Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 16, 9-15
'And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.
Anyone who is trustworthy in little things is trustworthy in great; anyone who is dishonest in little things is dishonest in great.
If then you are not trustworthy with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches?
And if you are not trustworthy with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?
'No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.'
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and jeered at him.
He said to them, 'You are the very ones who pass yourselves off as upright in people's sight, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed in human eyes is loathsome in the sight of God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This Gospel text urges the disciple not to be controlled by wealth, to be enslaved, to make of it an idol of life, nor to use it for oneself or one’s own advantage. Wealth is given by God because it may be advantageous for others, beside ourselves, especially for the poor, for those who still need help. The poor are our true friends, and our merciful attention must be addressed to them. For this reason, Jesus urges giving alms and caring for the weak and needy. In so doing we certainly help them, and at the same time, we place our riches in safe hands: “Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” All Christian tradition repeats that the poor we have helped will be at the doors of heaven to welcome us and accompany us in the “eternal homes.” Once again, these words confirm the fact that the high road for entering the kingdom of heaven is love for the poor, care for the weak, and friendship with the abandoned. In fact, it is not simply a matter of giving them alms something which of itself is greatly appreciated but of being their friends. To bend down to them, to touch them with our hands, to call them by name, means to understand the profound meaning of these evangelical words and of the entire biblical teaching about mercy and justice. This is what the Pharisees did not understand. Binding themselves to the letter of the law and distancing themselves from God’s merciful spirit, they favoured a ritualistic and egocentric religiosity. Love for the poor is a gift that we must invoke from God. If we start to practice it that is, if we draw near the poor, touch them, love them we draw near the Lord, touch him, and love him. The idolatry of wealth - that is, greed - is what removes us farther from God because it removes us from the poor. The words of Jesus are crystal clear: you cannot serve God and money at the same time. You are the slave of one or the other. Unfortunately, today’s culture pushes us toward what we have more often called the slavery of materialism - that is, to store the ideal of one’s life in riches. And how often one sacrifices affections and one’s very life on the altar of wealth! Christian history never ceases to place before our eyes exemplary witnesses of the freedom gained in abandoning wealth and yielding to the attraction of love. One example: Francis of Assisi stripped himself even to his clothes in order to surrender all to the Gospel. Even today, this remains an extraordinary witness of love. And Pope Francis makes it even more evident in our present time.
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
