Memory of Saint Francis Xavier, a sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary in India and Japan. Read more
Memory of Saint Francis Xavier, a sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary in India and Japan.
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
Romans 1, 1-7
From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle,
set apart for the service of the gospel that God promised long ago through his prophets in the holy scriptures.
This is the gospel concerning his Son who, in terms of human nature
was born a descendant of David and who, in terms of the Spirit and of holiness, was designated Son of God in power by resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ, our Lord,
through whom we have received grace and our apostolic mission of winning the obedience of faith among all the nations for the honour of his name.
You are among these, and by his call you belong to Jesus Christ.
To you all, God's beloved in Rome, called to be his holy people. Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Letter to the Romans, of which we begin our reading, is the first among the Pauline letters both for its breadth and for the importance of its theme. With this letter, the apostle addresses the community in Rome, which he did not found, but whose faith “is proclaimed throughout the world” (Rom 1:8), to explain the significance of salvation, of the “justice” that saves and which God gave to people through Jesus Christ, thus fulfilling the promise made to Abraham. In the opening greeting lines, Paul introduces himself as a “servant” of Jesus, identifying himself as one who belongs to him totally. Precisely because he is a servant, he was “chosen” as an “apostle” entrusted by the very Lord with a particular mission to fulfil for the edification of the Church. It is the task of communicating the Gospel that was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures” and which reaches its culmination in the “good news” of Jesus who “was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead.” The Lord called Paul to communicate this Gospel to the wide world of the “Gentiles,” including all those who were in Rome. The apostle knows that the community in Rome, although comprised of a strong minority of Jewish origin, is made up mostly of Christians who converted from paganism and is “holy” because they received and accepted the Gospel. Therefore Paul wishes all grace and peace, the gifts with which God enriches and protects the life of his children. It is the grace of a life redeemed from death and enriched with brothers and sisters to love, who participate in the sanctity of God himself. It is the peace of an existence that finds its fullness in following Jesus. Not only Paul, but every believer, following the apostle’s example, is made a “servant of Jesus Christ” and an “apostle for vocation.”
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
