Memory of St. Romuald (950-1027), anchorite and father of Camaldolensis monks. Read more
Memory of St. Romuald (950-1027), anchorite and father of Camaldolensis monks.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
James 1, 9-11
It is right that the brother in humble circumstances should glory in being lifted up,
and the rich in being brought low. For the rich will last no longer than the wild flower;
the scorching sun comes up, and the grass withers, its flower falls, its beauty is lost. It is the same with the rich: in the middle of a busy life, the rich will wither.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The value of each person does not lie in the things possessed, in the things that one can boast about in front of others, but only in being rich before God. Only what has value in the Lord’s eyes remains forever and can never be taken away or corroded, as the Gospel says (cf. Lk 12:33). The prophet Jeremiah already wrote, "Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD" (Jer 9:23-24). Sirach, addressing both rich and poor, also announces what the true riches that they should seek are: "The rich, and the eminent, and the poor - their glory is the fear of the Lord" (Sir 10:22). Drawing from the image of the prophet Isaiah that compares the human person to a "flower in the field" (40:6-7) that in one day withers and fades, James exhorts the disciples of Jesus to consider that they are weak and fragile creatures. Because God chose fragile and weak people to infuse love in their hearts and to render them participants in the project of salvation, the knowledge of this fragility should not induce pessimism and sadness. The truth that believers can boast about, and which even resists death, is the Lord’s love poured out and into our hearts. Every believer can personally make the Apostle Paul’s exhortation his or her own: "The one who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Cor 1:31). As we will see, James speaks to a community whose members are from different social backgrounds and that is easily affected by the roles and trends of the world. This is why he reminds those of humble origin to rejoice because they have found the one who raises them; and to the rich he reminds to rejoice of their humiliation, for this helps them to understand that life does not depend on goods or physical appearance. The gift of wisdom allows everyone to find the right measure of life, abandoning the easy pride that puffs us but also the resignation of feeling useless. James reminds the community to allow God the task of raising or lowering people, because we are not the absolute owners of our lives. We will not find protection in things but only in the One who loves the weakness of men and women and prepares for them a place in his house in heaven. The poor and the rich are not two opposing worlds, divided by the gap that in his life, did not allow the rich man to realize and to love the poor Lazarus. For James, poor and rich are brothers and sisters who need to live according to the mind of god and not of the world, being always aware of the smallness and fragility of human condition.
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
