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 18, 15-20
'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge.
But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector.
'In truth I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
'In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This Gospel passage reminds us that fraternal correction and forgivenesswhich are two central dimensions of the life of the Christian communityrequire much attention and sensitivity. There is, indeed, a manner of not saying things to others, which may appear to be respectful, but is actually indifferent. Every believer has the duty to correct his or her brother or sister when he or she makes a mistake, just as everyone has the right to be forgiven when he or she has erred. Unfortunately we live in a society that is losing its sense of forgiveness. And this is happening because, first of all, it has lost the debt of love for one another that the Lord has asked us to have. The Word of God deeply challenges us to change a mentality that has become ever sadder and harder. In a world that is interdependent as well as competitive, like the one in which we live, we need to learn that in order to be truly free and to construct a dignified society, we need to become slaves of love for one another. The utopia in which every man and woman’s rights are respected can only become real if we all take on one essential duty: respecting other people’s right to be loved by us. This right is woven into the foundation of a type of human coexistence that is fully free from many internal and external threats. The clearest image of this coexistence can be seen in the unity of the disciples who pray together. Jesus says to them: “Truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” These are demanding words, more for God than for us. If the disciples agree to ask for the same thing, whatever it may be, God himself is bound to grant it. This is the meaning of Jesus’ words. When we come together in harmony, united in one will, our prayer gains enormous power. If our prayers are not answered, we have to wonder whether our way of praying has been rotted in the root by selfishness and indifference. How often is our prayer marked by laziness and a lack of love and concern for the problems and suffering of our community and the world around us! How many people are waiting for the charity of a prayer that no one grants! With spiritual wisdom John Paul II spoke of his prayer as being bound to “geography,” that is to the needs of the countries he had visited or situations of suffering of which he read or was informed. We too can do the same.
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
