Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 6, 39-42
He also told them a parable, 'Can one blind person guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit?
Disciple is not superior to teacher; but fully trained disciple will be like teacher.
Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own?
How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me take out that splinter in your eye," when you cannot see the great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter in your brother's eye.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
We continue our reading of Jesus’ sermon to the disciples, which began with the beatitudes. The passages that we read today and the ones we will read tomorrow form a unified series of wise and spiritual maxims that Jesus delivers to his disciples of both the past and the present. Jesus expresses his maxims in the form of “proverbs” so that everyone may understand them and be inspired to act on them concretely. The image of the blind man who cannot guide another blind man calls everyone, especially those who have the responsibility of leading, to know how to keep their eyes open to the Gospel, to be attentive to their interior life, to see what is good and beautiful around them, otherwise they will be blind and unable to help anyone. Jesus is clearly levelling this charge against the Pharisees because they are blind leaders, unable to lead. But, the lesson is for everyone, even for the disciples. Those who are blind - that is, those who let themselves be led only by their pettiness or pride, those who are focused only on themselves - fall into the very habit against which the Gospel warns. Jesus then reminds us that no disciple should think that he is superior to the teacher. Though he may progress in wisdom, the disciple must not fall into the temptation of thinking that he no longer needs to listen to the Gospel. If anything, the disciple must become evangelical, that is, have the same attitude as Jesus, so that then he “will be like his teacher.” It is not about imitating an external model as much as it is about living together with Jesus, sharing in his mission, working for his very same dream. It is being in this profound union with Jesus that led the apostle Paul to say: “No longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Holding to the opposite attitude brings us to point out the speck in other people’s eyes while not noticing the log in our own. This is the ancient vice, which is with us always: being lenient with ourselves and harsh with others. We have to keep this vice at bay. We all know the bitterness and distortions that a self-centred attitude causes in our relationships with one another. For this reason, the apostle Paul exhorts us, as he did then the Christians of Philippi: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves” (Phil 2:3). It is not easy to consider others as better than ourselves. This is why the Gospel insists on this teaching, inviting us to take up a new attitude towards others, loving and not judging them. Love opens the eyes of the heart so that we may see, be moved, and meet others with mercy and humility. But it is not easy to have this attitude because to have it, we must do true, hard work in our interior lives, practice an asceticism that stops and modifies our instincts, persevere in listening to the Word of God, and keep humble and strong ties with our community of brothers and sisters. It may be hard, but it is the only way to build up a community of disciples as the Lord has willed it from the beginning.
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
