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
Daniel 7, 2-14
Daniel said, 'I have been seeing visions in the night. I saw that the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea;
four great beasts emerged from the sea, each different from the others.
The first was like a lion with eagle's wings and, as I looked, its wings were torn off, and it was lifted off the ground and set standing on its feet like a human; and it was given a human heart.
And there before me was a second beast, like a bear, rearing up on one side, with three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth. "Up!" came the command. "Eat quantities of flesh!"
After this I looked; and there before me was another beast, like a leopard, and with four bird's wings on its flanks; it had four heads and was granted authority.
Next, in the visions of the night, I saw another vision: there before me was a fourth beast, fearful, terrifying, very strong; it had great iron teeth, and it ate its victims, crushed them, and trampled their remains underfoot. It was different from the previous beasts and had ten horns.
'While I was looking at these horns, I saw another horn sprouting among them, a little one; three of the original horns were pulled out by the roots to make way for it; and in this horn I saw eyes like human eyes, and a mouth full of boasting.
While I was watching, thrones were set in place and one most venerable took his seat. His robe was white as snow, the hair of his head as pure as wool. His throne was a blaze of flames, its wheels were a burning fire.
A stream of fire poured out, issuing from his presence. A thousand thousand waited on him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was in session and the books lay open.
'I went on watching: then, because of the noise made by the boastings of the horn, as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and committed to the flames.
The other beasts were deprived of their empire, but received a lease of life for a season and a time.
I was gazing into the visions of the night, when I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, as it were a son of man. He came to the One most venerable and was led into his presence.
On him was conferred rule, honour and kingship, and all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His rule is an everlasting rule which will never pass away, and his kingship will never come to an end.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
How to understand the significance of those difficult times How to decipher the images and visions that seemed to paint the story of a drama dominated by evil Daniel, "felt weakened." When history becomes complex, the future uncertain, and evil imminent, the instinct is to feel weak, to allow ourselves to be taken by resignation. Daniel’s strength is in not staying silent, in continuing to ask questions to the Lord, to the only one who can help him understand events. The word of God helps us not to remain silent, to question ourselves, not accepting history as an unchangeable destiny. The language used in Daniel, which is used again in John’s Apocalypse, tries to penetrate the dark secrets of the world, and helps us to answer the questions of difficult and complex times, like the ones we live in now. The four beasts symbolize the different empires that followed each other after the 7th century. To those the last kingdom is added, this one perhaps more terrible for the population of Judea and Jerusalemthat of Antioch IV Epiphanes (the little horn), who was their worst persecutor and who reappears mostly in the second part of the book. Inside a terrible story, marked by the arrogance of power, a power that submits and destroys everything, God does not abandon his people to the power of evil. The Lord and a heavenly court appear before Daniel (the Ancient One sitting on the throne and the thousands who serve him) and someone "having the appearance of a man," a messianic figure whom Jesus later refers to as himself in the Gospels (Mk 13: 26). God comes to re-establish justice for those who remained faithful and who continued to believe in the strength of his love. He does not allow them to be destroyed by evil. "The son of man," Jesus Son of God, will come on the clouds of the sky and in his resurrection will show to all the victory of the God of life over death. Let us entrust ourselves to the Lord to be saved by the one to whom he has entrusted the power to save us.
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
