Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jeremiah 2, 21-37
Yet I had planted you, a red vine of completely sound stock. How is it you have turned into seedlings of a vine that is alien to me?
Even though you scrub yourself with soda and put in quantities of soap, the stain of your guilt would still be visible to me, the Lord Yahweh declares.
How dare you say, "I am not defiled, I have not run after the Baals?" Look at your behaviour in the Valley, realise what you have done.
A wild she-donkey, at home in the desert, snuffing the breeze in desire; who can control her when she is on heat? Males need not trouble to look for her, they will find her in her month.
Beware! Your own foot will go unshod, your own throat grow dry! But you said, "It is no use! No! For I love the Strangers and they are the ones I shall follow."
'Like a thief ashamed at being caught, so will the House of Israel be: they, their kings, their chief men, their priests and their prophets,
who say to a piece of wood, "You are my father," and to a stone, "You gave birth to me." For they turn to me their backs, never their faces; yet when trouble comes they shout, "Get up! Save us!"
Where are your gods you made for yourself? Let them get up if they can save you when trouble comes! For you have as many gods as you have towns, Judah!
Why make out a case against me? You have all rebelled against me, Yahweh declares.
In vain I have struck your children, they have not accepted correction; your own sword has devoured your prophets like a marauding lion.
Now you of this generation, listen to what Yahweh says: Have I been a desert for Israel, or a land of gloom? Why do my people say, "We are our own masters, we will come to you no more"?
Does a girl forget her ornaments, a bride her sash? And yet my people have forgotten me, days beyond number.
'How well you set your course in pursuit of love! And so you have schooled your ways to wicked deeds.
The very skirts of your robe are stained with the blood of the poor, of innocent men you never caught breaking and entering! And in spite of all this,
you say, "I am innocent, let his anger turn from me!" Now I pass sentence on you for saying, "I have not sinned."
'How frivolously you undertake a change of course! But you will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
You will have to leave there too with your hands on your head, for Yahweh has rejected those that you rely on, you will come to no good with them.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Isaiah had already compared Israel to a vineyard chosen by God, cared for and helped to grow by his love (Isaiah 5). In the Gospels Jesus will return to this image to describe God’s patient love for humanity, as well as the misunderstanding and even violence of men and women, who are bothered by so much love and dominated by their thirst for possession (Mk 12:1-12). A great deal of affection can be seen in this image, which clearly describes how much God values us. Yes, the Lord has taken care of Israel and of each one of us, members of the people Jesus has gathered. The vineyard was a symbol of the prosperity and fertility of the earth but also of Israel’s call. The prophet’s words come across as harsh and difficult in this passage: he is accusing his people of having twisted the Lord’s call. Israel’s sin is so great that it is doubtful they can ever convert. The accusation is clear and repeated: Israel has followed the Baals, the gods of the people of Canaan. They were not ashamed of what they had done; they did not turn back; they turned their backs on God and did not listen to his word. This repeated choice only produced violence and misfortune without gaining any advantage. In this passage echo the words of the wise men of Israel concerning the utter vanity of idolatry (Wis 13; Ps 115). Nonetheless, even when we are far from God, we can turn back to him and call out, “Come and save us.” Just as the son who had left his father’s house because of his prideful desire to look after himself recognized his need and went back home (Lk 15:11-32), so anyone who has turned away from God, no matter how or how often, can go back to him and receive forgiveness and salvation. God always hears the prayers of those who return to him; indeed, he is the one who urges us to come back, questioning us about our choices, just as he questioned his people: “And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, We are free, we will come to you no more’?” There is no true freedom without the Lord, without his word that gives us 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
