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Sunday Vigil
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Sunday Vigil

Memory of Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to see the Lord and received as a gift the conversion of his heart. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Sunday Vigil

Memory of Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to see the Lord and received as a gift the conversion of his heart.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 19, 1-10

He entered Jericho and was going through the town

and suddenly a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance; he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man.

He kept trying to see which Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd;

so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way.

When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I am to stay at your house today.'

And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully.

They all complained when they saw what was happening. 'He has gone to stay at a sinner's house,' they said.

But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, 'Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.'

And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham;

for the Son of man has come to seek out and save what was lost.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

While he is walking down the road in Jericho, Jesus lifts his eyes towards Zacchaeus, a man who had climbed up a tree because he was small in stature, and Jesus calls him by name. It is important to underline Jesus’ attentiveness. He knows us by name. And, in an anonymous and "massified" society like ours, this attitude of Jesus is a great teaching for us. Jesus knows Zacchaeus by name and calls him: "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." We can imagine Zacchaeus’ amazement when he heard himself be called. Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and therefore a sinner, but Jesus calls only him. It is true that he wanted to see Jesus. In this alone, he is already an example for us, for we often stay down on the ground, concentrating on ourselves and our old habits. If we want to see Jesus, we need to leave ourselves and our resignation behind and let ourselves be challenged by the Gospel. Jesus, who reads hearts, has realized that tax collector’s desire, and as soon as he sees him, calls him and tells him that he wants to stay in his house. The book of Revelation comes to mind: "Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me." That day in Jericho, this word became a reality. All that Zacchaeus wanted was to see Jesus; meanwhile Jesus wants to meet Zacchaeus and offer him salvation. At Jesus’ invitation, Zacchaeus hurries down from the tree and joyfully welcomes Jesus. This time, the rich man does not go away sad, and Jesus, too, is full of joy. The encounter has changed Zacchaeus’ heart: he is a happy man who has a new heart. At the end of their encounter, Zacchaeus decides to give back what he had stolen and give half of his property to the poor. This is the beginning of his conversion. He is no longer the same man as before. He decides on a certain amount (he days not say, "I will give everything," but instead "I will give half my possessions"), and then acts on it. Zacchaeus invites us not to let ourselves be dragged down by our resignation, but to welcome Jesus into our heart and to decide on our measure in charity.

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!