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 12, 46-50
He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly his mother and his brothers were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him.
But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, 'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?'
And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers.
Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
It is an episode reported by all the Synoptics, despite the problems it seems to raise. Jesus is speaking to the crowd when his mother and his brothers arrive and seek to meet him. The crowd which surrounds him hinders the relatives from getting near him. The evangelist notes that the relatives remained "outside;" they are not among those who were listening to him. It is an observation not so much spatial as about disposition to listen. Thus it occurs with those who feel they are so "related" to Jesus, i.e., members of the institution, that they no longer feel the need to listen to the Word of God, of no longer needing to be helped. To those who tell Jesus that outside are his mother and brothers waiting for him, he responds in a surprising way. He says that his mother and his relatives are those who listen to him, precisely those who are "inside" in order to hear the preaching of the Gospel. For a world, like the Jewish one, which considered blood relations a determining factor for religious membership, this lack of acknowledgement of relatives was truly disconcerting. Jesus in truth wanted to clearly indicate his new family, which is the one made up of his disciples, of those who follow him, of those who trust him. Ties of blood or of the clan, the bond of nation of homeland, cultural or racial links, are actually not decisive for the kingdom of God. Rather, at times they are occasions for closing up and not of opening to others. Such relations, no matter how deep they are, should in any case be pervaded by the Word of God which prunes and purifies them so that they are not the occasion of closure and struggle, but rather become fraternal. The Word of God purifies "natural" relations and recreates them through the work of the Spirit poured out in our hearts. From listening to the Word of God is born a new family, much broader and firmer than the natural one. Its bonds are not founded on ourselves but n the Word of God. The Christian community, for those who are alone, poor, abandoned, afflicted, persecuted, is often the only family who welcomes and takes care of them, and it is called to be an example of fraternal life for everyone.
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
