Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 18, 12-14
'Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray?
In truth I tell you, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all.
Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel words we have just heard are said by Jesus in a tense moment he has with the Pharisees who claimed to be the guides of the people of Israel. Jesus stigmatizes their puritanical attitude, which is intolerant and oppressive towards the weak and those who make mistakes, and he instead presents the good shepherd whose main virtue is mercy. Jesus then says the parable of the lost sheep, and he says, “What happens if a sheep is lost?” The immediate response of the shepherdthat is, of a shepherd who is good and attentive to each sheepis to leave the other remaining sheep in safety and to go out and find that one lost sheep. He will continue to look for it until he finds it. During his search, the shepherd does not concern himself with the fault of the sheep or whether it has done wrong. What counts is the shepherd’s responsibility to make sure that no sheep gets lost beyond what the sheep do or not. Losing a sheep, even one, does not decrease the shepherd’s care for it; rather, it increases it. This is the deep meaning of this very short passage, which touches upon the depth of our brotherly responsibility that we ought to have towards others. The evangelist adds that once the sheep is found - and unfortunately, not always does the search end positively - the shepherd “rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.” From the parable, Jesus clarifies that God’s desire is that no sheep get lost. Rather, God sent his Son exactly to find those who were lost. In contrast to our carelessness towards others, the Lord takes care of each and every person, starting from those who went astray. God’s eyes rest on every person, and he takes care of him or her with great love and responsibility. This is the quality of love that ought to be in Christian communities: a love that is not impersonal as unfortunately often happens but a love that cares for everyone as if he or she were the only one. Every disciple must learn the same care that God has for each brother and each sister. This kind of love bears the joy and celebration of fraternity. In hearing this Gospel passage, we cannot but question ourselves about the quality of love we live for one another and in our Christian communities. Indeed, how many grow weak, and sometimes distance themselves without anyone taking care of them? As the Good Shepherd, Jesus reminds us of the primacy of loving others, especially those who are weak and who are overcome by sin, those who turn into themselves by the solitude of this 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
