Memory of Saint Scholastica (480 AD - 547ca), sister of Saint Benedict. With her we remember all women hermits and nuns together with all the women who follow the Lord. Read more
Memory of Saint Scholastica (480 AD - 547ca), sister of Saint Benedict. With her we remember all women hermits and nuns together with all the women who follow the Lord.
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
Proverbs 17, 1-28
Better a mouthful of dry bread with peace than a house filled with quarrelsome sacrifices.
A shrewd servant comes off better than an unworthy child, he will share the inheritance with the brothers.
A furnace for silver, a foundry for gold, but Yahweh for the testing of hearts!
An evil-doer pays heed to malicious talk, a liar listens to a slanderous tongue.
To mock the poor is to insult the Creator, no one who laughs at distress will go unpunished.
The crown of the aged is their children's children; the children's glory is their father.
Fine words do not become the foolish, false words become a prince still less.
A gift works like a talisman for one who holds it: it brings prosperity at every turn.
Whoever covers an offence promotes love, whoever again raises the matter divides friends.
A reproof makes more impression on a person of understanding than a hundred strokes on a fool.
The wicked person thinks of nothing but rebellion, but a cruel messenger will be sent to such a one.
Rather come on a bear robbed of her cubs than on a fool in his folly.
Disaster will never be far from the house of one who returns evil for good.
As well unleash a flood as start a dispute; desist before the quarrel breaks out.
To absolve the guilty and condemn the upright, both alike are abhorrent to Yahweh.
What good is money in the hand of a fool? To buy wisdom with it? The desire is not there.
A friend is a friend at all times, it is for adversity that a brother is born.
Whoever offers guarantees lacks sense and goes surety for a neighbour.
The double-dealer loves sin, the proud courts ruin.
The tortuous of heart finds no happiness, the perverse of speech falls into misery.
He who fathers a stupid child does so to his sorrow, the father of a fool knows no joy.
A glad heart is excellent medicine, a depressed spirit wastes the bones away.
Under cover of his cloak a bad man takes a gift to pervert the course of justice.
The intelligent has wisdom there before him, but the eyes of a fool range to the ends of the earth.
A foolish child is a father's sorrow, and the grief of her who gave the child birth.
To fine the upright is indeed a crime, to strike the noble is an injustice.
Whoever can control the tongue knows what knowledge is, someone of understanding keeps a cool temper.
If the fool holds his tongue, he may pass for wise; if he seals his lips, he may pass for intelligent.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
We can identify two recurring themes that come up in various proverbs: the house and family, and the heart which is the locus of consciousness, feelings and wisdom. Reports of love can be built in the house, but also people can be divided. From the beginning, the chapter shows us what may come about in a family: "Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife." Unfortunately, the longing for money in our materialistic society can sometimes lead to exactly that. We no longer content ourselves with what we have, be it small, yet the thirst for riches and the necessity to show them off leads to much discord within families. "One who loves transgression loves strife; one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones" (v.19). Widening the door to one’s house was a sign of wealth and prosperity (as normally doors were narrow and small) and it was a way to show off one’s own status. While today that may not be the case, yet for some signs of wealth come through cars, houses, etc. In the same way, children neither honour their parents nor are they crowns to the aged, who are often left alone and abandoned whether in their houses or in nursing homes. The abandonment and loneliness of the elderly is an ever apparent sign of a society that is only interested in its own individual prosperity. Yet not to look out for the interests of the weak is none other than "rendering evil for good" and leads to the ruin of a home, "Evil will not depart from the house of one who returns evil for good" (v. 13). In this way, the harmony that should characterize family life and family relationships is missing, "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers." Yet it can also mean the opposite: even sons and daughters can contribute to a shallow life, "A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him" (v. 25). How bitter it is for parents to see their children distance themselves or walk along a dangerous path. Think of drugs, gambling, of getting high, and of a meaningless life dominated for want of money. It is necessary to cultivate the heart to avoid the ruin of whatever good and beauty we create during our lives. The Lord tests our hearts with his word because the heart is gladdened by it and it makes us live in peace "A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones" (v. 22). Let us ask the Lord to teach us how to cultivate our hearts by listening to his word and learning always how to be friends with others, especially the poor, because "A friend loves at all times, and kinsfolk are born to share adversity" (v. 17). Let us be friends and brothers to all who are in adversity so that we may obtain the wisdom of God.
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
