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
The verses are few, but full of that compassion of which we heard at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, as Matthew himself writes: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (9:36). He, as if to synthesize the whole of his saving activity, calls to himself all those who are tired and burdened by life: from the tax-collector whom he called to follow him, to the small group of men and women who have chosen him as Teacher, to yesterday’s tired and exhausted crowds who can finally find a shepherd, to those, even more numerous, of today who have a very hard time finding one who thinks of them, to those oppressed by the excess of power of the rich, to those hit by the violence of war, of famine, of injustice. Over all these crowds, today, the words of the Lord resound: "Come to me, and I will give you rest." And we should be his voice. Yes, today’s Christian communities, spread to all parts of the earth, should repeat these same words of Jesus to the crowds needful of help and comfort: "Come, we will refresh you!" But does this happen? Does it not happen that we are mute, perhaps because we are preoccupied only with our internal issues? And yet it is evident to all that there is a need for this invitation! There is a need for a new audacity. But it can only come from a heart like Jesus’. Let us avoid turning in on ourselves, remaining prisoners of referring everything to ourselves. Let us with greater courage give witness with words and deeds the extraordinary -and uniquemercy of Jesus. The "rest" of which the Gospel speaks is none other than Jesus himself: to rest on his chest and nourish ourselves on his Word. Jesus, and only him, can add: "Take my yoke upon you." He is not speaking of the "yoke of the law," the hard yoke imposed by the Pharisees. The yoke he speaks about is the Gospel, which is at the same time demanding and easy, precisely like him. Therefore he adds: "learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart." Learn from me: that is, become my disciples. We have need of it; and above all the numerous crowds of this world, who are waiting to yet again hear Jesus’ invitation, "Come to me , and I will give you rest," have need of it.
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
