Memorial of Floribert Bwana Chui, a young Congolese man from the Community of Sant'Egidio, who was killed by unknown people in Goma for he opposed corruption Read more
Memorial of Floribert Bwana Chui, a young Congolese man from the Community of Sant’Egidio, who was killed by unknown people in Goma for he opposed corruption
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 9, 32-37
They had only just left when suddenly a man was brought to him, a dumb demoniac.
And when the devil was driven out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed and said, 'Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.'
But the Pharisees said, 'It is through the prince of devils that he drives out devils.'
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness.
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to his harvest.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Accounts of miracles often appear in the Gospels. To understand miracles, it is important to understand that they reveal more than only divine strength. They are the signs that life can change, that it is possible to be healed and to have a different heart. This is why in the Gospel it is said that Jesus preached and healed. The same instructions given to the disciples then persist even today. The Church has been sent by Jesus to preach the Gospel and to cure men and women from every sickness. We need to come back to question ourselves about the task that the Lord entrusted also us, namely the “power” (an efficacious strength) of “touching the heart” through the preaching the Gospel and performing miracles of healing. We all know too well how numerous wicked and evil spirits subjugate the hearts and minds of many. The Gospel presents a “mute demoniac”, a sick man, unable to speak. Jesus restores his speech. Jesus is really the merciful; he alone is moved by those who are weak in this world; he alone puts the problems of others before his own. Today our cities are filled with men and women who are mute because they have no one to whom they can speak, ask their questions, share their sorrows, or learn their rights. Just think of the many elderly who frequently live alone as the years go by. One can be mute and deaf because no one questions, or no one can restore speech as Jesus did with the demoniac. Yes, we do need to listen to the Gospel in order to be able to speak again. So often we are practically mute because we are filled with empty words. Whoever has his/her heart touched by the Gospel starts again to speak, pray, exhort, pardon and also correct. And together with the crowds that surrounded Jesus, we too can express amazement: “Never has anybody like this has been seen in Israel.” Surely there are many opponents, today’s Pharisees, who try to discredit the Gospel, and the works of mercy performed by believers. But Jesus goes on with his mission and invites us to walk with him along the streets and squares of our cities. With merciful hearts like his, we can carry out “miracles” of mercy. Jesus’ pity opens our eyes and allows us to see, first and foremost, the poor and the weak and to bend on them. Unfortunately few, very few people with compassion approach the crowds of this world, who are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus continues, “The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.” There is need to pray to the Father so that he can send workers of mercy. And we will discover that the Lord invites us as well to become workers for all those who fall prey to violence, solitude, sadness, war, poverty.
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
