Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Sirach 44, 1.9-13
Next let us praise illustrious men, our ancestors in their successive generations.
While others have left no memory, and disappeared as though they had not existed. They are now as though they had never been, and so too, their children after them.
But here is a list of illustrious men whose good works have not been forgotten.
In their descendants they find a rich inheritance, their posterity.
Their descendants stand by the commandments and, thanks to them, so do their children's children.
Their offspring will last for ever, their glory will not fade.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Throughout the history of Israel appear people whom the book of Sirach calls "famous men" (see chapters 44-50). From Enoch to the high priest Simon, son of Onias, who lived around 300 B.C., the author lists the great names that appear in the biblical text as pillars of faith in the God of the covenant and peace. Looking back at the history that has passed is a stimulus and a challenge for the present moment. The memory of our ancestors in faith is not useless nostalgia, but the confirmation that the Lord has always acted in the depths of human history, raising up men and women who were guides and models of justice and faithfulness not only for Israel but even for the neighbouring peoples. History is not mute, nor does it play out in an endless cycle, as if it were closed in on itself. History is like a road that is built day after day with the help and the constant presence of the Lord. In this history of salvation, there have been "godly men, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten" (v. 10). They are a spiritual guarantee, a sort of yeast that grows in the present time. We cannot live without the memory of those who came before us. The promise of God was announced to them, but the grace of this promise reaches us. This is why Jesus says, "Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it" (Mt 13:17). We can say that the "descendants" of the famous men have been very fortunate, because they stood at the threshold of the promise, while we, who have known Jesus, have entered the door of faith and love. There was "something better" for us (Heb 11:39), the gift of salvation that came to us thanks to the great witness given by Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12:2). ?
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
