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
Joshua 3, 7-10.11.13-17
Yahweh said to Joshua, 'This very day, I shall begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel so that they will know that, as I was with Moses, so I shall be with you.
Now, give this order to the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, "When you have reached the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you must halt in the Jordan itself." '
To the Israelites, Joshua then said, 'Come closer and hear the words of Yahweh your God.'
Joshua said, 'By this, you are to know that the living God is with you and without a doubt will expel the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites before you.
Look, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth is about to move into the Jordan at your head.
As soon as the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh, Lord of the whole earth, have set the soles of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off; the upper waters flowing down will stop as a single mass.'
Accordingly, when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people.
As soon as the bearers of the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the waters -- the Jordan is in spate throughout the harvest season-
the upper waters stood still and formed a single mass over a great distance, at Adam, the town near Zarethan, while those flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely separated. The people crossed opposite Jericho.
The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in mid-Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until the whole nation had completed its crossing of the Jordan.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Lord reassured Joshua of his support and company: “So that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses.” The Lord is the one who guides his people, even when the people who lead the community of believers changes. The Lord and only he is the good shepherd. And whoever is called to the responsibility of guiding the people should conform to him. Joshua accepted the task that was given to him by the Lord and he spoke with authoritativeness to the people: he did not draw his authority from his qualities or strategies, but only from the fact that he conveyed the Lord’s commands. Therefore he could assure that the enemies would be driven away and the Lord himself would give the land to his people. Trusting this, the crossing of the river Jordan began. When the Ark was about to pass just as at the Red Sea the water drew away and opened up a path on dry ground. The Ark was borne by the Levites. Being consecrated to worship and holy things, they needed to be close to it. The rest of the people followed, at a distance. Halfway through the crossing, the Ark stopped and let the people pass in front of it: the Ark is the protagonist of this miraculous crossing. In just a few lines it is mentioned seven times. And this event is all the more extraordinary since the river was overflowing with water. But the Ark is stronger: the water split and the people could cross the riverbed and reach the opposite shore. The Ark like a good shepherd waited in the middle of the river for the entire people to pass. Only then did it advance to dry ground. The Lord does not abandon his people in times of danger or in difficulty. This crossing, which reminds us of the passing of the Red Sea, has one difference, though: while then Israel had crossed the sea with a sense of distrust and fear, now their trust in the Lord is much stronger. The liturgy of praise indeed anticipates effective and full victory. Even Raab, in her faith, had foreseen the conquest of the land by the Lord of Israel.
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
