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
2 Chronicles 2, 1-17
And Solomon allocated seventy thousand men to be porters and eighty thousand to quarry in the hills and three thousand six hundred overseers for them.
And Solomon sent this message to Huram king of Tyre, 'Do as you did for my father David when you sent him cedars for him to build himself a palace to live in.
You see, I am building a house for the name of Yahweh my God, to acknowledge his holiness so that perfumed incense may be burnt before him, the loaves of permanent offering be perpetually laid out and the burnt offerings be made morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, New Moons and solemn festivals of Yahweh our God, as prescribed to Israel for ever;
and the house which I am building must be large, for our God is greater than all gods;
even so, who would not find it an impossible task to build a house for him, when the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain him? And who am I to build a house for him except to burn incense before him?
So now send me a man skilled at working in gold, silver, bronze, iron, scarlet, crimson and violet materials, and who knows the art of engraving too; he is to work with my skilled men in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David has provided.
Also send me cedar, juniper and algum trunks from the Lebanon, for I know that your servants know the art of felling timber in the Lebanon. And, my servants will work with your servants
in preparing a vast quantity of timber for me, since the house which I intend to build is to be of a size to marvel at.
Furthermore, for the upkeep of the woodcutters whom you employ to cut the timber, I shall provide twenty thousand kor of wheat, twenty thousand kor of barley, twenty thousand bat of wine and twenty thousand bat of oil.'
In a letter sent to King Solomon, Huram king of Tyre replied, 'Because Yahweh loves his people he has made you their king!'
Huram went on to say, 'Praised be Yahweh, God of Israel, who made heaven and earth and has given King David a wise son, endowed with discretion and discernment, to build a house for Yahweh and a palace in which to reign!-
I am now sending you a skilled and intelligent man, Huram-Abi
the son of a Danite woman by a Tyrian father. He knows the arts of working in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, scarlet, violet, fine linen and crimson materials, and is competent to carry out any kind of engraving and to execute any design which may be entrusted to him, in collaboration with your skilled men and those of my lord David, your father.
'So now let my lord send his servants the wheat, barley, oil and wine as promised
and we will fell all the wood you need from Lebanon, and bring it you in rafts by sea to Jaffa; and it will be your responsibility to transport it to Jerusalem.'
Solomon then took a census of all the aliens resident in Israel similar to the census which his father David had taken; it was found that there were a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.
He impressed seventy thousand of them as porters, eighty thousand as quarrymen in the hills and three thousand six hundred as overseers to make sure the people worked.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The author mentions the final preparations for the construction of the temple. Solomon, after enrolling a substantial number of people, turns to the king of Tyre, Huran, to manifest to him his decision: "I am now about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for offering fragrant incense before him, and for the regular offering of the rows of bread, and for burnt-offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God, as ordained for ever for Israel" (v. 4). Solomon turns to the King of Tyre to ask his help for the construction. Unlike the parallel passage of the first book of Kings (5:15), it is Solomon himself who takes the initiative, writing a letter to the Phoenician king. The Chronicler wants to underline that the concern of the king is wholly directed towards the building of the temple. God is truly in the first place of his thoughts. Solomon wishes the people of Israel to live in praise to their God: "As ordained for ever for Israel," notes the Chronicler. The centrality of prayer traverses the entire Sacred Scripture, and involves Jews and Christians. It is a prayer that arises from the revelation of the greatness of God and from the recognition of our littleness. Solomon, however, with a serene missionary tension, writes to the Phoenician king: “The house that I am about to build will be great, for our God is greater than other gods” (v. 5). He is not afraid to proclaim with serene tranquillity and without arrogance that the God of Israel is the greatest of all. It may seem a gamble in front of the Phoenician king who adored another deity. But Solomon does not silence the truth of his faith, even if he does not impose it. He puts it forward, instead, with serene conviction, in a straightforward manner and not arrogantly. Of course, he emphasizes its magnitude: “But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him?” At the same time, he manifests to Huran the awareness of his poverty, his limitations before the majesty of his Lord: “Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?” These are words full of humility and of determination for the work that must be engaged. These are words that touch the heart of the Phoenician king. The request for help, for collaboration, is a path that can touch the heart of the one to whom it is addressed. Humility has rendered him bold and also ambitious, not for himself, but for his God. Solomon knows well that the work that he is called to undertake is not for himself or his honour, but for the Lord, so that he may be praised by the people of Israel. This message convinces the Phoenician king who mentions this in his letter of reply: "Because the Lord loves his people he has made you king over them." And Huran comes to confess God with the same word of the Jews: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel." Then Huran grants Solomon the requested help: workers specialised in working metal and wood, together with a large amount of precious wood of Mount Lebanon, which from the port of Jaffa must then be carried to Jerusalem.
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
