Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 14,22-36
And at once he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he sent the crowds away.
After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
while the boat, by now some furlongs from land, was hard pressed by rough waves, for there was a head-wind.
In the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the sea,
and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. 'It is a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear.
But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, 'Courage! It's me! Don't be afraid.'
It was Peter who answered. 'Lord,' he said, 'if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.'
Jesus said, 'Come.' Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water,
but then noticing the wind, he took fright and began to sink. 'Lord,' he cried, 'save me!'
Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. 'You have so little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'
And as they got into the boat the wind dropped.
The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, 'Truly, you are the Son of God.'
Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret.
When the local people recognised him they spread the news through the whole neighbourhood and took all that were sick to him,
begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched it were saved.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Jesus invites the disciples to board the boat and go ahead of him to the other shore while he sends the crowd away. Finally, after everyone has gone (the crowd and the disciples), Jesus climbs up the mountain alone to pray. This scene is often seen in the Gospels (it clearly made a great impression on the disciples and the first Christian community). As the boat is crossing the lake, a storm blows up. The evangelist seems to suggest that without Jesus, it is easy for the winds and storms to blow. And in any case, night, every night, is always full of fear. But dawn comes. And while the sun is rising, Jesus comes towards the disciples, walking on the water. The disciples’ fear confuses their thoughts and eyes, and they think he is a ghost. Jesus speaks to them directly: "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid!" And he immediately answers Peter’s prayer and says: "Come!" Perhaps Peter recognizes the voice from the first time he met Jesus on the shores of that same lake, and once again he quickly leaves the boat and the nets and goes towards Jesus. And he too walks on the water. A trusting and immediate response to the Lord’s call always creates miracles. But then the doubts come, and Peter sinks. Once more, his prayer rises up to the Lord, and Jesus takes the poor Peter by the hand. What counts is never leaving the Lord and always following his voice.
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
