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 21,15-19
When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?' He answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' A second time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' He replied, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Look after my sheep.' Then he said to him a third time, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?' and said, 'Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. In all truth I tell you, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.' In these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God. After this he said, 'Follow me.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The risen Jesus appears for the third time on the shores of the lake of Tiberias. This is the place where Jesus had met the first disciples and called them to follow him. On that same shore, as if to make a new beginning, Jesus encounters them again, after their confusion and scattering. He asks Peter about love three times. Jesus knows that the only thing that will keep Peter bound to him forever is not his sense of duty or strength of will, but his desire to repay the limitless love he has received with his own affection. Jesus questions Peter about the central issue of existence and faith, that is love. Jesus' request in truth never ends, we could say that is to be lived every day. Thus, the question is not only directed at Peter. Jesus asks each disciple, "Do you love me?" It is not about simply the feeling or the emotion of a moment. It is about a strong bond, steady, passionate with Jesus and the others. The love that Jesus asks of Peter is full of responsibility for the Gospel and humanity. After two questions about love and the answer between Jesus and Peter, at the third answer Jesus asks Peter to "feed" his sheep. Jesus' love does not stop to oneself: it is always love also for others. Even in this sense Peter is first: he is the one who teaches us how to love like Jesus and feel responsible for our brothers and sisters. Jesus' final words offer a glimpse of the apostle's future: Peter's path is the path for every disciple who wants to follow the Gospel: only with Jesus can we have true life, a life which also includes suffering. But faith means letting love guide us. Peter does not know where he will end nor by what roads. He knows he will have to suffer, but he is sure that the Teacher will make him able to respond again to the invitation that he had first heard on those same shores: "Follow me!" And Peter, once again, leaves everything, even his pride, and follows him.
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
