Memory of Sant'Egidio, a monk from the East who came to the West. He lived in France and became the father of many monks. The Community of Sant'Egidio took its name from the church dedicated to him in Rome. We remember the beginning of the Second World War and pray for the end to all wars. The Orthodox Church begins its liturgical year.
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Memory of Sant’Egidio, a monk from the East who came to the West. He lived in France and became the father of many monks. The Community of Sant’Egidio took its name from the church dedicated to him in Rome. We remember the beginning of the Second World War and pray for the end to all wars. The Orthodox Church begins its liturgical year.
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
Luke 4,38-44
Leaving the synagogue he went to Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in the grip of a high fever and they asked him to do something for her.
Standing over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to serve them.
At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them.
Devils too came out of many people, shouting, 'You are the Son of God.' But he warned them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them,
but he answered, 'I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.'
And he continued his proclamation in the synagogues of Judaea.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus, having gone out of the synagogue, went into Peter’s house. And here they quickly took him to the apostle’s mother-in-law, who lay in bed sick. He leaned over her and ordered the fever to leave her. And the fever, the evangelist writes, left, and the old woman was healed. Jesus’ whole life was one of leaning towards the poor, the weak; in this case over an elderly lady. In her we see so many of the elderly who today are surrounded by indifference and maliciousness, and are compelled to remain shut up in sadness and in the wait for a sad end. The Lord Jesus, leaning over that woman, gives her back her vigour, such that getting up from her bed, she began to serve them. The evangelist leads us to think that Jesus stayed in the house until the end of the day, and then notes that all who had sick ones brought them to the door of that house. Peter’s house, now also Jesus’, had become a reference point for the people of that city, who brought the weak, the poor, the sick. Everyone went to knock on that door, sure that they would be heeded. Should it not be thus for every parish? Should not every Christian community be a true door of hope for those who seek comfort and aid? Should it not be thus also for every believer? We are unfortunately still far from this gospel scene. But where this takes place, the Christian community relives the same joy of the disciples when they see men and women healed by the power of the Gospel of love. We should keep scepticism concerning miracles - fruit of rationalism - away from us. We should not understand them only as "miraculous" events: there are so many ways miracles occur, and not just those of the body. In the Gospels, even if only 35 are listed, one hears often of "miracles, portents and signs" worked by Jesus. This power has been granted to the disciples as well. And thus also to us. But where the power to do them comes from is told to us by the following phrase in Luke: The day having ended, towards dawn, Jesus went to a solitary place to pray. From here comes his strength. It is a great teaching for every believer: to address the Lord in prayer at dawn means to give a good direction to one’s day. Strength from God is received in order to witness his love.
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
