Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
1 Timothy 6,13-16
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle call Timothy "man of God;" it is a name that emphasizes the disciple's belonging to God to whom he devoted his life. This, then, is the goal Timothy must achieve: the perfecting of the inner man with all the human and Christian virtues. The Christian life is compared to a race conducted in virtue of faith. And the trophy one obtains is eternal life. In his great kindness, God himself - Paul tells the disciple - called him to this life, and he responded with a beautiful profession of faith before many witnesses. Perhaps Paul is referring to the day of his baptism or that of his consecration as a presbyter. Like Timothy, every Christian must participate in this race: we are all called to take part in it and respond generously. The apostle once again addresses Timothy, calling as witness God, who gives life, and Jesus Christ, who under Pontius Pilate bore witness to his love to the point of giving his life on the cross. Paul tells him to be faithful to the teachings he received until Jesus returns in the Last Judgment. The return of Christ is understood here as an "epiphany," i.e. as the full manifestation of love. The apostle's exhortation culminates in a praise of God: he is above all transience, he dwells in an inaccessible light. Our mind does not understand Him, but prayer brings us closer to Him and makes us feel His power and taste His love.
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
