Feast of the nativity of Mary, mother of the Lord. Today the Franciscan tradition remembers Francis' visit of peace to Damietta to speak with the sultan Malek-al-Kamel. Prayer so that workers of peace and dialogue may arise.
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Feast of the nativity of Mary, mother of the Lord. Today the Franciscan tradition remembers Francis’ visit of peace to Damietta to speak with the sultan Malek-al-Kamel. Prayer so that workers of peace and dialogue may arise.
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 6,20-26
Then fixing his eyes on his disciples he said: How blessed are you who are poor: the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are hungry now: you shall have your fill. Blessed are you who are weeping now: you shall laugh.
'Blessed are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of man.
Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, look!-your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.
But alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now.
Alas for you who have plenty to eat now: you shall go hungry. Alas for you who are laughing now: you shall mourn and weep.
'Alas for you when everyone speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The evangelist introduces, at this point, Jesus’ great discourse on the beatitudes. Jesus has before his eyes that enormous crowd which awaits a true word from him. And Jesus speaks immediately. He does not give an abstract talk. He describes to that crowd its path to happiness. It is not the same path which the world suggests to men and women, a path which often reveals itself to be false and deceiving. Jesus does not say many words. Four are enough. Four beatitudes, well circumscribed and clear. He declares to the poor, to the hungry, to the abandoned and to the thirsty for justice that God has chosen to be alongside them. His proximity and that of the disciples will be for them the sign of a great joy. They, up to now excluded from life, will be the privileged ones, the preferred of God. This is why they are "blessed." Their blessedness, in fact, their happiness, does not flow out of their sad and precarious conditions of life. It is not beautiful, in fact, to be poor, nor to be afflicted, nor to be hungry, nor to be insulted. They are blessed because God has chosen to be with them first of all before being with others. This is what Jesus shows. To us believers is entrusted the most heavy and fascinating task of making them feel God’s love which privileges them, as Jesus has done during his whole life. The rich, the satisfied, the strong should be on the alert because it is more difficult for them to be happy. With four "woes" Jesus puts one on guard of seeking blessedness in love for oneself and for riches.
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
