Feast of Mary of Mount Carmel. Read more
Feast of Mary of Mount Carmel.
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
1 Peter 3, 1-7
In the same way, you wives should be obedient to your husbands. Then if there are some husbands who do not believe the Word, they may find themselves won over, without a word spoken, by the way their wives behave,
when they see the reverence and purity of your way of life.
Your adornment should be not an exterior one, consisting of braided hair or gold jewellery or fine clothing,
but the interior disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and peaceful spirit, so precious in the sight of God.
That was how the holy women of the past dressed themselves attractively -- they hoped in God and were submissive to their husbands;
like Sarah, who was obedient to Abraham, and called him her lord. You are now her children, as long as you live good lives free from fear and worry.
In the same way, husbands must always treat their wives with consideration in their life together, respecting a woman as one who, though she may be the weaker partner, is equally an heir to the generous gift of life. This will prevent anything from coming in the way of your prayers.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The apostle Peter, after having addressed the slaves, turns now to the women. At that time women were in a particularly weak condition, even if the apostle is speaking to well-off women who know how to dress and wear jewellery (3:3). Their situation, nonetheless, was weak: according to the social hierarchy, women were fully subject to the head of the household and did not play an active role in society. But, precisely such a condition rendered them closer to Christ. In Scripture there is a singular "Biblical law" according to which the Lord has a privileged love for the weak. Therefore, like the slaves, the women also went to the people in charge of the community with their burden of pain. The apostle does not call them to resignation; on the contrary, he encourages them to touch their husbands by their exemplary Christian conduct. In this way they will be able to reach the hearts of the husbands so that they will turn towards Jesus. Probably Peter was dealing with mixed marriage with a Christian wife and a still pagan husband; in any event the exhortation can be enlarged and referred also to husbands toward their wives. A virtuous, irreproachable and pure conduct can convince even the most hardened of men to yield themselves to the Lord. Peter therefore inspires them, above all else, to adorn their inner selves so as to be able to attract the men to a life of the Gospel. Peter’s exhortation is very appropriate for a world like ours in which exterior beauty is often cared for and exalted, and not so much the inner one. This care for the "inner beauty" follows closely Jesus’ appeal to his disciples: "Learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Mt 11:29). Humility and gentleness are a precious adornment that renders holiness attractive, as it was for the holy women of the First Testament. Peter recalls Sarah, who obeyed Abraham in every instance, and offers her as the model that invites the Christian women to make themselves her "daughters", her imitators. All of this should happen, however, without letting your "fears alarm you", that is with full dignity. These words still resound today with full force, especially where the oppression of women responds to the established mentality of chauvinism. Peter does not fail to ask husbands to have a proper understanding of their wives, recognizing the great value they have in God’s eyes. They should not only pay them respect, but also honour them because they are co-inheritors of the same kingdom. In addition to this, the exhortation encourages the common prayer of the spouses, when they are both Christian, so that it may support their union.
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
