Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 10, 24-33
'Disciple is not superior to teacher, nor slave to master.
It is enough for disciple to grow to be like teacher, and slave like master. If they have called the master of the house "Beelzebul", how much more the members of his household?
'So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.
What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.
'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing.
Why, every hair on your head has been counted.
So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
'So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.
But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In the long missionary discourse he is directing to the disciples, Jesus exhorts them to not feel they are superior to the Master; it is enough that they become like him. And this should already make us tremble; and yet, with incredible ease, we let ourselves be swept away by our pride to the point of feeling we are independent and "disciples" of ourselves. Our salvation lies in being and remaining disciples of Jesus. He, in fact, exhorts to not fear the enemies of the Gospel: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." The evangelist Matthew, as he reported these words of Jesus, probably had before his eyes the experience of his community, subjected to strong opposition. And he wanted to reassure them. The Lord does not abandon his disciples; rather, whoever spends his life for the Gospel receives consolation from the Lord, above all if he must face difficulties and trials. It has never been simple and smooth going for the Christian community to preach the Gospel of the cross and resurrection. We should certainly ask ourselves what the exhortation means; what not fearing and not being frightened means for us, since we are not living in a time of persecution. But perhaps here lies the problem. It is true that Christians, at least in Europe, are not persecuted - if it is true that persecutions are not lacking in many countries even today-- but it is easy for hearts to be weakened; it is easy, that is, for them not to have the daring and the courage to believe in the Gospel as a force for change and salvation. A Christianity which easily gives up, which does not know how to hope for a world of peace, has lost its strength. At times the Gospel is thought of as asking for a life of lower expectations, perhaps made up only of renunciation, without a real interest in ourselves, and in the end not effective for society. But it’s quite something else. The disciples who follow the way of the Gospel do not lose themselves; God sustains them: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows." This loving attentiveness of the Lord becomes the disciples’ company in the battle to communicate the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
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
