Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jude 1, 24-25
To him who can keep you from falling and bring you safe to his glorious presence, innocent and joyful,
to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, authority and power, before all ages, now and for ever. Amen.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jude concludes his letter by praising God in what is called a doxology, a formula also found in other letters such as in the Letter to the Romans. In this letter, Jude also presents one of his prayers for the communities to which he writes. Praise for God concludes Jude’s letter as it also should be the heart of each believer’s prayer. For, whenever we turn to God, either in difficulties or in lament, we should praise him and acknowledge the greatness of his love and of his help. Jude entrusts the communities to the one Lord who is strong and powerful. God not only keeps them "from falling," but preserves them so that they may stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing. The apostle encompasses the entire history of the Church and sees her conclusion when the Church will be without blemish and full of the joy of the saints. Jude knows well that his exhortations and his warnings are important because they are written with the authority of the Lord, and he is also fully aware that only the Lord is the strong and good Shepherd who can lead and protect his Church. This is why his exhortations turn into prayer and prayer becomes the most robust help that he can give to the Christians to whom he writes. It is also an invitation to us that we, too, learn to pray for others. There is a ministry in prayer that must involve all Christian communities in a much larger way than what currently is happening. There should be in the entire world a sort of universal cathedral of prayer where brothers and sisters of the world are gathered to praise God and help each other. The one God, through his only Son, receives praise from this unique but internally diverse spiritual house that lets us experience the kingdom of love and peace on earth today.
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
