Feast of the Baptism of the Lord Read more
Homily
John sees Jesus coming towards him. The Lord does not remain distant; he does not wait, as often people like to do, for others to take the first step. Waiting may see a balanced, just and prudent attitude. Why should one be vulnerable in going towards others? Doesn’t he or she expose him/herself to uncontrollable reactions? How will we be welcomed? Why me and not him? Concern for ourselves and fear of the meeting with others urge us to stay still. Jesus does not wait for the right moment; he does not decide only after verifying the results and be positive about the response. He humbles himself. He comes towards each of us as he is. He does not have himself announced or preceded by important signs. Men and women are often looking for an extraordinary encounter, a definitive answer and despise the concrete and human encounter because it requires vigilance, sensitivity, and welcome. Jesus comes and yet it is not magic.
The encounter between Jesus and John, though a unique and unrepeatable experience, opened the way to many other encounters. We could say that it defines the fundamental aspects of any encounter with Jesus so that it becomes paradigmatic. After it many encounters follow: that with Andrew and the other disciples, also nearby the Jordan River, then that with Simon Peter, Philip, Nathanael ... and with those who in every generation listen to the preaching of the Gospel and follow it whole-heartedly, including us. The evangelist, with his narrative full of symbols, notes that John saw "Jesus coming towards him." It is Jesus who comes towards John and not vice versa. It is not human beings who go towards Jesus; it is Jesus who comes towards us. This is the mystery we celebrated at Christmas when Jesus came to dwell among people. Besides we are not so used to going towards the Lord, so much so that when the Son of God comes on this land we do not even welcome him: "He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him!" (Jn 1:11). For his part, the apostle Paul describes with great clarity who takes the initiative of the encounter. Speaking of the incarnation of the Son he sings: "Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness" (Phil 2:6-7). The Lord Jesus came towards us, to dwell among us, to become our brother, friend, saviour. Upon seeing Jesus, the Baptist says: "I did not know him." If John, though so great in spirit, says: "I did not know him," how much more should we say it? Just before, the Baptist, turning to the crowds, said: "Among you stands one whom you do not know!" (Jn 1:26). We need to listen to the school of the Baptist in order to realize that Jesus is coming close to us. But how? We just need to listen to the Gospel with the heart. Let us try and we will see the Lord coming towards us. We will see him like a "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"; we will see him as the one who takes on his shoulder our burdens, anguish, crosses, doubts, uncertainties and sins. We all need a deeper and more personal knowledge of his mystery of love. We are just beginners in knowing Jesus! How true also for us is the reprimand Jesus said with some bitterness to Philip: "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?" It is true. We did not listen to him much. We have confused him with our feelings; we have reduced him to a lesson or a scribe; we have thought we knew his judgments and we have defended ourselves from his love so much larger than our heart. We have wasted the extraordinary strength of the Gospel, hiding it under the bushel, not trusting much in the light, which, as the prophet Isaiah says, is for all the peoples, till the ends of the earth. We have not been too insistent, and so we did not know ourselves and we did not point to others the one who reveals himself along the way, who reveals himself while we follow him, and we are in his company. John insists, speaking to the crowds: "Among you stands one whom you do not know!" He contemplated the one who will save many, who will take on his shoulder the sin of the world, who frees from the pollution of the hearts and of the world that has polluted so many hearts and countries.
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
