Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 9, 43-45
and everyone was awestruck by the greatness of God. But while everyone was full of admiration for all he did, he said to his disciples,
'For your part, you must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men.'
But they did not understand what he said; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus has just healed a child possessed by a demon. This miracle made many marvel, obviously. But it could confirm a distorted concept of the Messiah. In any event Jesus calls his disciples around him and, for the second time, foretells the future of suffering that is awaiting him. This is why he tells them: "Let these words sink into your ears..." Jesus seems to want to force the hardness of the disciples’ minds in understanding his true identity. He wants to warn them to not let themselves be deceived by the admiration all have for him, because a humiliating and painful death awaits him. "To fall into the hands of men" in biblical language means the painful and cruel fate of a person abandoned by God and left, precisely, into the power of humans, to their caprice. And, in effect, it will happen thus. But notwithstanding such clarity -the evangelist underlinesthe disciples do not understand. It is an observation we can apply to ourselves too, so often so distant, like the disciples, from Jesus’ thoughts, from his concerns and above all from the concept which he had of himself and of his very mission. And this happens not because we decide to but due to that sense of self-sufficiency which keeps us from opening our mind and heart to the mystery of Jesus. It is not that they did not understand his words, but that they did not understand the real content of Jesus’ mission: salvation comes from his death. But how can we accept a defeated Messiah? It is a scandal for the Jews and folly for the pagans, will say the apostle Paul. And yet our salvation comes from the cross. It is from a love that knows no limits that comes the ransom of human beings from slavery to sin. The disciples are saddened at Jesus’ words, to the point of not daring to even ask him for an explanation. We should in any case learn one thing: our moods and our psychic ups and downs do not count as much as our proximity to Jesus’ heart and thought. Besides, hearing his Word continuously is what makes us into disciples and enables us to remain bound to him and free from our own slavishness.
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
