Memorial of Saint Joseph the worker and World Labour Day. Read more
Memorial of Saint Joseph the worker and World Labour Day.
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
Acts 5,27-33
When they had brought them in to face the Sanhedrin, the high priest demanded an explanation. 'We gave you a strong warning', he said, 'not to preach in this name, and what have you done? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and seem determined to fix the guilt for this man's death on us.' In reply Peter and the apostles said, 'Obedience to God comes before obedience to men; it was the God of our ancestors who raised up Jesus, whom you executed by hanging on a tree. By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and Saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. We are witnesses to this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.' This so infuriated them that they wanted to put them to death.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostles are once again brought in the Sanhedrin in front of the chiefs of the people. This time not only Peter and John but all the apostles are pulled to trial. The entire Church is accused and put under trial. The rebuke is summarized in their disobedience to the order of the Chiefs of the people not to preach the Gospel anymore: "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name." The priest who, maybe out of some fear, does not even mention the name of Jesus, wants to block the path of growth of that community. Indeed, people's esteem for that new group of believers was growing, and many had become its members. The answer of the apostles to the accusation brought by the Sanhedrin is unanimous and compact. Luke underlines it by saying: "But Peter and the apostles" answered together. And this time Peter does not ask their accusers whether it is right to obey men rather than God. But with great clarity and without hesitation he says: "We must obey God rather than any human authority." We could say that it is the entire Christian community that expresses itself in that way before the Sanhedrin. Indeed, in the Christian community it is the Spirit who guides and authorises the communication of the Gospel to the entire city. The words that Peter pronounces - and with him all the apostles - are the summary of the mystery of salvation brought by Jesus to all men and women. Emphasised in this passage is the elevation of Jesus to the right hand of God and the salvific power that he now exercises for all, no one excluded. Of this mystery of salvation that has come to earth, the apostles are witnesses because of the Holy Spirit poured into their hearts.
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
