Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 7, 21-29
'It is not anyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.
When the day comes many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?"
Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evil doers!
'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.
But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!'
Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people
because he taught them with authority, unlike their own scribes.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
These words conclude the Sermon on the Mount, the first great speech made by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. We immediately encounter strong words: only those who "do the will of the Father" will be worthy of the kingdom, not just those who invoke the Lord’s name. It is vitally important for us to examine our lives in light of this passage. "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock," while "everyone who...does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand." The example goes on: rains came, the rivers raged, the wind blew, and those two houses were battered. These are the tempests of life that we all experience. The first house, built on the rock, stood firm; the other one, built on the sand, collapsed. Those are two effective images that Jesus uses to compare those who listen to the Gospel to builders. We do not listen to the Gospel as some literary exercise or even to get some good feelings out of it. The Gospel is a word given so we may build our lives on a solid and stable foundation. This is why Jesus bids us to listen to it and put it into practice. The disciple must therefore be nourished by these words every day in order not to build her/his life on her/himself, on arrogance and personal convictions (which are as inconstant and changing as the sand). The Gospel is the rock, the foundation of our lives. It is the word of a teacher who is different from all the other teachers of this world. He teaches with the authority of someone who loves enough to give his life for all.
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
