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
Jeremiah 2, 8-20
The priests never asked, "Where is Yahweh?" Those skilled in the Law did not know me, the shepherds too rebelled against me and the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed the Useless Ones.
So I must state my case against you once more, Yahweh declares, and state my case against your children's children:
Cross to the isles of the Kittim and look, send to Kedar and carefully observe, see if anything like this has happened before!
Does a nation change its gods?-and these are not gods at all! Yet my people have exchanged their Glory for the Useless One!
You heavens, stand aghast at this, horrified, utterly appalled, Yahweh declares.
For my people have committed two crimes: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug water-tanks for themselves, cracked water-tanks that hold no water.
'Is Israel a slave? Was he born into serfdom, for him to be preyed on like this?
Lions have roared at him, they have made their voices heard. They have left this country a desert, his towns lie burnt and uninhabited.
The people of Noph and Tahpanhes have shaved your skull!
Have you not brought this on yourself, by abandoning Yahweh your God, when he was guiding you on your way?
What is the good of going to Egypt now to drink the water of the Nile? What is the good of going to Assyria to drink the water of the River?
Your wickedness will bring its own punishment, your infidelities will bring you to book, so give thought and see how evil and bitter it is to abandon Yahweh your God and not to stand in awe of me, the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth declares.
'It is long ago now since you broke your yoke, burst your bonds and said, "I will not serve!" Yet on every high hill and under every green tree you have sprawled and played the whore.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In this long prophetic oracle emerges God’s amazement at his people, who, almost inexplicably, have abandoned him. Consequently, God begins an actual trial, through which he tries to make Israel aware of its sad condition of weakness and sin. The text is full of questions and admonishments, which reveal God’s desire to lead his people down the path of conversion. Indeed, how is it possible that the people of Israel abandoned their Lord after having received so many gifts? In doing so, do they not risk becoming slaves again, slaves of idols and of their own egos? It is a choice that starts with pride. In fact, in the name of a false freedom, we start down the sad road back to slavery. The prophet speaks of Egypt and Assyria, the two great powers of the time, whom it was easy for Israel to “go to” to assure its economic well-being and political security. But that meant submitting to these people’s idols and giving up their freedom. This sad story is common to everyone who only seeks his or her own personal well-being, satisfaction, and tranquillity. These people reach the point of blasphemy, saying, “I will not serve.” It is a refusal to love and serve God, even if this means losing the status of beloved children of the Father. They would rather serve themselves than the Lord and their neighbour. But Jesus reminds us that if we want to be great, we must live as servants, that is, if we take on the burdens and pain of others. Those who forsake the Lord in order to follow themselves find themselves slaves of selfishness and loneliness. But the Lord welcomes all those who take refuge in him, because he alone is “the fountain of living water” that can quench our thirst and give us relief amidst the hardships of life.
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
