Memory of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr (+258). He reorganized the service to the poor in Rome. Prayer for the poor and for those who serve them in the name of the Gospel.
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Memory of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr (+258). He reorganized the service to the poor in Rome. Prayer for the poor and for those who serve them in the name of the Gospel.
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 18,1-5.10.12-14
At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?'
So he called a little child to him whom he set among them.
Then he said, 'In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.
And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.
'Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me.
'See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that theirin heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.
'Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray?
In truth I tell you, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all.
Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Having completed his ministry in Galilee, Jesus prepares to go up to Jerusalem, where death awaits him. The evangelist notes that "at that time the disciples came to Jesus," yet their question reveals how far they are from their teacher. The parallel passage in Mark (9:33ff) reports the same scene: Jesus has just announced his passion, and instead of thinking about what they just heard, his disciples start arguing about who is the greatest. How great a distance there is between the concerns of the Teacher and those of the disciples! In truth, it is a situation that still repeats itself among the disciples today. How often do we forget about the Gospel because we are only concerned about ourselves and about our place in society? Jesus did not immediately answer with words. He took a child and placed it "among them," at the centre of the scene, and said to the disciples: "Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." With these words begins Jesus’ fourth long discourse, and it is about the life of Christian fraternity. The beginning is surprising: the disciple is like a child, that is, like a son or daughter, and he or she must always remain a child. Jesus does not say that the child must grow and become an adult. In the kingdom of God we are always children; we are always sons and daughters. He adds that the child is the greatest. So begins the new world that God came to establish.
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
