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
Nehemiah 9,30-37
You were patient with them for many years and warned them by your spirit through your prophets, but they would not listen; so you put them at the mercy of the people of the country.
But, because of your great compassion, you did not destroy them completely nor abandon them, for you are a gracious, compassionate God.
Now, our God -- the great God, the Mighty and Awe-inspiring One, maintaining the covenant and your faithful love- count as no small thing this misery which has befallen us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, and all your people from the times of the Assyrian kings to the present day.
You have been upright in all that has happened to us, for you acted faithfully, while we did wrong.
Our kings, our princes, our priests and our ancestors did not keep your law or pay attention to your commandments and obligations which you imposed upon them.
Even in their own kingdom, despite your great goodness which you bestowed on them, despite the wide and fertile country which you had lavished on them, they did not serve you or renounce their evil deeds.
See, we are slaves today, slaves in the country which you gave to our ancestors for them to eat the good things it produces.
Its abundant produce goes to the kings whom, for our sins, you have set over us, who rule over our persons and over our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The reflection on the history of the people of Israel continues, presented as a story marked by the patience of God, who has never stopped speaking to his people. The secret of this unique relationship between God and Israel is precisely the word, constantly communicated by the prophets: "For many years you were patient with them, and warned them by your spirit through your prophets." The book of Jeremiah understands the history of Israel in the same way: "If you will not listen ... heed the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgentlythough you have not heeded" (26:5). God does not stop speaking, and the word is the sign of his heedful love. Nehemiah too is forced to the same conclusion as Jeremiah: they have not wanted to give ear." Non-hearing distances one from the Lord and renders His love in vain. To not listen to the word of God means rejecting the love with which He looks at our life. Jesus too in the Gospels reproaches his disciples for "having ears but not hearing." Nonetheless, the Lord does not stop taking care of his people, because he is a "great and powerful" God, and his greatness is manifested in the love that he does not cease to pour on humanity. Pride makes the heart hard and hinders listening. And if one does not listen to the word of God, one becomes a slave of one’s own habits, one’s own small horizon and own interests. The humility of hearing the word of God enables us to open our eyes to the great love that the Lord does not cease to manifest to us and impels us to call upon his mercy and help that we might be able to continue to walk in his paths. How many benefits has the Lord granted us! And with what loving care has he kept us that we might be able to live the joy of his presence surrounded by the love of our brothers and sisters! Believers can praise the Lord because he has brought them to a blessed land, rich in goods and love. Let us not let love for ourselves get the upper hand, with the result that we distance ourselves from God’s house. And in times of anguish, difficulty and fear, let us not forget to turn to the Lord with trust: He will listen to our prayer and will free us from all evil.
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
