Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kobe, a priest martyr for love, who accepted death in the concentration camp of Auschwitz to save the life of another man in 1941. Read more
Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kobe, a priest martyr for love, who accepted death in the concentration camp of Auschwitz to save the life of another man in 1941.
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
Matthew 18,1-5.10.12-14
At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?' So he called a little child to him whom he set among them. Then he said, 'In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. 'Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me. 'See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that theirin heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven. 'Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? In truth I tell you, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, where death and resurrection await him. The Evangelist notes that "at that time the disciples came to Jesus" and asked him: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Their question reveals how distant they are from their teacher. In the parallel passage in Mark (9:33-37) we see the same scene: it is a situation that repeats itself even among today's disciples. How often we forget about the Gospel because of our own worries or our obsession with being first! Jesus takes a child and places him "among them," at the centre of the scene, and turns to the disciples and says: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." With these words begins the fourth, long sermon by Jesus to his disciples, a splendid reflection on the life of the Christian community. The beginning is already paradoxical: the disciple is not like an adult, a mature individual, as we tend to think, but a child, in need of help and nourishment, a son or a daughter. The disciple is a son or daughter who must remain as such, in need of help, care and being accompanied. Only those who consider themselves children first can be fathers in the community of believers. In the Kingdom of God, we always and in every way remain children. And Jesus warns the disciples not to scorn the little ones: their angels are always before God. That is to say that God protects them. In this line of thought, Jesus then tells the extraordinary parable of the lost sheep to explain exactly how God loves his children. He does the impossible so that not a single one of his little ones is lost. This concern should be more evident in our Christian communities: the salvation of our brothers and sisters should be our number one priority. In the past, it was said that the first duty of priests, but I would say of the entire Christian community, was the "salvation of souls." It ought to be so again today, because that is God's main concern.
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
