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
1 Peter 5, 1-4
I urge the elders among you, as a fellow-elder myself and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, and as one who is to have a share in the glory that is to be revealed:
give a shepherd's care to the flock of God that is entrusted to you: watch over it, not simply as a duty but gladly, as God wants; not for sordid money, but because you are eager to do it.
Do not lord it over the group which is in your charge, but be an example for the flock.
When the chief shepherd appears, you will be given the unfading crown of glory.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle, in the end, turns to those responsible for the Gospel, and at that time they were probably the elders. And he too designates himself as "an elder himself." Peter has just written about every believer’s responsibility to perform his or her daily task. This is all the more valid for the elders who are called to guide and care for the communities. He tells them, above all else, to "Tend the flock of God!" Certainly, Peter was recalling the command, "tend my sheep" (Jn 21:16), that Jesus gave him along the shores of Lake Tiberias after his resurrection. Most of all, he had in mind Jesus’ compassion for the crowds that he met daily and that "were like sheep without a shepherd" (Mk 6:34). The exhortation to tend the flock "not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it," is full of love and recalls the example of Jesus, the true good shepherd, who certainly did not impose his will on them. If anything, he embraced them with his mercy. Jesus repeated many times that he had not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for others. The elders should have Jesus’ example before their eyes so that they themselves may be exemplars of this love. The elders (presbyteroi) were in charge of the community. However, there is a responsibility, which we can call pastoral, that concerns all of the faithful. Every disciple, in actuality, is a "pastor" for others in a certain way, in the sense that one should be concerned for one’s brothers and sisters, as well as for the poor. The vast theme of the laity’s responsibility should not be intended as a kind of a claim to a right, but as a commitment to being responsible for others. Although the pastoral ministry is given to some in a specific manner, the commandment to love is given to all of us and makes us guardians of others. It is the commandment God demanded from Cain since the very beginning: keep watch of the life of his brother; something he did not do. This is why the disciples should feel responsible for others so that all may grow in faith and love. And each one, according to his or her charism, should work for the good of all in the community.
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
