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 11, 15-26
But some of them said, 'It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he drives devils out.'
Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven;
but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, 'Any kingdom which is divided against itself is heading for ruin, and house collapses against house.
So, too, with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last?-since you claim that it is through Beelzebul that I drive devils out.
Now if it is through Beelzebul that I drive devils out, through whom do your own sons drive them out? They shall be your judges, then.
But if it is through the finger of God that I drive devils out, then the kingdom of God has indeed caught you unawares.
So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own home, his goods are undisturbed;
but when someone stronger than himself attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.
'Anyone who is not with me is against me; and anyone who does not gather in with me throws away.
'When an unclean spirit goes out of someone it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, "I will go back to the home I came from."
But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied,
it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, and so that person ends up worse off than before.'
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 freed a man possessed by a “mute” demon. Keeping someone from speaking means increasing that person’s loneliness, or at least making it harder to bear. Communication through the spoken word is one of the cornerstones of human life. Consequently, when this man was freed from the demon and began to speak, the people were astonished. But the evil spirit did not give up; if anything, it redoubled its resistance and opposition to Jesus and the Gospel. The entire story of Jesus and of his disciples of every age is a story of opposition and struggle against evil. In this case an attempt was made to free this man from being mute, that is, from not being able to communicate with others. We cannot help but think of the sad condition of a large part of humanity who cannot understand each other or communicate. Even as it gets easier and easier to share news and follow events halfway around the world in real time, it is still difficult for individuals, ethnic groups, and nations to communicate in a real way. Globalization has brought people closer together, but it has not made them more brotherly towards each other. Barriers to communication rise, and tensions and conflicts grow, sometimes to dramatic proportions. The prince of evil works to increase division and enmity. The Gospel continues to invite its disciples to be attentive and vigilant, not to fence themselves off, giving free reign to the demon of non-communication. Accusations and slanders against Jesus and his disciples are not uncommon. That is what the Pharisees did. But Jesus continues to urge us to see the fruits of his mission, and, we could add, those of his disciples and the Church through the centuries. These works of love give testimony to the presence of the “finger of God” in history. Jesus is the very presence of God in history. He is the one who is “stronger” than the “strong” evil one. Jesus enters his castle, defeats him, and disarms him. The castle of which the Gospel passage speaks is our heart, but it is also the Christian community, where love is stronger than evil. Whoever is blind to this love, takes the side of the enemy, or at least becomes its foolish servant. This is why Jesus says sternly, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” We must be vigilant. The fight against evil will be with us all our life. It is in this sense that people sometimes speak of Christianity as “agonic,” that is, as in a constant state of struggle. Jesus says that even if the “unclean spirit” has left, it will try to come back. Tragic is the fate of those who let evil back into their hearts out of laziness or an obsession with empty things. This time, Jesus says, “seven other spirits” will enter their hearts. And they will be worse off than they were before.
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
