Anniversary of the death of John Paul II. Read more
Anniversary of the death of John Paul II.
Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Luke 18, 9-14
He spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being upright and despised everyone else,
'Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, "I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like everyone else, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here.
I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get."
The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
This man, I tell you, went home again justified; the other did not. For everyone who raises himself up will be humbled, but anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.'
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This Gospel passage transmits to us a parable about how to pray that Jesus told his disciples. Many times, Jesus taught his own about perseverance in prayer and about the trust they should have when they turn to God. With this parable, he stresses how indispensable humility is for prayer. It is a teaching all the more opportune because it is easy for us to present ourselves before the Lord with the attitude of the Pharisee who presumed that he was righteous and trusted only in himself. It is more difficult to consider oneself a sinner and needful of pardon and mercy. But Jesus warns us that pride and presumption radically belie trust in God and further lead one to be bad and hard towards others. The Pharisee went up to the temple, not to ask for help or invoke mercy, but to praise himself and to claim his due from God. He thought God owed him something and expected to receive what was due to him. The tax collector, on the other hand, despite being well-off, respected, and even feared in life, felt in need of help and mercy. This is why he went up to the temple empty-handed - not to claim his due, but to ask. We could say that he went to the temple like a beggar for forgiveness. Jesus said clearly that he was forgiven because he did not trust in himself - in his own works, in his wealth, or in his reputation - but only in God. On the contrary, the Pharisee, full of himself and satisfied with his works, went back home empty-handed. Once again, we find the Gospel’s paradox: those who exalt themselves will be humiliated, and those who humiliate themselves will be exalted. It is written in the psalm that "whoever is poor seeks the Lord." Let us be like that publican and continue to come before the Lord, recognizing that we are always sinners, which is why we beseech His help and forgiveness.
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
