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
Mark 8, 34-38
He called the people and his disciples to him and said, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life?
And indeed what can anyone offer in exchange for his life?
For if anyone in this sinful and adulterous generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus has just revealed to the disciples the sufferings he is going to encounter in Jerusalem. He does not present himself as a triumphant Messiah according to the current mentality of his time. He is going to suffer greatly. He cannot keep silent on this point, which involves him personally, as well as his disciples. The evangelist Mark refers to Jesus speaking directly to the crowd following him: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Indeed, following Jesus requires denying one’s own ego, self-sufficiency, pride. We should “leave ourselves”, hold off from ourselves. This is the meaning of self-denial. In a world that teaches us to be self-centred in life, the invitation to Christians is clear: those who wish to follow Jesus must deny themselves. But this is not just an ascetic perspective on sacrifice, on mortification. Jesus proposes the way for a full, firm, good life for ourselves and for others. This is why he added, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” Those who turn in on themselves, keep their life to themselves, think only of their own affairs, will end up losing their life, making it sad and barren. On the contrary, life multiplies, that is, becomes much richer, when spent for the Gospel, following Jesus and helping to establish his kingdom of love. Following their Master, disciples take part in the dream of God Himself, for He wants salvation for all peoples. This way also entails the cross. History keeps on showing it. Just think of the millions of martyrs who during the twentieth century had to endure torture, harassment and death for the sake of Jesus and of his Church. Still today, at the beginning of this new millennium, the long line of those who save their life by offering it in love as he did, continues. All disciples should give up love for themselves and take the cross on themselves, the cross that the opponents of the Gospel put on them, and the one that burdens the lives of the weak, the poor, the condemned, the tortured, the excluded. All those who spend their life in the service of the Gospel and the poor -- Jesus says will save their soul and reach the fullness of life.
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
