Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Africa.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Hebrews 7,25-8,6

It follows, then, that his power to save those who come to God through him is absolute, since he lives for ever to intercede for them. Such is the high priest that met our need, holy, innocent and uncontaminated, set apart from sinners, and raised up above the heavens; he has no need to offer sacrifices every day, as the high priests do, first for their own sins and only then for those of the people; this he did once and for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever. The principal point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has taken his seat at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent which the Lord, and not any man, set up. Every high priest is constituted to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this one too must have something to offer. In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are others who make the offerings laid down by the Law, though these maintain the service only of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities; just as Moses, when he had the Tent to build, was warned by God who said: See that you work to the design that was shown you on the mountain. As it is, he has been given a ministry as far superior as is the covenant of which he is the mediator, which is founded on better promises.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

"We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up." We are at the heart of Christian faith: Jesus offered his life for us, the innocent victim, the only sacrifice, through which he became the mediator between God and people. Through him we can be forgiven and enter into communion with God and live in covenant with the Lord. With his death and resurrection, he initiated the fullness of the Kingdom, the time of full salvation. Thus, we understand the centrality of the Sunday Eucharistic liturgy, in which we are regenerated to new life and constituted as the Body of Christ. Not only that; creation itself is involved in the final time. Just as the Jewish Sabbath is seen in the book of Genesis as the fulfilment of creation, so the Sunday of Christians fulfils the new creation, the one established by the Lord's death and resurrection. Of course, today it is for us and for creation a partial fulfilment, because only in Christ Jesus is death and corruption conquered. In fact, we await with hope the final fulfilment, when "death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away" (Rev 21:4). This is why we all need this high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, so that he may continue to offer his life for us, giving us his bread, making himself food in that Word that becomes bread and food of eternal life.