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 Corinthians 12, 1-10
I am boasting because I have to. Not that it does any good, but I will move on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago -- still in the body? I do not know; or out of the body? I do not know: God knows -- was caught up right into the third heaven.
And I know that this man -- still in the body? or outside the body? I do not know, God knows-
was caught up into Paradise and heard words said that cannot and may not be spoken by any human being.
On behalf of someone like that I am willing to boast, but I am not going to boast on my own behalf except of my weaknesses;
and then, if I do choose to boast I shall not be talking like a fool because I shall be speaking the truth. But I will not go on in case anybody should rate me higher than he sees and hears me to be, because of the exceptional greatness of the revelations.
Wherefore, so that I should not get above myself, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter me and prevent me from getting above myself.
About this, I have three times pleaded with the Lord that it might leave me;
but he has answered me, 'My grace is enough for you: for power is at full stretch in weakness.' It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me;
and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, constraints, persecutions and distress for Christ's sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Paul begins the second part of his defence. In the previous passage, Paul spoke of the privileges of his ethnic-religious affiliation, and set out the long list of sufferings endured for the Gospel. In this crucial passage of his letter, he mentions the very heart of his missionary passion. Paul reveals, without delineating the content that he has not fully understood in depth, the spiritual experience of a vision. It is unique that the apostle speaks here no more in the first person, but of “a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heavenwhether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows” (v. 2). He does not describe the experience in detail; he had not completely understood it in depth. What appears clear is that the apostle was dispossessed of himself. It is no longer the “I” who speaks but indeed “a man in Christ.” The mysterious encounter with Jesus transformed him deeply. Elsewhere he will say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). The Christian is exactly on this path, that of identification with Christ. It is a spiritual journey that continues for the whole of our life. It is the only path to reach its fullness. Life, full and saved, is none other than communion with Christ. And it is at this point that the apostle splits his defence. He praises this man who allowed himself to be grasped by Christ, but “on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses” (v. 5). The Apostle reveals to the Corinthians a personal experience of weakness that considerably weakened him: a “thorn” (or rather a “stake”) in the “flesh.” We do not know well to what the apostle refers, however, the consequences would have been harsh, because three times he asked the Lord to be released from it. Paul, however, received from God the answer which permitted him to build his life not on his own wisdom and strength, but on the power that comes from the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). Indeed, the apostle discovers that it is precisely in the weakness of his life placed at the service of the Gospel that is manifested the strength of the Lord. It is a great spiritual and pastoral lesson, often, sadly, wholly rejected. Many times in our lives weakness and difficulties become a motive for pulling back before the Gospel or constitute a justification for not committing ourselves. But it is precisely in weakness that the disciple discovers the extra¬ordinary power and grace of the Lord. It is in fact in the poverty of our resources, in the feebleness of our abilities, that we are able to experience the power of faith. Even if it is as small as a mustard seed it performs miracles even to moving mountains. Together with the apostle, ever more often, we should say, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 10).
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
