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 4, 20-25
Counting on the promise of God, he did not doubt or disbelieve, but drew strength from faith and gave glory to God,
fully convinced that whatever God promised he has the power to perform.
This is the faith that was reckoned to him as uprightness.
And the word 'reckoned' in scripture applies not only to him;
it is there for our sake too -- our faith, too, will be 'reckoned'
because we believe in him who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus who was handed over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle writes to the Romans that the experience of Abraham is directly relevant to us Christians who "believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (v.24). In a Jewish Midrash it is written that: "Everything that has been written about Abraham is repeated in the history of his children." Paul writes to the Romans that the Lord who revealed himself to Abraham and made him righteous because of his faith revealed himself fully in the Passover of his Son, whom he sent to the earth. The apostle explains that through his death on the cross, Jesus took all the sins of the world on himself and justified us through his resurrection: "Who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification"(v.25). With this explanation, the apostle interprets Abraham’s faith by linking it to the mystery of Jesus himself, who dies and who rises. The God of Abraham is revealed in his fullness in Christ Jesus. Consequently, the story of Abraham is emblematic for all believers, and, in particular, for Christians, because it demonstrates the radical nature of faith: it is through faith that we too are bound to God, just like the first of the patriarchs, who believed, "hoping against hope". That faith, which has also become our own, asks us to trust completely in the Son of God and his mystery of salvation. Christian trust is like Abraham’s. That means that faith is not primarily a work for us to carry out, it is above all and first of all the giving of ourselves to God, who calls us; it is trusting in God’s will and in his loving plan, in which he makes us take part. The mystery of faith and salvation was unveiled in its fullness in the coming of Christ, with his death and resurrection. Abraham, the prototype of the Christian, is the "father of all believers."
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
