Memory of St. Ireneus, bishop of Lyon and martyr (130-202); he went to France from Anatolia to preach the Gospel. Read more
Memory of St. Ireneus, bishop of Lyon and martyr (130-202); he went to France from Anatolia to preach the Gospel.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 8, 23-27
Then he got into the boat followed by his disciples.
Suddenly a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep.
So they went to him and woke him saying, 'Save us, Lord, we are lost!'
And he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened, you who have so little faith?' And then he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
They were astounded and said, 'Whatever kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus is in the boat with his disciples travelling to the other shore of the lake, and after a little while, he falls asleep. All of the sudden - as often happens on that lake when the wind blows from the northeast - a storm blows in. The boat is tossed about by the waves while Jesus continues to sleep. He disciples are seized by fear and are even more surprised by the fact that Jesus continues to sleep. It seem like he doesn’t care about them at all. They wake him up and shout: "Lord, save us! We are lost!" It is a cry of desperation but also of faith; its essence is not far from the simple prayer with which we begin the Eucharistic liturgy every Sunday: "Lord, have mercy!" It is the same prayer that Peter addresses to Jesus when he is seized by fear and the threat of sinking. Jesus reaches out his hand and pulls him to safety. Sometimes, prayer is really a cry of desperation, as if to wake up the Lord, who seems to us to be sleeping. How many people are caught in the storm and don’t have anything else to hold onto except a cry for help? This simple cry is close to our condition; it is very human and it accurately describes our little faith. Jesus wakes up and rebukes the disciples for having little faith. They should have known that while they were with the Lord, they did not have to fear any evil. We sing in psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me" (4). When compared with Jesus’ tranquillity, which is based on his full trust in the Father who does not abandon him, we and the disciples, truly have little faith. Nonetheless, we would do well to imitate the disciples’ cry when the storm assails us. Because even in this case, Jesus stands straight up in the boat and, facing the winds and the stormy seas, rebukes them, and "there was a dead calm." One word from Jesus, and the sea withdraws. Those who were witnesses to this scene - the evangelist seems to suggest this not only included the disciples, but also those who might have been watching from the shore - were amazed. The disciple (and conversion) is born from the amazement of seeing that Jesus’ word calms every storm in life, even when it seems there is no way to avoid sinking.
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
