Memory of Martha who welcomed the Lord at home. Read more
Memory of Martha who welcomed the Lord at home.
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 10, 17-25
Pick up your pack from the ground, you the besieged!
For Yahweh says this, 'Now I shall throw out the inhabitants of the country, this time, and bring distress on them, so that they may find me!'
Disaster is on me! What a wound! My injury is incurable! And I used to think, 'If this is the worst, I can bear it!'
But now my tent is destroyed, all my ropes are snapped, my sons have left me and are no more; no one is left to put my tent up again or to hang the side-cloths.
The shepherds are the ones who have been stupid: they have not searched for Yahweh. This is why they have not prospered and why their whole flock has been dispersed.
Listen! A terrible noise! A mighty uproar from the land of the north to reduce the towns of Judah to desert, to a lair for jackals!
I know, Yahweh, no one's course is in his control, nor is it in anyone's power, as he goes his way, to guide his own steps.
Correct me, Yahweh, but with moderation, not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing.
Pour out your anger on the nations who do not acknowledge you, and on the families that do not call on your name, for they have devoured Jacob, have devoured and made an end of him and reduced his home to desolation.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
“Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is severe. But I said, Truly this is my punishment, and I must bear it.’” In these words spoken by the people of a devastated city, we can hear the echo of all the pain and bitterness of that time and of the many people in the world who are gripped by war today. Will they be able to bear their pain? Will it be possible to heal their wounds? Every time we open the Bible, we cannot but help ask this question, because the word of God helps us to face the suffering of humanity. Sometimes there truly are not enough shepherds: there are not enough people concerned about this pain: “For the shepherds are stupid, and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.” There are not enough good Samaritans who know how to bend down over the wounds of those who suffer. On top of all of this, there is the confusion and uncertainty of this time of crisis. Many people feel “that the way of human beings is not in their control,” and others “cannot direct their steps.” The world has become difficult for many people, especially the poor, who are often left to their own devices, like “sheep without a shepherd.” Who will take care of them? We turn to the Lord for help: “Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure; not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.” The reaction of a person of faith is not to complain or blame others, but first to call on the Lord for help and to make him or herself available to work for a more just world. The word of the Lord “corrects” our laziness and our resignation. The word tells us that change is possible, and it starts with us. We are all called to be better, to change ourselves in order to change the world.
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
