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
Ephesians 4,32-5,8
Be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ. As God's dear children, then, take him as your pattern, and follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up for us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God. Among you there must be not even a mention of sexual vice or impurity in any of its forms, or greed: this would scarcely become the holy people of God! There must be no foul or salacious talk or coarse jokes -- all this is wrong for you; there should rather be thanksgiving. For you can be quite certain that nobody who indulges in sexual immorality or impurity or greed -- which is worshipping a false god -- can inherit the kingdom of God. Do not let anyone deceive you with empty arguments: it is such behaviour that draws down God's retribution on those who rebel against him. Make sure that you do not throw in your lot with them. You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; behave as children of light,
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 Paul urges the Ephesians to be kind to one another and live mercy with the willingness to forgive one another as God has forgiven us. Communion with God requires that with brothers and sisters. It is not possible to separate God and His children. We need instead to welcome God's love in our hearts. The Apostle urges the Ephesian Christians to be "imitators of God, as beloved children" and to live "in love." Once again he shows the reason for such behaviour: "Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us." Believers "live in love", for God is love. Paul then takes up concrete exhortations, now centred on a defect often denounced by Jewish and then Christian polemics against paganism: fornication and its derivatives, impurity and greed. Paul says that all these behaviours must be removed from the life of Christians, even more, they should not even be mentioned for they affect the sanctity of Christians, that is, their belonging to God and not to themselves. Obscenity, that is unseemly and ambiguous talking, should be abolished too. All of these behaviours conceal an actual idolatry. Believers should not be deceived by those who reason foolishly. They are "disobedient", as those who have rejected God. Disciples are "children of light", children of the Gospel: "Now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light." This is the link between the gift received and the engagement that results. We therefore cannot remain in the darkness of resignation and self-referentiality. "Sleeper, awake!" - writes Paul - "Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (5:14). Christians are called to be bathed by the light of the Risen Christ and to transform the world by defeating the insidious temptation to give in to the power of evil. This is why, we must not behave like reckless people, that is like people who have lost the understanding of the Gospel and forgotten the power of love. The admonition not to get drunk warns not to be stunned by the fashions of the world, but rather to be wise, filled with the Spirit that prompts us to express our joy in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Het gebed is het hart van het leven van de Gemeenschap van Sant’Egidio. Het is haar eerste “werk”. Aan het einde van de dag komt elke Gemeenschap, of die nu klein of groot is, samen bij de Heer om het Woord te beluisteren en zich tot Hem te richten in het gebed. De leerlingen kunnen niet anders dan aan de voeten van Jezus zitten, zoals Maria van Bethanië, om het “betere deel” te kiezen (Lc 10, 42) en van Hem zijn gezindheid te leren (vgl. Fil 2, 5).
Elke keer dat de Gemeenschap zich tot de Heer richt, maakt ze zich die vraag eigen van de anonieme leerling: “Heer, leer ons bidden!” (Lc 11, 1). En Jezus, meester in het gebed, antwoordt: “Wanneer jullie bidden, zeg dan: Abba, Vader”.
Wanneer we bidden, ook in de geslotenheid van ons eigen hart, zijn we nooit alleen of verweesd. Integendeel, we zijn leden van de familie van de Heer. In het gemeenschappelijk gebed wordt naast het mysterie van het kindschap, ook dat van de broederschap en zusterschap duidelijk.
De Gemeenschappen van Sant’Egidio, verspreid over de wereld, verzamelen zich op de verschillende plaatsen die gekozen zijn voor het gebed en brengen de hoop en het verdriet van de “uitgeputte en hulpeloze mensenmenigte” waarover het Evangelie spreekt (Mt 9, 37) bij de Heer. Deze oude menigte omvat de inwoners van onze hedendaagse steden, de armen die zich bevinden in de marge van het leven, en iedereen die wacht om als dagloner te worden aangenomen (vgl. Mt 20).
Het gemeenschappelijk gebed verzamelt de schreeuw, de hoop, het verlangen naar vrede, genezing, zin en redding, die beleefd worden door de mannen en vrouwen van deze wereld. Het gebed is nooit leeg. Het stijgt onophoudelijk op naar de Heer opdat verdriet verandert in vreugde, wanhoop in blijheid, angst in hoop, eenzaamheid in gemeenschap. En het rijk Gods zal spoedig temidden van de mensen komen.
