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
James 2, 1-7
My brothers, do not let class distinction enter into your faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord.
Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, well-dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes,
and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, 'Come this way to the best seats'; then you tell the poor man, 'Stand over there' or 'You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.'
In making this distinction among yourselves have you not used a corrupt standard?
Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.
You, on the other hand, have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who lord it over you?
Are not they the ones who drag you into court, who insult the honourable name which has been pronounced over you?
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Following the ways of this world, that is, honouring the rich and disregarding the poor, can become normal even for the Christian community. In our world, the poor are not regarded with any consideration. It is easy for them to be completely forgotten or even despised. It is easy to blame them for the difficulties and problems of the societies in which they live. This occurs at a planetary level when people forget to consider the fight to extirpate poverty. To speak about the poor is not in style, because to do so would entail a less egocentric vision of life and society. The race after our own interests hardens our hearts and renders society more cruel, especially toward the weak. God, James reminds us, acts in the opposite way. God chooses the poor of this world so as to make them the rich inheritors of his kingdom. We read in Isaiah, "This is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word" (Is 66). And Jesus even adds, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Lk 6:20). The community of Jesus’ disciples must move along this line that privileges the poor. The Apostle James probably faced a community composed of brothers and sisters coming from different social backgrounds who behave according to the world. The Church cannot make preferences in people because of convenience, honouring the rich and hoping to receive something in return. James’ example of the place of honour that we should give to the poor during a celebration does not only indicate a physical place, but also what believers should have in their hearts and as the object of their concern. The poor should receive privileged attention in the Christian community because this is how God acts. Moreover, James notes the facility with which the poor are oppressed and exploited. Not defending them is tantamount to blaspheming the very name of God who chose them as His preferred children, even to the point of identifying with them, as we read in the Gospel of Matthew: "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40). Matthew lists them: they are the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigners, the naked, the sick and the prisoners. We will be judged on this, for love for them is an integral part of Christian faith and life and it is not the task of volunteering or charity associations. Welcomed into the family of God, the poor are Jesus’ little brothers and sisters and therefore family to Christians, and they have entered into the very heart of the Church. For this, they must be loved as brothers and sisters. In them we meet Jesus.
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
