Memory of Saint Ambrose ( 397), bishop of Milan. Pastor of his people, he remained strong in the face of the emperor's arrogance. Read more
Memory of Saint Ambrose ( 397), bishop of Milan. Pastor of his people, he remained strong in the face of the emperor’s arrogance.
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
Romans 2, 1-11
So no matter who you are, if you pass judgement you have no excuse. It is yourself that you condemn when you judge others, since you behave in the same way as those you are condemning.
We are well aware that people who behave like that are justly condemned by God.
But you -- when you judge those who behave like this while you are doing the same yourself -- do you think you will escape God's condemnation?
Or are you not disregarding his abundant goodness, tolerance and patience, failing to realise that this generosity of God is meant to bring you to repentance?
Your stubborn refusal to repent is only storing up retribution for yourself on that Day of retribution when God's just verdicts will be made known.
He will repay everyone as their deeds deserve.
For those who aimed for glory and honour and immortality by persevering in doing good, there will be eternal life;
but for those who out of jealousy have taken for their guide not truth but injustice, there will be the fury of retribution.
Trouble and distress will come to every human being who does evil -- Jews first, but Greeks as well;
glory and honour and peace will come to everyone who does good -- Jews first, but Greeks as well.
There is no favouritism with God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul writes that the individual is more inclined to serve him or herself than God. This profound instinct is in all of us. This rather “idolatrous” behaviour affects all people at all times. This truth should make us more mindful of not giving too much weight easily to ourselves and our traditions. Instead, it is normal for us to condemn others while absolving ourselves of any wrongdoing. Even Jesus warns us not to look at the splinter in the other’s eye and to take stock of the log stuck in our own eye. We are all poor men and women in need of the Lord’s help and forgiveness. For this reason, Paul, a little later in his letter, drawing from a psalm, writes: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one” (Rom 3:10). Jesus, himself, to the man who flattered him by calling him “Good teacher,” responds: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (Mk 10:18). Our pettiness should not lead us to judge others. Paul, addressing himself directly “to you”, to everyone, has severe words for whoever judges without mercy, and thinking of believers, says that they judge others, but commit the very same acts and behave in the very same way as those on whom they pass their judgement. In doing this, not only are they hypocrites, but they also forget that there exists a judge who exercises his judgement with a just measure. That judge is God. God “will repay according to each one’s deeds For God shows no partiality.” The apostle reminds us that we believers need to be forgiven toothat is, judged by God, who is merciful and great in love. We all need God’s mercy, which is his salvation. Doing good is not a choice among many options, but the only choice possible before a God who identifies justice with goodness.
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
