Feast of the blessed Virgin Queen Mary. Muslims celebrate the Feast of the sacrifice (Aid-al-Adha). Read more
Feast of the blessed Virgin Queen Mary. Muslims celebrate the Feast of the sacrifice (Aid-al-Adha).
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
Luke 1,39-47
Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.' And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The liturgical calendar remembers today the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In a certain sense this celebration completes the feast of the Assumption, celebrated on August 15. It is in any case the same mystery which involves the Mother of Jesus. The Second Vatican Council writes, "The immaculate Virgin..., having finished her time on earth, was assumed into heavenly glory with body and soul and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe so that she could be more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords, the Conqueror of sin and death." This is truly a great mystery because it not only reveals the future toward which we are all journeying, but it also gives us a Mother who continues to be before our eyes a sign of the limitless mercy of God. The Gospel of the visitation to Elizabeth shows us the readiness with which Mary responded to the Lord, practicing that mercy which she had first welcomed. Luke writes that Mary, after knowing from the angel that Elizabeth was pregnant, immediately ran to her. "In hurry" notes the evangelist. Those who listen to the Gospel do not hesitate, they feel the urgency to go out. Mary learnt from the angel that Elizabeth, who was older, was pregnant and her pregnancy was not easy. The Gospel makes us rise from ourselves and impels us to draw near to those who suffer or who are in need. Christian encounter, seek the other and need the other. Each supports the other in important changes in their lives, in times of the fulfilment of an unexpected hope, a grace from God. Grace is not lived alone but is shared. Mary and Elizabeth are two women who bring with them the end of an expectation and the beginning of a fulfilment. They know how to see him even if he is still hidden in the womb. For this they are blessed. As soon as she sees Mary come to her house Elizabeth rejoices deeply, even in her womb. The joy of the weak and poor is in knowing they have been visited by "servants" of the Lord, those servants that "have believed in the fulfilment of the Lord's word." The Word of God creates a new alliance in the world, an unusual alliance, between disciples of the Gospel and the poor.
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
