Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
John 4, 43-54
When the two days were over Jesus left for Galilee.
He himself had declared that a prophet is not honoured in his own home town.
On his arrival the Galileans received him well, having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they too had attended.
He went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum;
hearing that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went and asked him to come and cure his son, as he was at the point of death.
Jesus said to him, 'Unless you see signs and portents you will not believe!'
'Sir,' answered the official, 'come down before my child dies.'
'Go home,' said Jesus, 'your son will live.' The man believed what Jesus had said and went on his way home;
and while he was still on the way his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive.
He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. They replied, 'The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.'
The father realised that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said, 'Your son will live'; and he and all his household believed.
This new sign, the second, Jesus performed on his return from Judaea to Galilee.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Today begins the fourth week of Lent and the Holy Liturgy readings introduce Christ as the Lord of life. Isaiah’s words are brought to our attention: “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred shall be considered accursed” (Is 65:17-21). The prophet was announcing the days of the Messiah, the days of Jesus. The evangelist discloses the new heaven and the new earth where the Lord of life conquers death. The Gospel of John, whose reading will accompany us until the end of Lent, introduces Jesus returning to Galilee, his region, in spite of having said that nobody is a prophet in his own land. The evangelist indeed widens the meaning by extending it to the entirety of humanity. Jesus did not come for the Jews only (his land), that is for the people of Israel, but for all men and women regardless of culture, race, or faith. Indeed faith does not rest on human privileges or earthly characters, but on human beings’ adhesion of heart to Jesus and his Gospel. This is what happens to this official in Capernaum. He confides in Jesus not because he saw signs or miracles, but because he believed in his word and to what Jesus told him about his son’s illness. The evangelist notes that “as he was going down” the healing took place. It is a miracle at a distance. This royal official embodies the perfect disciple. The evangelist delineates the features with one sentence: “The man believed the words that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.” We could say that Jesus’ disciples should do nothing else but imitate that official who believed even before seeing his son’s healing. He was not a member of Israel, nor did he attend the Synagogue. Yet, he welcomed without hesitation Jesus’ word and left. Because of his faith his cured son was given back to him. In his company, let us continue our path towards Easter and experience the Gospel’s healing force. Indeed we are setting out towards the new heavens and the new earth of which the prophet spoke.
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
