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 14, 12-14
Then he said to his host, 'When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relations or rich neighbours, in case they invite you back and so repay you.
No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you and so you will be repaid when the upright rise again.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today’s Gospel continues to present the teaching of Jesus on topics related to the healing that took place in the course of a banquet. After having advised those present not to seek the first places when they are invited, Jesus urges the Pharisee who had welcomed him to invite, the next time, those who cannot return the invitation (either because they are poor or perhaps because they cannot reciprocate): “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or your rich neighbours...invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.” Once again, Jesus completely reverses the customary rules of behaviour of the world. To the meticulous care with which distinguished guests are invited, Jesus contrasts the breadth and the generosity of calling those who cannot repay. And he lists the poor, the blind, the crippled and the lame; all these, excluded from ordinary life, are called by Jesus so that they may participate in the banquet that must be prepared. This is a new understanding of relationships among people, which Jesus first lived himself: our relationships are based not on reciprocity but on gratuitousness, a unilateral love, like God’s love that embraces all, beginning with the poor. Happiness, contrary to what is commonly thought, lies exactly in extending the banquet of life to all who are excluded, without claiming any repayment from them. Indeed, true recompense is the power to work in the field of love, fraternity, and solidarity. Moreover, only from this perspective can a world be built on a solid and peaceful foundation. On the contrary, broadening the distance between those at the table of life and those who are excluded, as is still happening in today’s world, undermines the roots of peace among people. The message of the Gospel is exactly the opposite: the most urgent task facing Christians today, at the beginning of a new millennium, is to replace the primacy of gratuitousness in the “dough” of this world, as Jesus lived and proclaimed. This is a dimension that is not easy to live, but at this difficult historical moment, it is the only prospect that prevents the world from falling into the abyss of violence. Whoever understands and lives this dimension of love is blessed today, and will “be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” tomorrow.
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
