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
Jeremiah 15, 10-21
A disaster for me, mother, that you bore me to be a man of strife and dissension for the whole country. I neither lend nor borrow, yet all of them curse me.
Have I not genuinely done my best to serve you, Yahweh? Have I not interceded with you in time of disaster and distress!
'Can iron break the iron of the north and the bronze?
Your wealth and your treasures I shall hand over to plunder, without repayment, because of all your sins, throughout your territory.
I shall enslave you to your enemies in a country which you do not know, for my anger has kindled a fire that will burn you up.'
Yahweh, you know! Remember me, take care of me, and avenge me on my persecutors. However long your anger endures, do not snatch me away. Realise that I suffer insult for your sake.
When your words came, I devoured them: your word was my delight and the joy of my heart; for I was called by your Name, Yahweh, God Sabaoth.
I never sat in the company of scoffers amusing myself; with your hands on me I held myself aloof, since you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my suffering continual, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, for me you are a deceptive stream with uncertain waters!
To which Yahweh replied, 'If you repent, I shall restore you to plead before me. If you distinguish between the precious and the base, you shall be as my own mouth. They will come back to you, but you must not go back to them.
As far as these people are concerned, I shall make you a fortified wall of bronze. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, because I am with you to save you and rescue you, Yahweh declares.
I shall rescue you from the clutches of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the violent.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
We continue our reading of Jeremiah with this passage, which scholars call his “confession.” The prophet speaks to God in a very personal way and pours his feelings out to him, pointing out the difficulties and the opposition he encounters when he tries to communicate God’s word. Jeremiah asks for help: “Lord, remember me and visit me”, but also insists on his faithfulness. He recalls the love with which he accepted the mission and the passion with which he communicated God’s Word; he goes so far as to seek revenge on his opponents. We can clearly see the strong bond between the prophet and his God and the prophet’s passion for the word that was entrusted to him, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.” Truly the Word of God can be a joy and a delight for us, if we listen to them and communicate them. But the prophet’s joy is mixed with pain, and everything becomes prayer, because in prayer we can always find an answer, even in moments of difficulty. For the Lord hears Jeremiah’s prayer, and sees the need for help that emerges from his words. The response is immediate. The Lord, in fact, does not abandon the righteous and does not leave them without an answer. But the Lord begins with a loving rebuke: “If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me.” The prophet himself has to convert his heart and draw close to God. Indeed, it is by standing in God’s presence and becoming familiar with his Word that the prophet will learn to “utter what is precious, and not what is worthless.” Familiarity with the Holy Scriptures makes the prophet the “mouth of God.” He will then be stout enough to resist his enemies and strong enough to defeat evil. God will not allow evil to prevail in history, and he will defeat it through the works of believers who let themselves be guided by the strength of his Word.
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
