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
Matthew 21, 23-27
He had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him and said, 'What authority have you for acting like this? And who gave you this authority?'
In reply Jesus said to them, 'And I will ask you a question, just one; if you tell me the answer to it, then I will tell you my authority for acting like this.
John's baptism: what was its origin, heavenly or human?' And they argued this way among themselves, 'If we say heavenly, he will retort to us, "Then why did you refuse to believe him?";
but if we say human, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet.'
So their reply to Jesus was, 'We do not know.' And he retorted to them, 'Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.'
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 presents Jesus at the end of his life, while he is engaged in an intense argument with the religious and intellectual authorities of his time. He had returned to Jerusalem and as was his custom had gone to the temple to show himself as the Messiah, as the one sent by God. The high priests and elders of the people had understood that Jesus was not simply presenting a new doctrine or a new religious thought. Rather, he was presenting himself as the saviour of the Jewish people from all slavery. The day before, banishing the merchants from the atrium of the temple and healing many sick he had taken possession of it. Now he started teaching there. We could say that he had fulfilled the first messianic sign (the healing of the sick) and now he added the other, that is he spoke with authority to the people, demanding of them to listen and to obey. In truth, from the beginning of his preaching, the Gospels note that Jesus taught with authority. His preaching was, in fact, not just a simple presentation of some truths. He demanded that listeners change their hearts, that they truly transform their lives. Before this authoritative request, the high priests and elders of the people ask Jesus for a clear and convincing sign. At this point Jesus takes a cue from their own objections, and through the example of John the Baptist, he affirms again that the way to salvation is in listening to the Word of God and in the conversion of the heart. The objectors do not know how to respond. What is really hidden behind that “we do not know” is a much more radical “we do not want this.” Doesn’t this happen with us too? How many times after listening to the Gospelor after being called to change some attitude of our lives that are not evangelical, do we respond”I can’t” or “I won’t do it,” while in reality we should say: “We don’t want to.” Nearing Christmas, let us pay more attention to the Word of God that continues to speak to our lives and let us allow the voice of the Lord to enter into our hearts and bear fruits of love, peace, mercy, forgiveness and clemency.
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
