Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jeremiah 10, 1-16
Listen, House of Israel, to the word that Yahweh addresses to you. Yahweh says this:
'Do not learn the ways of the nations or take alarm at the heavenly signs, alarmed though the nations may be at them.
Yes, the customs of the peoples are quite futile: wood, nothing more, cut out of a forest, worked with a blade by a carver's hand,
then embellished with silver and gold, then fastened with hammer and nails to keep it from moving.
Like scarecrows in a melon patch, they cannot talk, they have to be carried, since they cannot walk. Have no fear of them: they can do no harm -- nor any good either!'
Yahweh, there is no one like you, so great you are, so great your mighty name.
Who would not revere you, King of nations? Yes, this is your due. Since of all the wise among the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is not a single one like you.
All of them are brutish and stupid: the Futile Ones' teaching is but wood,
silver leaf imported from Tarshish and gold from Ophir, the work of carver or goldsmith; then dressed up in violet and purple, all the work of skilled men.
But Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God, the everlasting King. The earth quakes when he is wrathful, the nations cannot endure his fury.
'Tell them this, "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will vanish from the earth and from under these heavens." '
By his power he made the earth, by his wisdom set the world firm, but his discernment spread out the heavens.
When he thunders there is a roaring of waters in heaven; he raises clouds from the remotest parts of the earth, makes the lightning flash for the downpour, and brings the wind from his storehouse.
At this all people stand stupefied, uncomprehending, every goldsmith blushes for his idols; his castings are but delusion, with no breath in them.
They are futile, a laughable production; when the time comes for them to be punished, they will vanish.
The Heritage of Jacob is not like these, for he is the maker of everything, and Israel is the tribe that is his heritage. His name is Yahweh Sabaoth.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Israel lived in the midst of polytheistic peoples, each with its own gods. Israel was often tempted to trust in these idols because they seemed to provide security. It was not easy for the prophets to counter this constant temptation. For example, on several occasions Isaiah (40:12-31) contrasts the grandeur and strength of the God of Israel with the vanity of the idols of the neighbouring peoples. Referring to idols, Psalm 115 states explicitly, “They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats.” We can almost hear the irony with which the prophet Elijah urged the prophets of Baal, a Canaanite god, to shout more loudly so that their god would wake up and hear them (1 K 18:27-28). Idolatry, that is, entrusting our lives to things that do not count, is, in fact, still a temptation today, one which often ensnares not just a few Christians. The “vain idols” offer easy answers to our needs, but in reality they only create dependency and fear. The prophet is right: they seem to offer security in the midst of uncertainty and difficulty, but in reality they only lead to fear. “Do not be afraid of them,” the prophet says to us, too, “for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.” They are frauds! The believer entrusts him or herself to the Lord and listens to his word, and so lives in the liberty of the children of God. The Lord is our strength and our only salvation. He is the only one who can free us from fear. Indeed, he formed the earth and is the creator who sustains the world and guides his people and his inheritance. We do not need to be afraid, and we do not need to try to free ourselves from fear by committing ourselves to strange powers. Our God, who revealed himself in Jesus, has the power to heal and save. Let us entrust ourselves to him alone, and we shall be saved.
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
