EVERYDAY PRAYER

Liturgy of the Sunday
Word of god every day

Liturgy of the Sunday

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Liturgy of the Sunday
Sunday, July 6

Homily

This Sunday’s Gospel reminds us of the condition of discipleship in which every believer must live. This is clearly expressed in Jesus’ prayer to the Father; “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children” (v. 25). With these words, Jesus blesses and thanks the Father because he revealed the Gospel of the Kingdom to “little children.” Jesus knows that such is God’s will when he looks at the little group of men and women following him. There are not too many powerful or intelligent people among them. They are mostly fishermen, low-level workers or in any event simple people. When anyone of a certain importance like the wise Nicodemus came to Jesus he was told that he needed to “be born again” and to become “little,” or else he would not be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom belongs only to the “little” ones.
The “little” one is the one who recognizes his or her own limitations and fragility; a person who, feeling his or her need for God, searches for and trusts in Him. When this Gospel passage speaks disparagingly of the “learned and clever” it does not mean those who tire themselves looking for the truth and the improvement of their personal lives and the lives of all. Quite the contrary. Instead it refers to the attitude typified by the scribes and Pharisees. They feel themselves at ease before God, rich in their good works. They feel as though they know the affairs of God so well that they have absolutely no need to worry; they are so full of themselves that they do not feel the need to reach out their hand to ask God for help. What is more, this self-sufficiency is never neutral, but rather it is accompanied by disdain for others, as Jesus himself shows in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The first prays standing in front of the altar, while the other, kneeling in back, strikes his chest and repents. It is the latter, Jesus adds, who is justified. To men and women like that tax collector that Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
The Lord, like a good friend, calls to himself all those who are tired and overburdened by life: from the tax collector to the little group of men and women who follow him, to the crowds deprived of hope, oppressed by the overwhelming power of the rich, struck by the violence of war, hunger, and injustice. The Lord’s words need to resound to these crowds today, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” This “rest” is nothing other than Jesus himself: that is, resting on his chest and being nourished by his word. Jesus, and Jesus alone, can add, “Shoulder my yoke.” He is not speaking of the “yoke of the law,” the hard yoke imposed by the Pharisees. The yoke about which Jesus is talking is the yoke of the Gospel, demanding but easy, like Jesus himself. That is why he adds, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” Learn from me, in other words, become my disciples. We need to learn from Jesus, as do the many crowds of this world that are waiting to hear Jesus’ invitation once again, “Come and you will find rest.”

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR

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!

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR