Remembrance of St. Therese of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun with a deep sense of mission of the Church Read more
Remembrance of St. Therese of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun with a deep sense of mission of the Church
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
Luke 9, 57-62
As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'
Jesus answered, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.'
Another to whom he said, 'Follow me,' replied, 'Let me go and bury my father first.'
But he answered, 'Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.'
Another said, 'I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say good -- bye to my people at home.'
Jesus said to him, 'Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus has just begun his journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, and the question of how to follow him immediately arises. Many people came to him, especially men and women who needed help, healing, and comfort, but how could they continue to follow him? Some of those who were healed or who were struck by his words decided to stay with him and follow him on his journey. But it was not an easy or obvious choice. Not everyone understands him. And many people abandon him because he makes considerable demands of them. But others approach, present themselves to Jesus, and ask to follow him. But we should note that it is Jesus who calls; Jesus calls those he wants by saying, “Follow me.” At the beginning of his public ministry in Capernaum, Jesus called three fishermen: Peter, James and John (Lk 5:8-11). And now, too, just after entering Samaria, there are three people who present themselves - or who are called. Jesus’ responses to them reveal what is needed to follow him and become his disciple. And it is remarkable that the three answers given by Jesus all relate in some way to the person’s relationship with their family. The first person asks to follow him, that is, to share his fate. Jesus answers that the Son of Man, unlike foxes who have dens and birds who have nests, does not have a place to lay his head. The disciple has to live in the same poverty as the teacher. This was not the case with the other “rabbis” of his time. They provided their followers a place to live. This is a stern warning for those who would prefer a stable and basically tranquil existence. The second person is called by Jesus directly. When he asks to be allowed to bury his father, Jesus affirms that following him and announcing the Gospel have priority even over the most sensitive family business, like the burial of a father. The third person who approaches Jesus is told that if he wants to follow him he must not have any regrets about the life he has left behind. The life that is gained by following Jesus cannot be mixed with regrets and glances back. It is even more important than the ties of family. Elsewhere Jesus says: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:26). The Gospel demands that we make a clean break with our past life and abandon our selfishness and our traditions so we can choose Jesus as the one Lord of our lives. Following Jesus is doubtlessly a radical and even paradoxical choice. But that is because Jesus’ love for us is complete, radical, paradoxical, and unique. We could say that Jesus was the first to live out this radical choice in his obedience to the Father and his plan. Disciples live off the same love that Jesus has for his Father. This is the love that we and the world need to be freed from the slavery of sin and death.
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
