Memory of St. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem. Prayer for Jerusalem and for peace in the Holy Land. Read more
Memory of St. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem. Prayer for Jerusalem and for peace in the Holy Land.
Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Matthew 5, 20-26
'For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven.
'You have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You shall not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court.
But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire.
So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering.
Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.
In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Gospel passage from Matthew that we have heard is part of the great Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has just explained that he came to fulfil the law, not to abolish it. Jesus does not distance himself from the law, but rather finds in it God’s profound way of thinking, that is, his very heart. The justice about which Jesus is speaking is not found in an impossible, external egalitarianism, but rather, it is found in God’s limitless love made real among us. In fact, Jesus adds a severe warning: "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus is saying that just being as good as the Pharisees is the same as not being good at all. He explains himself with words that no one had ever dared to say before, and that no one has heard anywhere other than in the Gospel. Jesus starts from the fifth commandment: "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, You shall not murder’... But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council." Jesus is not proposing a new level of hair-splitting (as in the two examples of those who call their brother or sister "stupid" or "crazy"), or a new juridical praxis; he is proposing a new way of understanding relationships between people. Jesus affirms that love is the fulfilment of the law. We have to move from negative precepts (do not get angry, do not call someone crazy, do not murder), to the positive viewpoint of friendship. Love is the new energy that Jesus has come to give to men and women. Love is so important that Jesus says that if it is lacking, the central activity of worship must also stop. "Mercy" is more important than "sacrifice;" and the relationship with God created in worship cannot be separated from a loving relationship with men and women. It is love that should rule over our actions. This is why Jesus recommends that we come to terms with each other instead of going to court. This is not just in order to avoid prison, but more importantly, because we are to live in fraternal relationship with others in a way that goes beyond merely observing the law.
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
