Memorial of the apostle Thomas. He confessed Jesus as his Lord and, according to tradition, witnessed him all the way to ill India. Read more
Memorial of the apostle Thomas. He confessed Jesus as his Lord and, according to tradition, witnessed him all the way to ill India.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 20,24-29
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, 'We have seen the Lord,' but he answered, 'Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.' Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. 'Peace be with you,' he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.' Thomas replied, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him: You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Thomas, called Didymus (twin). John's Gospel speaks of him several times in connection with some important moments of Jesus' life. When Jesus wanted to go to Lazarus who was sick, and there was a great danger for the master's life, Thomas, on behalf of all the disciples said: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11:16). He was a very self-confident man, sure of his feelings and convictions, as it is clear on Easter evening. He responded to the other apostles who said they had seen the Lord on Easter evening, with the sentence that has by now become the emblem of incredulity: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." Thinking well about this attitude we are all close to Thomas'. We are self-confident, sure of our feelings and convictions. Thomas needs to meet the Lord again, to see him and even to touch hum. And indeed, Jesus returns among his disciples and invites him to touch his wounds. In front of the wounded body, Thomas exclaims, "My Lord and my God." Iin the same way, we are called to have Thomas' faith in front of the wounds of this world, in front of the sorrow of every human being expressed by those wounds. Jesus, turning to him, and thinking of all those who would follow, says, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." It is the last blessing of the Gospel. It is the blessing also for us who are called to believe without seeing, but to touch the wounds of the Lord in the bodies of the poor.
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
