Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 12,8-12
'I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, the Son of man will declare himself for him in the presence of God's angels. But anyone who disowns me in the presence of human beings will be disowned in the presence of God's angels. 'Everyone who says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven, but no one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven. 'When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today's Gospel goes deeper into the topic of the disciple's faithfulness in the time of trial. Jesus begins by saying: "Everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God." Judgment upon ourselves takes place already on the basis of whether we are bound or not to Jesus, to the point of saying that our faithfulness binds Jesus to us in an even firmer way. Whoever follows the Gospel and perseveres in its way, even in times of trial, is saved because the Lord is with him or her. But those who let themselves be overtaken by fear and deny the Gospel and their brothers and sisters, destroy themselves by themselves. Jesus has really already said this other times: "Those who want to save their own life will lose it." He, in any case, knows our weakness and knows well that we can fall to the blandishments of temptation and fall into sin. The apostle Peter is an example of this: when Jesus' passion came, he first fled and then betrayed him in the house of the high priest because of fear in the presence of a servant-girl. The Lord forgave him anyway. He in fact is quick to forgive. In the Gospel page we have heard he even says: "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven." But he then continues: "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." Mark the evangelist too quotes these severe words adding: "For they had said: "He has an unclean spirit" (3:30). The sin against the Holy Spirit consists in not recognizing in Jesus the very presence of God and also in not recognizing in the Church, in the Christian community, the action of the Holy Spirit. If one does not recognize the presence of God in Jesus and even in the Church, one blasphemes against God and excludes oneself from the way of salvation because in fact one is denying the presence and action of the Holy Spirit whom the Father and the Son have poured out on the Church. Jesus' words are severe for the one who betrays but are consoling for the one who perseveres. The Lord, in fact, who understands our weakness, always comes to us, particularly in difficult moments: "Do not worry--he tells us--for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say." The company of the Lord is our strength.
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
