Memorial of Saint Anthony the Abbot (+356). He followed the Lord into the Egyptian desert and was father of many monks. A day of reflection on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Read more
Memorial of Saint Anthony the Abbot (+356). He followed the Lord into the Egyptian desert and was father of many monks. A day of reflection on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Psalm 111, 1-2.4-5.9-10
1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
4 He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant for ever.
Holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practise it have a good understanding.
His praise endures for ever.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This psalm expresses the prayer of a believer. But he is not an isolated believer. He prays in the midst of the assembly. And he thanks the Lord for the works he has performed on behalf of his people for their salvation. They are concrete works that God has performed to save Israel from slavery and lead the people into a land where they could dwell. The believer contemplates these works, meditates on them, tastes them, and in them discovers the power of the limitless love of God. As he looks on them he says that they are great, beautiful, splendid, powerful, true, and just. And it could not be otherwise, because God has performed them with pity and tenderness, with justice and truth. But on the other hand, how often our deeds, especially those of service to the Gospel, the poor, and our brothers and sisters, are shoddy because they are performed without love! Let us contemplate the works of God in order to imitate and celebrate His passion and His love. The believer does so publicly, in the presence of the just, in the presence of those who seek, meditate upon (drs) and take pleasure in the works of God (v. 2). It is as if his heart has been overcome with wonder at how much the Lord has done, and so he sings, “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart” (v. 1). Yes, it is not possible to sing of the works of the Lord without deep wonder, without being drawn into them with our whole heart. And God himself loves human beings with his whole heart. The psalmist makes reference to the celebration of Passover, the supreme remembrance: “He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds” (v. 4). This celebration is rich with evocative acts: the departure from Egypt is recalled, but above all the resulting freedom and the certainty of definite liberty are celebrated. Then there is the other great work, the giving of the Law: “All his precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever” (v. 7-8). Israel has always considered the very existence of the law to be an important gift. The people knew the law was not a series of imposed prohibitions but precious and wise directions that prevented them from returning to the slavery of sin and helped them remain faithful to the covenant. The observance of the law, in fact, was nothing other than a response to the covenant. Just as God had involved himself in the history of Israel with all of his power, so, in the same way, must Israel respond to the Lord. The psalmist recalls that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (v. 10). This fear is not fright, but respect, obedience, fidelity, and abandonment. To fear God means to trust in him without reserve and with serenity. This, the psalmist reminds us, is the heart of all wisdom.
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
