Memorial of St. Michael the Archangel. The Ethiopian Church, one of the first among the African churches, venerates him as its protector Read more
Memorial of St. Michael the Archangel. The Ethiopian Church, one of the first among the African churches, venerates him as its protector
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 9, 46-50
An argument started between them about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus knew what thoughts were going through their minds, and he took a little child whom he set by his side
and then he said to them, 'Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. The least among you all is the one who is the greatest.'
John spoke up. 'Master,' he said, 'we saw someone driving out devils in your name, and because he is not with us we tried to stop him.'
But Jesus said to him, 'You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus has just spoken for the second time of the cross that awaits him in Jerusalem. We have seen how the disciples, yet again, have not wanted to comprehend Jesus’ words, nor have they asked to shed light on their ignorance. In reality, the words pronounced by Jesus were clear. The problem is that the disciples did not want to understand because their minds were worried with other things compared with the thoughts that worried the mind of Jesus. In this Gospel passage the evangelist Luke reveals which the real worries of the disciples were: who among them had first place. In sum, even back then the primacy of position and career, of a position to dominate over others, appears. What was happening was truly incredible: Jesus was in anguish over the death that awaited him and the disciples, instead, were discussing among them who was the greatest. There is truly an abysmal distance between their worries and those of the Teacher. We could say that the disciplescertainly them, but also uswere fully children of this world and of the competitive mentality which rules relationships between people. It is a habit which solidly accompanies all generations. We could say that it is the remains of the first sin: Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God. Because of a disobedience to God, division among people and its consequent reciprocal accusation continue to be triggered. Jesus came to turn disobedience upside down, “making himself obedient unto death and a death on the cross,” writes the apostle Paul (Eph 2:8). He came to establish relationships of brotherhood and service, not competition among men and women. And so that the disciples would understand well his thinking, Jesus took a child and put him next to him, as if to identify the child with him, and he told them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.” In the kingdom of heaven, and therefore also in the community of Jesus’ disciples, great are those who make themselves small, that is children of the Gospel, those who recognize their weakness and entrust everything to the Lord. Whoever lives with the faith of a child, whoever feels they are son or daughter of God, knows how to listen to his Word and has the same thought of God and recognizes the things which come from God. For this reasonaccording to the words that Jesus saida disciple recognizes good wherever it is fulfilled, even if the person who does it is not part of the group of disciples. To John and to all Christians who want to downplay, or worse, hinder the good deeds of someone because they do not belong to the circle of disciples, Jesus repeats, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.” It is a great lesson of wisdom, also a human lesson, which renders Jesus’ disciples able to recognize the action of the Spirit in the history of humanity.
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
