Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great (540-604), Pope and Doctor of the Church. Read more
Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great (540-604), Pope and Doctor of the Church.
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
Colossians 1, 9-14
That is why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed to remember you in our prayers and ask that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will
and so be able to lead a life worthy of the Lord, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects, bearing fruit in every kind of good work and growing in knowledge of God,
fortified, in accordance with his glorious strength, with all power always to persevere and endure,
giving thanks with joy to the Father who has made you able to share the lot of God's holy people and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done. It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves,
and in him we enjoy our freedom, the forgiveness of sin.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul did not found the church of Colossae and does not know it personally, but the love he has for them pushes him to pray without ceasing, "We have not ceased praying."Prayer for the brethren reveals the depth of the bond that unites the disciples of Jesus, even if they are physically distant. Paul even specifies the intention of his prayer: "That you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding." The apostle knows well that it is impossible to live in faith without listening to the Word of God every day. That is the only way to gain the "spiritual wisdom and understanding" that allow us to probe and understand the will of God. The knowledge proposed by the Gospel is not a set of theories, but the act of welcoming into our hearts God's plan of love for us and for the world. This is the spiritual knowledge to be gained. And it is obtained by welcoming the Spirit who, through Holy Scripture, reveals to us God's will for the world. It is from this spiritual knowledge that believers gain the strength to "lead lives worthy of the Lord." The life of a believer is not the result of the effort of our will: it is the hard-won consequence of loving the Lord, of being "pleasing to him." Yes, Christian life consists of being "fully pleasing" to the Lord, "as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God." The fruits of good works spring from this knowledge of God, which is a communion of love. Paul does not specify what he means by "good works." But our entire lives give witness to the truth of the Gospel (1:6), that is, to the strength of God at work in the community and in each individual believer. The apostle asks believers to entrust themselves to God along the way, especially in times of trial. In fact, there is no lack of difficulties, failures, temptations, and occasions for discouragement during our growth toward "the hope laid up...in heaven." It is at these times - the apostle urges - that believers must be magnanimous and merciful, because they know that the difficulties will not prevail. Indeed, they are no longer under the yoke of evil; they have passed from the shadows of error and sin to the light, that is, from the "world" to the community. Without any merit of our own, we all, who were far, are now part of the multitude of saints who, from Abel to the end of history, make up the redeemed human race. We are a great people, no longer subjected to the tyrannical power of Evil, and freed from the fear of falling prey to invisible cosmic powers. We have already been redeemed from all slavery: we are citizens of the Kingdom of the Son, where the only law is love, and the giving of self to others. ?
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
