Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 11,28-30
'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
These few verses are full of the same compassion as mentioned at the beginning of Jesus' public mission. He calls all those who are weary and burdened to follow him: we could say from the tax-collector he called to follow him, to the small group of men and women that chose him as their Master, and the harassed and helpless crowds that could finally find a shepherd, those oppressed by the violence of the rich, those wounded by the violence of war, starvation, injustice. The words of Jesus, full of tenderness and sensitivity, "Come to me and I will give you rest," resound for all these people. We must be Jesus' voice; his Church must repeat aloud, to the crowds of our world, Jesus' invitation to come under his cloak. Do I try, with humility and delicacy, to repeat the same words to those I meet every day? Do we repeat the same invitation we have received from Jesus, to other people lying in wait? People usually put aside and ignore those who labour and are burdened. They fear to get involved, they think only of their own difficulties. With our love, we must relieve those who are oppressed by pain, by unfair and unbearable conditions of life. The one who really relieves is Jesus himself: when we rest on his chest and are nourished by his Word. Only Jesus can say, "Take my yoke upon you." The yoke he talks about is the Gospel, demanding and tender at the same time, as is Jesus. The true yoke is to be linked to him. We are free only when we are bound to Jesus who frees us from the narrow boundaries of our "I." So, Jesus adds, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart." These are the two features that Jesus shows to everyone. This is the path of beatitude, that is happiness, to give and to receive. The gentle and the humble make life easier for their neighbours. On the contrary, the arrogant, the hot-tempered, the proud, and the aggressive live badly and hurt others. Learn from me: that is, be my disciples. We need this word; above all, the numerous crowds need it as they wait for Jesus' invitation: "Come to me, and I will give you rest."
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
