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
Luke 17, 26-37
'As it was in Noah's day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of man.
People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.
It will be the same as it was in Lot's day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
but the day Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all.
It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of man to be revealed.
'When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back.
Remember Lot's wife.
Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe.
I tell you, on that night, when two are in one bed, one will be taken, the other left;
when two women are grinding corn together, one will be taken, the other left.'
The disciples spoke up and asked, 'Where, Lord?' He said, 'Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus continues to speak to the Pharisees who have questioned him about the kingdom of God, which he speaks of as an unforeseen happening which takes one by surprise. He therefore exhorts everyone to be prepared without wasting time. With two examples from the Old Testament, the punishment of the flood and the destruction of Sodom, Jesus gives notice that one should not resign oneself to evil, not enclose oneself in one’s own egocentrism, not live a banal life without meaning, full only of one’s own ego and satisfactions. Those who are focused on themselves will not be able to welcome the day of the coming of the Son of Man. This is why it is good for the disciple not to have a heart satisfied with himself and with his own issues, as if there were nothing to look forward to or to change. The flood, says Jesus, and the fire from heaven, came unexpectedly and no one could escape because, precisely, each one was focused on him or herself. Jesus puts the disciples on guard because "on that day" and "on that night" one must be vigilant. And watchfulness means freedom from attachment to things and to one’s own traditions. Yes, detachment from the world, from "stuff," is an essential condition for being able to receive in one’s heart the kingdom of God which comes. And detachment applies also to that which we regard as our greatest good: our life. Jesus says: "Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it." What does he mean? Luke the evangelist has already reported these words, adding "for my sake" (9:24). What Jesus is asking the disciple to do is to spend his or her life, one’s whole life, for the Gospel. It is in this way that we can keep it and live, even make it grow. If we remain with the Lord we harvest. On the other hand, the one who remains alone with himself, who spends his own life only for himself, scatters and harvests nothing. When the day that is set comes - Jesus again says membership will not count, but only having chosen Jesus. In fact, even if two are in the same bed or working together, one will be taken to heaven and the other to hell. Everything depends on the heart, on what we have directed it toward. On that day the disciples, as happens with the vultures that go where prey is, will gather around the Lord to receive salvation.
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
