Memory of St. Wenceslaus, venerated as a martyr in Bohemia. Memory of William Quijano, a young man from El Salvador who was killed by the violence of the maras. Read more
Memory of St. Wenceslaus, venerated as a martyr in Bohemia. Memory of William Quijano, a young man from El Salvador who was killed by the violence of the maras.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 9, 57-62
As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'
Jesus answered, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.'
Another to whom he said, 'Follow me,' replied, 'Let me go and bury my father first.'
But he answered, 'Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.'
Another said, 'I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say good -- bye to my people at home.'
Jesus said to him, 'Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus has just begun his journey towards Jerusalem and the problem of following immediately arises. So many ran to him, especially men and women needing help, of healing, of comfort, but how could they continue to follow him? There were some among them who were healed or who remained fascinated by his words who decided to remain with him and follow him wherever he went. But it was not an obvious choice nor was it easy. And in any case Jesus’ call was required: "Follow me." The examples that this Gospel page reports show the seriousness and the demands that this following involves. It is remarkable that the three answers given by Jesus all have something to do with family life. Jesus says to the first person that the disciple cannot stay at home in tranquillity, but must follow him - the Son of Man - who, opposite the foxes that have holes, and birds of the air that have nests, has not even a place to rest his head. It is a severe warning for the one who, on the other hand, wants a life with a guarantee and above all tranquil. To the second, Jesus reinforces the primacy of announcing the Gospel even over the most delicate of family matters, such as the burial of a father. And the third who comes closer is told by Jesus that he cannot have any regrets for the life he left. The life that is received in following Jesus does not tolerate second thoughts or looking back. The Gospel requires conquering one’s own egocentrism and abandoning one’s own traditions to choose Jesus as the only Lord of one’s life. No doubt it is a radical, even paradoxical choice. But it is so because Jesus’ love for us is total, radical, paradoxical, unique. It is the love we need in order to be freed from slavery to sin and from love only for ourselves.
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
