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
Matthew 7,1-5
'Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the standard you use will be the standard used for you. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own? And how dare you say to your brother, "Let me take that splinter out of your eye," when, look, there is a great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus calls the disciples to not judge, in order not to be judged. The term judge here is intended as to condemn. The affirmation is very serious and demanding: God in fact, will pronounce His judgement on us in the same way that we form it on others. Whoever wants a generous and merciful judgement should be generous and merciful toward their brothers and sisters. On the contrary whoever judges in a cold or mean way will receive the same treatment. Jesus comes down in the depth of the human soul to uproot an attitude which is strong and difficult to dismantle: we are always indulgent with ourselves and very hard with others. All of us, in fact, are always ready to consider the splinter present in the eyes of others, while we are more indulgent in tolerating the beam which is in our eye; often we do not even see it or we obscure it. It is a way of living and conceiving of relationships with others which poisons daily life and renders it more violent and bitter for everyone. The attitude of condemnation flows from a heart that does not see. Jesus warns the disciples to not have a judgement on others. But this does not mean being disinterested. Further on, Jesus will speak of brotherly correction. But we can already say that the Gospel asks every disciple to pay attention to the other with love and brotherly concern. In this sense, love for the other requires attention and judgement. Jesus excludes that judgement which stigmatizes others, condemning them without hope or mercy; indeed, such judgment is only condemnation. Instead the disciple should have an attitude of help and correction, if necessary, for others. Fraternal correction, in fact, is born from a gaze of love and not of disinterest; it is nourished by the trust that Lord gives to each of us for our interior journeys and spiritual growth.
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
