Memorial of Saint Pancratius, who died a martyr for the love of the Gospel when he was 14 years old. Prayer for younger generations so that they may meet the Gospel and the Lord Read more
Memorial of Saint Pancratius, who died a martyr for the love of the Gospel when he was 14 years old. Prayer for younger generations so that they may meet the Gospel and the Lord
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
John 16, 5-11
but now I am going to the one who sent me. Not one of you asks, 'Where are you going?'
Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this.
Still, I am telling you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes, he will show the world how wrong it was, about sin, and about who was in the right, and about judgement:
about sin: in that they refuse to believe in me;
about who was in the right: in that I am going to the Father and you will see me no more;
about judgement: in that the prince of this world is already condemned.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Lord spoke to the disciples of the hate and persecutions they would have to undergo in the world: “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for of I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” Saint Augustine comments on this passage by putting these words into Jesus’ mouth: “It is good for you that this form of servant goes away from you all; it is true I live among you as the Word made flesh, but I do not want you to continue to remain attached to me in a sensible way; I do not want that you, satisfied by this milk, desire to remain children forever. If I do not take away the delicate nourishment that I have raised you with, you will not feel the desire of a more solid food; if with this carnal mentality you remain attached to the flesh, you will never be able to welcome the Spirit.” For Jesus it is time to inaugurate the time of faith. We need to flee the temptation of thinking that this time is poorer than that of the Apostles. Jesus does not abandon the disciples to their destinies. Poured into their hearts, the Holy Spirit initiates the time of the Church. It is the Spirit that sustains, consoles, keeps, enlightens and enables the disciples to communicate the Gospel of love so that they may transform the world. The Spirit enlivens and renders operational the evangelical works that the disciples received from Jesus during the three years that they were with him. And the Spirit will help them in the difficult moments they face. The work of the Spirit will be to reveal evil; the Spirit “will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement.” The evangelist imagines a great court where the evil that works in the world will be revealed and unmasked in order to be destroyed. The mission that the disciples must live is to allow themselves to be guided by the Spirit. With the help of the Spirit, we need to exhaust our eyes in scrutinizing the Scriptures in order to see the evil that works in the world and to defeat it with love. The serious and fascinating mission of Christians still today is to be prophets who unmask evil and show, first of all by their example, the way of goodness. To be prophets who unmask evil and point the way of goodness, first of all by their example, is the grave and fascinating task of Christians even 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
