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
Tobit 8,1-9
When they had finished eating and drinking and it seemed time to go to bed, the young man was taken from the dining room to the bedroom.
Tobias remembered Raphael's advice; he went to his bag, took the fish's heart and liver out of it and put some on the burning incense.
The reek of the fish distressed the demon, who fled through the air to Egypt. Raphael pursued him there, shackled him and strangled him forthwith.
The parents meanwhile had gone out and shut the door behind them. Tobias rose from the bed, and said to Sarah, 'Get up, my sister! You and I must pray and petition our Lord to win his grace and his protection.'
She stood up, and they began praying for protection, and this was how he began: You are blessed, O God of our fathers; blessed too is your name for ever and ever. Let the heavens bless you and all things you have made for evermore.
You it was who created Adam, you who created Eve his wife to be his help and support; and from these two the human race was born. You it was who said, 'It is not right that the man should be alone; let us make him a helper like him.'
And so I take my sister not for any lustful motive, but I do it in singleness of heart. Be kind enough to have pity on her and on me and bring us to old age together.
And together they said, 'Amen, Amen,'
and lay down for the night. But Raguel rose and called his servants, who came and helped him dig a grave.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
When Tobias and Azariah reach Ecbatana they are welcomed with great hospitality by Raguel and Edna. With the question about whether Tobias’ father is still alive, the author seems to echo the welcome that Joseph had given his brothers (Gen 43:27-28). Raguel’s weeping at the discovery that Tobias is the son of Tobit, his relative, is moving. At this point, Tobias takes the initiative and makes a decision about his marriage. He uses Azariah, however, to ask for Sarah as his wife, as if to underline the need we all have of an authoritative friend when we make important life decisions. Raguel, Sarah’s father, does not hide from Tobias the problems his daughter has had concerning marriage. But he is convinced that, according to the Law of Moses, Sarah has to be given in marriage to Tobias. He lets himself be guided by his instinct of faith and says: "The Lord will act on behalf of you both." These words remind us of what Abraham said to his son Isaac (cfr. Gen 22:8) when, amazed, he asked him where the victim for the sacrifice was. The words do not come from any sense of resignation to fate; they come from an outlook coloured by faith, which sees the mercy and strength of the Lord, who accompanies his children. Raguel is a believer, and despite his family’s serious problems, he has faith that God will provide for these two young people who have decided to get married. The responsible cooperation of believers is obviously also required, because the Lord does not make up for human resignation or lack of responsibility. The wedding is celebrated in the context of a banquet: Raguel gives his daughter to Tobias, pronounces over the bride and groom a formula which recalls the Law of Moses, and invokes God’s blessing on them. When he gives his daughter to her husband, Raguel tells her: "From now on you are her brother and she is your sister." Faith does not erase the relationship between husband and wife, but, at the same time, it surpasses it, taking it beyond the "hierarchies" inherent in the relationship and rediscovering it in the context of the one fraternity that binds together the children of the one Father. Raguel enacts the wedding contract with the expected words (cfr. 8:21; 10:10). The scene ends with Edna’s tears at the coming departure. Nonetheless, she has faith in God, who will not abandon her daughter.
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
