Memory of Saints Cyrillus and Methodius, fathers of the Slavic Church and patrons of Europe. Read more
Memory of Saints Cyrillus and Methodius, fathers of the Slavic Church and patrons of Europe.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 10, 1-9
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself would be visiting.
And he said to them, 'The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to do his harvesting.
Start off now, but look, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
Take no purse with you, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.
Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, "Peace to this house!"
And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you.
Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house.
Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is put before you.
Cure those in it who are sick, and say, "The kingdom of God is very near to you."
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the Church remembers the Saints Cyril, a monk, and Methodius, a bishop, two brothers from Thessalonica. Sent by the Byzantine Church on mission to the Slavs, they translated the Bible and created a liturgy in the Slavonic language, convinced that the Word of God was the foundation of all sturdy ecclesial structures. Caught up in the ecumenical difficulties between the East and the West, they sought dialogue with Rome, where Cyril died, while Methodius was consecrated bishop and sent back to the Slavs as an apostolic legate. On account of their work, John Paul II named both men patrons of Europe, along with Saint Benedict. These two brothers remind us of the urgency of the Church’s mission and particularly highlight the passage we have just heard from the Gospel of Luke. It is Jesus’ second missionary sermon. While the first was addressed to the twelve (9:1-6), as if to gather together all of Israel, now the object of his exhortation is the mission of the seventy-two disciples whose number (cf. Gen 10) symbolizes all the people of the earth. Luke places this speech at the beginning of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. The universal dimension of preaching is not something extra; it is an integral part of the mission Jesus entrusts to his disciples. In fact, he himself notes that "the harvest is plentiful," truly abundant, and the labourers are few. There is a disproportion between the great work of evangelisation and the small number of disciples. The Lord knows this well. So he tells the disciples to pray not just for the Father to send labourers but for their labour to be successful. It is not light or easy work. It will have to overcome obstacles, barriers, hatred, and dangers: "See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves." They are not called to stay in the same old places or continue with the same old habits, even religious ones. The disciples are by their nature missionaries, that is, communicators of the Gospel, sent to prepare the hearts of men and women to welcome Jesus. As happened at Jesus’ time, Cyril and Methodius were also sent two by two. There is a beautiful saying of Gregory the Great on this subject: Jesus sent them two by two so that their first preaching would be their love for each other. Love, in fact, is the strength of the disciples, those of yesterday and those of today. The Lord’s love conquers the "wolves" of this world, as Francis of Assisi did with the "wolf" of Gubbio. The strength of Jesus’ disciples does not come from their equipment: they should bring nothing with them other than the Gospel and the Lord’s love. With this baggage, which is both weak and strong, they will be able to travel along the roads of this world, testifying to "the one who sent them." They need to announce the kingdom of God in every city and indeed in every house and demonstrate it by healing evil: "Cure the sick... and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."
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
