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
Matthew 7, 15-20
'Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves.
You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit.
A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire.
I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus puts his listeners on guard against the danger of being attracted by false prophets, that is, against those people, or a way of life that seem easier and more immediate, but which, in reality, steals life like a ravenous wolf. It is well-known that wolves are the mortal enemies of sheep. But Jesus adds a twist: these wolves do not seem fierce; they disguise themselves as lambs, that is, they use a familiar appearance to mix themselves in with the flock, in order to tear it apart and destroy it more easily, leaving no possibility of escape. Jesus is thinking in particular of the behaviour of the Pharisees, and he warns his disciples to be careful not to imitate them. They behave in such a way that they destroy any newness of God. We can speak of “pharisaic” behaviour as a way of living one’s faith in appearance only, or of conforming to the world’s selfish mentality, which often leads Christians to live with a strongly individualistic attitude. This is a Christianity in which mercy is rare, love is narrowed to oneself and the passion to change the world is withered. The gratuitousness of working to help others is replaced by the primacy of self interest, and the dream for a world of justice and peace is chilled by resignation and self-absorption. It is easy for all of us to be seduced by a “normal,” resigned life. And we must not forget that temptation - all temptation - always seems flattering and reasonable. That is why it can so easily catch us in its snares. But how can we unmask the wolves disguised as sheep? Jesus gives us an unfailing test when he says, “You will know them by their fruits.” All the thoughts and ideas that make our hearts and lives miserable, bearing no good fruit for ourselves or others, are false prophecies. If our hearts are full of ourselves, we cannot bear fruits of love. The example of the tree that produces good fruit and the one that produces bad fruit reminds us of the unity of being and doing. The pharisaic spirit thrives when these two dimensions are divided. The disciples of Jesus are called to be what they have become by grace, that is, children of God. The apostle Paul lists the works that are born of those who let themselves be guided by “flesh”: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, and carousing. And then he immediately lists the works that flow from the spiritual person: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He closes, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit” (Gal 5:19-26).
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
