Feast of the Black Christ of Esquipulas in Guatemala, venerated throughout all of Central America Read more
Feast of the Black Christ of Esquipulas in Guatemala, venerated throughout all of Central America
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Mark 1, 29-39
And at once on leaving the synagogue, he went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew.
Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed and feverish, and at once they told him about her.
He went in to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to serve them.
That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils.
The whole town came crowding round the door,
and he cured many who were sick with diseases of one kind or another; he also drove out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.
In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.
Simon and his companions set out in search of him,
and when they found him they said, 'Everybody is looking for you.'
He answered, 'Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can proclaim the message there too, because that is why I came.'
And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out devils.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel describes Jesus’ intense activity in Capernaum over two consecutive days. Jesus is not alone anymore; he has chosen to communicate the Gospel of the kingdom together with the group of disciples he has gathered. With them, Jesus forms a special family that is founded not on the ties of blood, but on commitment to him and his plan of love. The evangelist describes him entering the disciples’ house in Capernaum. They immediately bring him to Peter’s elderly mother-in-law, lying in bed with a fever. Jesus approaches her, takes her by the hand, and raises her up from her bed, healed. The woman immediately “began to serve them.” Healing allows us to rise from the immobility of our selfishness and laziness so that we may serve Jesus and his community. It is not magic: Jesus took that elderly, weakened woman by the hand and lifted her up, giving her back her strength. This is the way we need to stay close to the elderly, starting with those who live at home and even more with those who are brought to live in institutions. The healing of Peter’s elderly mother-in-law is a lesson we will need to learn even today. The evangelist next describes a moving scene, “All who were sick or possessed with demons” in the city were gathered in front of the door of that house: “the whole city gathered around the door.” It is a scene that questions our Christian communities, our churches, and even our hearts. Why is it rare to see a scene like this today? Is it not against the Gospel to keep the weak, the immigrants, the gypsies, the mentally disabled, and those who ask for help far from our churches (and from our hearts)? Jesus came out the door and “cured many.” Mark does not write that he cured all of them, but many, as if to emphasize that the wounds of the many sick people we are not able to help still remain open. When evening and night have passed, Jesus gets up early in the morning and goes to an isolated place to pray. He starts his day with prayer, that is, with the encounter with the Father in a secluded and intimate place, far from crowds and confusion. It is in silence that he meets his Father, who is in heaven. To Jesus, prayer is not only the temporal beginning of the day; it is also its foundation. The new time proclaimed by the Gospel starts when the disciples turn their minds and hearts to God. Standing in front of the Lord in prayer, like children who expect everything from him, means starting a new way of living: not simply doing our will, as generally each of us does, but rather the will of the Father. And the Father wants everyone to be saved. This is why Jesus tells the disciples who wanted to keep him in the region that we must broaden our hearts to the ends of the earth. He does not stop in the usual places; he goes everywhere. And wherever he goes, a new, festive atmosphere is created, especially among the poor; even the lepers come to him and are healed.
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
