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 13, 10-17
Then the disciples went up to him and asked, 'Why do you talk to them in parables?'
In answer, he said, 'Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not granted.
Anyone who has will be given more and will have more than enough; but anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has.
The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.
So in their case what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled: Listen and listen, but never understand! Look and look, but never perceive!
This people's heart has grown coarse, their ears dulled, they have shut their eyes tight to avoid using their eyes to see, their ears to hear, their heart to understand, changing their ways and being healed by me.
'But blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear!
In truth I tell you, many prophets and upright people longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus often spoke in parables to the people. The disciples didn’t understand why he addressed the crowds this way. Had he not come to speak clearly, to announce the truth in a patent manner? Why now did he use such indirect language? The disciples’ question brings to the surface the distrust -often present in those who follow Jesusof the one who thinks he knows more. It is a temptation which so many times goes through our mind when we oppose to the Gospel wisdom our natural way of thinking. Jesus makes clear that he speaks in parables to the people not to hide the mystery of the kingdom of heaven but to have it be better understood. They -the discipleshave the privilege of being with him every day and thus have the possibility of getting explanations and immediate corrections. It is not so for the people who hear every so often. The "mystery" is communicated and explained with care and gradually. With pastoral wisdom Jesus suggests prudence and intelligence. The "truth" is not to be yelled out without considering whether it is understood or not. It is a question of love both for the truth and for the people. There should in fact be established a rapport between what should be communicated and the persons whom one is addressing. Jesus -who truly is a lover of the truth and of peoplecommunicates the mystery of love for the Father making use of parables, of instructive images easily understandable in order to bring the truth of the kingdom near to the mind and heart of those who hear, who can thus retain it easily. Jesus quotes Isaiah because he wants them to realize their situation is analogous. Through the language of parables Jesus wants to help his hearers overcome the walls of prejudice which hinder heart and mind from grasping the novelty of the Gospel. To the disciples is given a more direct understanding due to the immediacy and daily character of the meetings with the Lord. And unfortunately, so often, we, the last-minute disciples, forget the richness of the gift which is given to us, and we let hardness of heart prevail over the acknowledgement of love. But Jesus continues to tell us: "But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear" (v. 16). It is a beatitude which we should awaken in ourselves so that we may enjoy the richness which is placed before us. To have visions while the world seeks them with difficulty is a reason to be grateful to the Lord and to his Church.
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
