Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Micah 7,14-15.18-20
With shepherd's crook lead your people to pasture, the flock that is your heritage, living confined in a forest with meadow land all round. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old! As in the days when you came out of Egypt, grant us to see wonders! What god can compare with you for pardoning guilt and for overlooking crime? He does not harbour anger for ever, since he delights in showing faithful love. Once more have pity on us, tread down our faults; throw all our sins to the bottom of the sea. Grant Jacob your faithfulness, and Abraham your faithful love, as you swore to our ancestors from the days of long ago.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The prophet Micah invokes God who, like a shepherd, cares for his flock, Israel. He is aware that the Lord has cared for his people ever since he brought them out of Egypt, freeing them from Pharaoh's slavery. With the image of the shepherd he evokes the attentive and caring care, the protection of the unity of the otherwise dispersed flock, the defence of the sheep, even at the cost of his own life. And he invokes the shepherd to continue to act in favour of his people. There are two ways in which this divine intervention will show itself. The first is forgiveness: "Who is God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgressions of the remnant of your possession?" The second, faithfulness in love: 'He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." The Lord is indeed the good shepherd who cares for his people, starting precisely from forgiveness, which more than any other reveals who the God of Israel is and how different he is from idols. The image of the shepherd will be taken up by Jesus: he himself presents himself as the shepherd who knows his sheep, calls them by name and brings them into the fold. And, if there is one that gets lost, he leaves the others to go and look for it. Let us pray to the Lord that we may listen to his voice of a good shepherd and be one flock, being guided only by him and learning to live his mercy.
这群年轻人,通过阅读圣经,並将圣经作为生命的中心,激励他们度真正信仰的生活,接受耶稣基督自古以来,世世代代的邀请,成为祂的门徒。这邀请呼籲人悔改,放弃只是为自己而生活的态度,开始自由自在地成为泛爱众人的工具,爱人不分男女,而特别是爱那些最贫穷的人。聆听及生活天主的圣言,是人生命中的最重要的事,就是承认人应跟随耶稣,而非跟随自我。
在这个团体中,最真情流露的景象就是大家聚集一起祈祷,聆听天主的圣言,像当年的门徒,有如一家人般聚集在耶稣身旁一样。同心合意的祈祷(宗2:42)是简单的祈祷方式,它要求团体所有成员献出自己。如同圣咏一样,祈祷是熟识耶稣的说话和祈祷的门径,融合了前人的祈祷,将穷人的需要、我们的需要、以及整个世界的需要,呈献给上主。
因此,在罗马及在意大利、欧洲、以至在全世界的其他城市中,我们的团体都尽可能经常聚会,一起祈祷。我们在很多城市中,每晚都会有团体的祈祷,並开放给普罗大众参与。我们也期望团体内的每个成员,都有个人祈祷的理想地方,在生活中阅读圣经,並要从福音开始阅读。