Memorial of St. John Chrysostom (“golden mouth”), bishop and doctor of the Church (349-407). The most common liturgy of the Byzantine Church takes its name from him Read more
Memorial of St. John Chrysostom (“golden mouth”), bishop and doctor of the Church (349-407). The most common liturgy of the Byzantine Church takes its name from him
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 6, 43-49
'There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit.
Every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles.
Good people draw what is good from the store of goodness in their hearts; bad people draw what is bad from the store of badness. For the words of the mouth flow out of what fills the heart.
'Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?
'Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them -- I will show you what such a person is like.
Such a person is like the man who, when he built a house, dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.
But someone who listens and does nothing is like the man who built a house on soil, with no foundations; as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus concludes his speech to the disciples and the crowds. He transitions to the image of the good tree that bears good fruits. The intent of the image is to describe how the life of a disciple and the Christian community should be. The conclusion is immediate and obvious, and we could say that the image speaks for itself: if a tree is bad, then it will bear bad fruit, and so it is for us and for Christian communities. Jesus’ invitation to pay attention to the fruits we can show, both personally and as a community, is obvious. The quality of the fruits will reveal whether or not our lives are tied to the Gospel. The Letter of James, in a way commenting on this Gospel passage, says: “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh” (3:11-12). With these words, Jesus reveals the essential link between the Gospel and the heart of the disciple. It is in the heart that we wage the hard battle between good and evil, between faith and pride, and therefore between being “good” and bad”. We must not forget that none of us is exempt from sin, weakness, or even inner poverty. However, Jesus’ word requires a conversion of the heart. Our behaviours and the very character of our life depend on the heart. Jesus says, “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil.” And in another passage he says, “For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come” (Mk 7:21). Obviously, thus, from a good heart come good intentions and good actions. Every disciple’s commitment should be concentrating on changing one’s heart by first eradicating evil instincts, narrow mindedness, self-absorption, and, above all, pride, which leads to a false sense of self-sufficiency. And then, the disciples need to build up their own interiority by listening faithfully to the Gospel on “the knees of the Holy Mother Church,” as Saint Augustine used to like to say. Building one’s life and of the Christian community starts with attentive listening to the Word of God and letting its words settle into our hearts so that they can produce good fruits. Jesus intentionally closes his very important sermon to the crowds and to his disciples by telling the parable of the house built on rock. The words of the Gospel, accepted and put into practice every day, are like the foundation for a house that grows day by day. The Gospel must nourish our lives, thoughts, decisions and actions every day. It is not enough to listen to it just once. It is essential that we nourish ourselves with the Word of God put it into practice with humility and with daily perseverance. This is what is meant by “digging deeply and laying the foundation on the rock.” It is not enough to listen superficially and extemporaneously. We need to “pour” the words of the Gospel, like casting metal, into the depths of our hearts and days. But when we let our thoughts prevail over those of Jesus,’ we construct our days and our very life on ground with no foundation. We cannot lay any other foundation than that of the Gospel. And, because the Gospel is not a dead foundation, but a living stone, it that builds up our lives and firms them up against the impetuous river of evil that continues to flow against us.
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
