Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga who with twelve companions suffered martyrdom in Uganda (†1886). Read more
Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga who with twelve companions suffered martyrdom in Uganda (†1886).
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
2 Timothy 1,1-3.6-12
From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God in accordance with his promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, dear son of mine. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. Night and day I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience as my ancestors did. I remember you in my prayers constantly night and day; That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift of God that you possess through the laying on of my hands. God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power and love and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to our Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but share in my hardships for the sake of the gospel, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy -- not because of anything we ourselves had done but for his own purpose and by his own grace. This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has been revealed only by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus. He has abolished death, and he has brought to light immortality and life through the gospel, in whose service I have been made herald, apostle and teacher. That is why I am experiencing my present sufferings; but I am not ashamed, because I know in whom I have put my trust, and I have no doubt at all that he is able to safeguard until that Day what I have entrusted to him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul begins his second letter to Timothy speaking of the authority of the "apostle" of Jesus Christ which was conferred on him for the "will of God." Paul is aware of the young age of Timothy and at the same time of the gravity of the pastoral ministry he entrusted to him. Paul reminds Timothy not to be afraid because he has received in gift from God himself, through the laying on of hands, a special strength. Such gift must be revived it with prayer, faith and dedication. Paul clarifies to the young disciples that God did not "give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." Therefore he will need to be a wise and strong shepherd. He must "not shame himself in the witness to the Lord," that is to preach the Gospel of Jesus. And if he is not ashamed of the Lord, neither will the apostle-now "prisoner of the Lord" -who had made preaching the goal of his life. This is the condition of every disciple, as Jesus himself said, "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven" (Mt 10: 32). Paul is aware to be at the end of his days certain and is firmly convinced that what is entrusted to him (see 1:14; 1 Tim 6:20) is well taken care of in the all-powerful hands of God "until that day" that is, at the end of present time and the return of the Lord (1:18; 2 Thess 1:10). Paul invites Timothy to "take care of the good treasure", that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, "who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light."
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
