclamation which was entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour.
To Titus, true child of mine in the faith that we share. Grace and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Saviour.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul writes to Titus, his "loyal child in the faith we share," whom he had left at Crete to "put in order what remained to be done" with the community. The apostle knows that the task he is giving him will not be easy. To bolster his authority he writes him this letter, which should be read to the entire community gathered together. Paul ties the disciple’s ministry to his own apostolic authority. This is why he mentions that he is an "apostle," someone sent by Christ, even before naming the addressee of the letter. Paul does not say this to Titus to boast about it. He knows well that he too is first of all a "servant" of the Lord. In fact, in the Christian community, authority is not given to be taken advantage of, but to serve the communion of brothers and sisters in the one faith and the one hope. Paul reminds Titus - and anyone who has responsibility in the community - that the whole purpose of the apostolic work is found in relationship with the "hope of eternal life." The pastor has to preach and testify this hope to all. It is God himself who has promised, and God does not lie; indeed, he is the guarantee. Ever since the Garden of Eden, he has kept this hope alive for his children. And along the course of history he has revealed it to his people through an unbroken chain of prophets. But "in his time" the Lord sent his own Son, Jesus, to bring this promise to fulfilment. And Jesus called him, Paul, to communicate this message of joy to the world (1 Tim 1:1), and Paul entrusts Titus with the continuation of his own mission.
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
