EVERYDAY PRAYER

Liturgy of the Sunday
Word of god every day

Liturgy of the Sunday

Thirty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Liturgy of the Sunday
Sunday, November 3

Homily

The portion of the Gospel which we have listened to enables us to enter the city of Jericho together with Jesus. It is not a matter of making one’s way absent-mindedly and hurriedly, as usual in this little border city, or as in our turbulent daily life in our own cities, where we might stop only when there’s a traffic jam. Even if his goal is Jerusalem, Jesus walks in order to meet people, to help the one in need, to heal the one who is ill and to console the afflicted. He walks the city streets, but he really wants to traverse the ways of the heart, those which are most intimate and at times kept hidden even to those who are closest to us.
Jericho, one of the world’s most ancient cities, was a flourishing oasis surrounded by desert, and its proximity to the wadis of the Jordan had made it an important customs post. Here dwelt a chief-publican named Zacchaeus. He was perhaps a private entrepreneur to whom the public authorities had entrusted the control of all fiscal activity in that region. His position had enabled him to amass a sizeable fortune, and maybe not always in a scrupulous manner. We can compare Zacchaeus, one of the notables of the little city of Jericho, with the rich and dishonest judge that the Gospel writer tells us about in chapter 18, but Zacchaeus was probably the greater sinner.
Zacchaeus, intrigued by the enthusiasm of the crowd, also wanted to see Jesus as he passed through the city. But as he was physically short, and as there was a crowd, he couldn’t see him. Perhaps it was not just a question of bodily height. The crowd, or better yet, the rowdy and confused climate of the city, did not favour seeing Jesus. And Zacchaeus is not above this crowd, as after all, neither are we above or outside the common mentality of the majority. We are all too earthbound, too concerned with ourselves, with our things, to perceive Jesus as he passes by. And it is not enough to get up on one’s tiptoes, remaining where one is. Zacchaeus had to run ahead, leave the crowd behind, and climb a tree. And the crowd is not only outside us; oftentimes our heart is crowded with thoughts and worries that do not allow us to go beyond ourselves, but which keep us prostrate and enslaved by our ego. Yes, there is a crowd in the heart of each one of us of which we must get out. And the tree on which to climb can be a friend, a priest, a moment of reflection, and the Christian community itself which we must seek out: all these can be a help to get free from the impasse in which we often put ourselves.
When Jesus passed by, he looked up and saw Zacchaeus. He immediately told him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today” (v. 5). Imagine the embarrassment and astonishment of this personage who had risked even ridicule if only he might see Jesus. This time there is no repetition of the scene of the rich man who went away sad. Zacchaeus, on the contrary, “hurried down and was happy to welcome him” (v. 6). The Gospel is in a hurry; it is in a hurry for the world to change; it is in a hurry that each one of us live better; it is in a hurry that happiness spreads far and wide; it is in a hurry that the weak and the ill be helped. And if someone says “But it is difficult to change,” or “It is virtually impossible to transform life around us,” Zacchaeus gives us an example. After the encounter with Jesus, he changes his attitude and says, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor” (v. 8). It is a very realistic deal; not “I give everything,” but “half of my possessions;” he sets a limit and sticks to it. We can say that it points to a realistic way of evaluating one’s own condition in order to decide to change it, beginning where we are. We, too, ordinary people, can find our concrete measure and adhere to it. In this way salvation can enter our life.

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR

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!

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR