Remembrance of Laurindo (+1989) and Madora (+1991), young Mozambicans of the Community of Sant'Egidio who died because of the war. With them we remember all of the young people killed because of conflict and violence. Read more
Remembrance of Laurindo (+1989) and Madora (+1991), young Mozambicans of the Community of Sant'Egidio who died because of the war. With them we remember all of the young people killed because of conflict and violence.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth to the people he loves.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
1 John 2,12-17
I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven through his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who has existed since the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have overcome the Evil One. I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, parents, because you have come to know the One who has existed since the beginning. I have written to you, young people, because you are strong, and God's word remains in you, and you have overcome the Evil One. Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone does love the world, the love of the Father finds no place in him, because everything there is in the world -- disordered bodily desires, disordered desires of the eyes, pride in possession -- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world, with all its disordered desires, is passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains for ever.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In a solemn threefold address, the Apostle John addresses all believers. He calls them 'sons' because they have been generated by him to the faith, but also 'fathers' because they themselves must generate new believers to the Church, and also 'young', i.e. strong, because by keeping the Word of God in their hearts they have overcome the power of the evil one. This is an invitation addressed to all generations, but also to every believer who is always 'son', 'father' and 'young' in the faith. The Apostle invites believers not to love the world or the things of the world, because doing so would lead them away from the love of God. In Johannine language, the world does not simply indicate creation, but earthly reality as subjugated to the power of the evil one (Jn 12:31) and therefore opposed to the kingdom of God. It echoes here the opposition outlined by Jesus: "No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Mt 6:24). The believer is careful not to be overwhelmed by the power of the evil one that takes root in the heart through that concupiscence of the flesh that drives those enslaved to it to do evil. John exemplifies: the desire of the flesh manifests itself in the "desire of the eyes and the pride in riches." Therefore, anyone who allows himself to be led by these instincts turns away from God and is overwhelmed by the fallenness of the world. But the world passes away, both John and Paul remind us: "For the present form of this world is passing away" (1 Cor 7:31). On the contrary, those who do God's will "live forever," that is, remain in 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
