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, 47-53
'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that is cast in the sea and brings in a haul of all kinds of fish.
When it is full, the fishermen bring it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in baskets and throw away those that are no use.
This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the upright,
to throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
'Have you understood all these?' They said, 'Yes.'
And he said to them, 'Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old.'
When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district;
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus continues to speak in parables, announcing that the time when God’s love will reign and the violence of evil will be defeated is at hand. This time will come through God’s initiative, but the participation of men and women is essential to its coming. In his parable Jesus employs the image of a fishing net. A fishing net was usually very large and men dropped it into the water in a semicircle and dragged it to shore. Jesus says that this net catches a large quantity of fish. He wants to underline that the Kingdom of God is large and encompasses all people without distinction. Jesus says: "When it was full, they drew it ashore." The net must be full before drawing it ashorean image that communicates the generosity and greatness of Jesus’ love. As in the parable of the sower, the seed is generously sown without picking the terrain. This generosity so exceeds our narrow and egocentric measures, which are often lazy and stingy. The Lord’s Kingdom wants to gather everyone. The Lord’s largess of heart invites us at the beginning of this new millenium not to be stingy in casting the net wide, in communicating the Gospel all the way to the ends of the earth. Jesus continues, saying that, once the net is full of fish, then it is drawn ashore. And now begins the separation, the judgment: the good fish from the bad ones. This image calls to mind the parable of the weeds in the field, stressing the final moment when the good and bad are separated. The same will happen to the sheep and goats, as Matthew tells in the final judgement, when we will be judged on love. At the end, Jesus asks if the disciples understood. He wants his words not to pass without sinking deep into their hearts. He knows that these words are their salvation. He says that if they understand the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven they will become scribes of the new law, acquiring the wisdom that comes from the Gospel, but knowing also to value the "old treasure", which comes from simple human wisdom.
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
