Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Proverbs 27, 1-27
Do not congratulate yourself about tomorrow, since you do not know what today will bring forth.
Let someone else sing your praises, but not your own mouth, a stranger, but not your own lips.
Heavy is the stone, weighty is the sand; heavier than both -- a grudge borne by a fool.
Cruel is wrath, overwhelming is anger; but jealousy, who can withstand that?
Better open reproof than feigned love.
Trustworthy are blows from a friend, deceitful are kisses from a foe.
The gorged throat revolts at honey, the hungry throat finds all bitterness sweet.
Like a bird that strays from its nest, so is anyone who strays away from home.
Oil and perfume gladden the heart, and the sweetness of friendship rather than self-reliance.
Do not give up your friend or your father's friend; when trouble comes, do not go off to your brother's house, better a near neighbour than a distant brother.
Learn to be wise, my child, and gladden my heart, that I may have an answer for anyone who insults me.
The discreet sees danger and takes shelter, simpletons go ahead and pay the penalty.
Take the man's clothes! He has gone surety for a stranger. Take a pledge from him, for persons unknown.
Whoever at dawn loudly blesses his neighbour -- it will be reckoned to him as a curse.
The dripping of a gutter on a rainy day and a quarrelsome woman are alike;
whoever can restrain her, can restrain the wind, and take a firm hold on grease.
Iron is sharpened by iron, one person is sharpened by contact with another.
Whoever tends the fig tree eats its figs, whoever looks after his master will be honoured.
As water reflects face back to face, so one human heart reflects another.
Sheol and Perdition are never satisfied, insatiable, too, are human eyes.
A furnace for silver, a foundry for gold: a person is worth what his reputation is worth.
Pound a fool in a mortar, among grain with a pestle, his folly will not leave him.
Know your flocks' condition well, take good care of your herds;
for riches do not last for ever, crowns do not hand themselves on from age to age.
The grass once gone, the aftergrowth appearing, the hay gathered in from the mountains,
you should have lambs to clothe you, goats to buy you a field,
goat's milk sufficient to feed you, to feed your household and provide for your serving girls.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
At first, this chapter seems a bit strange because it juxtaposes very different situations. Nonetheless, there is a thread that connects all people by a fabric of relationships and by the reality that no person is sufficient to him or herself. In this passage, many characters in one’s life and in society appear: friends, siblings, strangers, loved ones, spouses and neighbours. Then come into view the goods that each one possesses: flocks, forage, lambs and goats; this is to say that our lives do not simply end with ourselves. Every day we need to consider many people and things in our lives. Doing this requires that we be wise and not face life foolishly. The chapter begins by putting us on guard about boastful behaviour that we can instinctively engage in: "Do not boast about tomorrow ... Let another praise you, and not your own mouth - a stranger, and not your own lips." Humility is the key to establishing right relationships with our neighbour that begin with friendship. "Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy" (v. 6). It is wise to accept the "wounds," that is, the correctionssometimes hardthat come from a friend, from someone who loves us, whereas the kisses from an enemy are only deceitful flattery. Certainly correction provokes wounds in our hearts; nevertheless, it helps us to grow. Therefore a true friend takes on the responsibility to correct the other and to offer advice, which can "make [our] heart glad." This is why we shouldn’t abandon our friends but keep them close to us because their closeness is more precious than that of a brother. In everyday life, we are called to help one another because no one is sufficient to himself: "Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits* of another" (v. 17). Indeed, indispensable to our lives is the fact that we complement one another: "Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another, as in water face answers to face, so the mind of man reflects the man" (v. 19). Often we compete in distinguishing ourselves and we become foolish protagonists, forgetting that we share a lot in common with others. This should help us to understand one another and work together so that we can overcome the obvious differences and fruitless conflicts. The Word of God suggests many little ways to build a world in which it is possible to live together in mutual respect.
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
