Prayer for the unity of the Churches. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Europe and in the Americas. Read more
Prayer for the unity of the Churches. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Europe and in the Americas.
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
Mark 3, 22-30
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, 'Beelzebul is in him,' and, 'It is through the prince of devils that he drives devils out.'
So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables,
'How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last.
And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never last.
Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot last either -- it is the end of him.
But no one can make his way into a strong man's house and plunder his property unless he has first tied up the strong man. Only then can he plunder his house.
'In truth I tell you, all human sins will be forgiven, and all the blasphemies ever uttered;
but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin.'
This was because they were saying, 'There is an unclean spirit in him.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel passage unveils the strange alliance that forms between the "family members" (cfr. Mk 3:20-21) and the scribes in order to stop Jesus’ preaching. According to his relatives, Jesus is crazy - he is out of his mind and exaggerates; for the scribes he is possessed by a demon. The last accusation is obviously much more serious than the first, as it places Jesus on the side of God’s enemy. According to this accusation, Jesus acts under the inspiration of evil forces. Whatever the reason, neither the relatives nor the scribes understand the extraordinary fact that people come to Jesus and are happy, glad, and full of hope. Goodness creates envy; it breaks illicit balances or simply questions, troubles and asks for a comparison. The Pharisees and even the relatives cannot stand that Jesus - that the Gospel - breaks the balances established by their egocentrism and that life may get out of their control. Therefore, they try to discredit him before the people, so that no one may come to him. How many times do people try to discredit the Church’s authority, the community, or the single believers with lies and gratuitous accusations? However, Jesus answers back to the scribes, and after ridiculing them with the example of the house that is divided on itself, he invites everyone not to trust in their own forces and not to be sure of themselves, since in such a way, they underestimate evil and succumb to it. Only Jesus is able to tie up the strong man (evil) and therefore not be jeered by it. The poor, the sick, and the sinners have realized this, and this is why they were looking for him trusting his mercy and strength. It is a great lesson for us, too, as we are often tempted by self-sufficiency and consequently unable to invoke God’s help.
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
