Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 25, 1-13
'Then the kingdom of Heaven will be like this: Ten wedding attendants took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were sensible:
the foolish ones, though they took their lamps, took no oil with them,
whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.
The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.
But at midnight there was a cry, "Look! The bridegroom! Go out and meet him."
Then all those wedding attendants woke up and trimmed their lamps,
and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, "Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out."
But they replied, "There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves."
They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed.
The other attendants arrived later. "Lord, Lord," they said, "open the door for us."
But he replied, "In truth I tell you, I do not know you."
So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Our reading of the last part of the Gospel of Matthew today brings us the parable of the ten women who were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. The evangelist notes that five of them are foolish and five are wise. According to the story, wisdom consists of taking the lamp not just with its ordinary supply of oil but with extra oil to spare. Sure of themselves, the five foolish women think they have provided for everything. But the bridegroom is late and does not come until night, indeed, late at night. Obviously nothing is easier for these ten young women than to let themselves drop off into sleep. Indeed, it is easy to fall asleep in the midst of our own habits and our sense of security; it is easy to be overcome by the torpor of our love for our things, the only ones we pay any attention to. It must be noted that they all fall asleep. This is not where the distinction between wisdom and foolish is found; there are not heroes who stay away and cowards who fall asleep. All of them - everyone, even the best - are overcome by slumber. Therefore those ten women are all of us, often trapped in a greedy and sleepy way of life, without any great dreams or great ideals. Besides, what is often important for us is to find peace and quiet, not to bothered, and to avoid problems and annoyances. Or we only worry about our things: we exert ourselves and persevere only in defending ourselves. This is the night of a grey, unchanging life, without any spaces of light, without stars: it is the night of a widespread selfishness that is born in the depths of the hearts of all men and women, regardless of whether they are wise or foolish. But in this night all of the sudden a cry goes up announcing the arrival of the bridegroom. What is this cry? It is the cry that rises from the distant lands of poor countries; it is the cry that comes from people at war; it is the cry of the elderly people who are alone and asking for company; it is the cry of the poor who are ever more numerous and abandoned; it is the cry of those who are descending into anguish; it is also the cry of the Gospel and the preaching we hear on Sunday. Upon hearing this cry, everyone wakes up, maybe with a start and still half-asleep, but if we don’t have any spare oil it is easy to find an excuse not to answer. We will not know how to keep the small but indispensable flame of hope burning for those who are asking for comfort, company, love, and support. If we don’t have that extra oil in our hearts, that is, a little Gospel energy, we will neither respond nor will we be able to accompany others nor will enter into a life that is happy because it is meaningful. It will be no use to go and buy the oil in other shops. It won’t help because we will get back too late. There are moments in which, if we are not there, we miss our chance, that is, we leave a brother or sister alone, abandoning him or her in his or her sadness and despair.
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
