The prayer for Peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Read more
The prayer for Peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
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
John 6,22-29
Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' Jesus answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal. Then they said to him, 'What must we do if we are to carry out God's work?' Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is carrying out God's work: you must believe in the one he has sent.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After the multiplication of the loaves of bread, the crowd, remaining on the other side of the sea and seeing that Jesus and the disciples were no longer there, got into the other boats, which had come from Tiberias, close to the place where they had eaten the miraculously multiplied bread, and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. The evangelist notes that they found him "on the other side of the lake." Jesus was not where they had been looking for him. He was not the "king" that they had hoped for so as to satisfy their aspirations, even if they were legitimate and understandable hopes. Seeking the Lord asks that we go beyond ourselves and our habits, even our religious ones. The crowd needed to go beyond, far beyond, all the way "on the other side of the lake," beyond what they had thought. They had not fully grasped the profound meaning of the multiplication of the loaves of bread. This lack of understanding is clear to us because when they ask after Jesus, they feel again as though they had been abandoned: "When did you come here?" Jesus responds and unmasks the self-centred understanding of the miracle of the loaves.2 They had not understood the "sign," the spiritual meaning of the miracle Jesus had performed. Miracles were not merely a manifestation of Jesus' power, rather they were "signs" of the new kingdom Jesus had come to build on earth. These signs required conversion of heart for those who welcomed and saw them; that is the choice of being with Jesus, of following him and of participating with him in the work of transformation of the world that those "signs" already manifested. Jesus, like the good shepherd who leads the flock, explains to the crowd the meaning of the miracle they had seen and says, "27Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." The bread that comes from heaven is Jesus himself; he is the Kingdom, the justice, the endless love the Father has given humanity. In the apocryphal gospel of Thomas there is a sentence Jesus said: "The one who is close to me is close to fire. The one who is far from me is far from the kingdom" (82). Welcoming this gift with all our heart and making of it our daily food is the "work" believers are called to do. It is not a vague feeling, but rather a true work of faith in Jesus, that requires choice, decision, commitment, work, fatigue, and most of all total and passionate involvement. Therefore, also great joy. No one can delegate this "work" to others. Becoming Jesus' disciples means letting the Gospel mould our lives, our minds, our hearts, even to the point of making us spiritual men and women. While we listen to the Word of God and commit ourselves to following it, we will see our eyes getting sharper, and Jesus will appear to us as the true bread descended from heaven that nourishes our hearts and sustains our lives.
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
